Page 29 of Choosing You

Garret dips his hands in the pool and runs them over the tops of my shoulders, wetting them. “You just need to get used to it. Now go all the way under.”

“I’m not ready yet.” Actually Iwasready, but then I lost focus when his hands touched my skin. His gentle touch caused a tingling sensation to coarse through my entire body, distracting me.

“Afraid to get your hair wet?”

I look at him annoyed, then dunk deep into the water and burst up to the surface, tipping my head back to keep the water out of my eyes.

“That’s better,” he says. “Do you want to do a few laps before we race?”

“Sure.” I get in position, then kick off the wall doing a basic freestyle stroke as Garret watches. I make sure to go super slow so he’ll assume I’m a horrible swimmer.

“Okay, I’m ready,” I say after I return from my painstakingly slow lap.

“We don’t need to race. We can just swim.” I can tell he feels so bad about my lack of swim skills that he’s now completely given up on the idea of racing me.

“Why wouldn’t we race? I went to all the trouble to get here. You’re racing me. Now get in position.”

“All right, but just out and back one time, okay? Ready. Set. Go.” He calls it off then waits a few seconds to give me a head start. I take off, going faster than I’ve ever swam, letting my true swim skills come out. I used to race people in gym class and win, but they weren’t on the swim team. Still, I can hold my own in the water. I reach the end of the pool before Garret, then turn to swim back. I catch a glimpse of his stunned face as he sees me pass him. I feel him start to catch up, but I still beat him.

“Nice play,” he says, catching his breath.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He swims up closer to me. “So now that I know you can really swim, how about we try this again? Only this time I don’t give you a head start and we repeat that loop three more times. A runner like you has good endurance, right? So a few extra laps should be no problem.”

“Nope. No problem at all.” I get in position.

He counts off and we go again. Garret doesn’t hold back this time. I give it my all trying to keep up, but in the end I’m a lap behind and he wins.

“That was good, Jade. Really good.” Garret stands up in the pool, clearing the water from his face.

“I was way behind. That wasn’t good.”

“I’ve been swimming my whole life. I’ve been trained by Olympic coaches. So for you to be that close behind is really good. You did way better with swimming than I did with running.”

“You want to go again?”

He laughs. “Damn you’re competitive. You’d stay here all night trying to beat me, wouldn’t you?”

“Probably.” I hang my fingers on the edge of the pool, bobbing up and down. “Okay, yeah, I would. So you want to go again or what?”

Garret’s arm reaches around my waist and my heartbeat returns to the rapid pace it was at when I was swimming.

“I like that about you, Jade. That whole competitive edge thing.” He moves closer.

I release my fingers from the side of the pool, forcing him to tighten his grip on me. He wraps his other arm around my lower back and presses me into him. My chest rises and falls between us as my breathing gets faster. I notice that Garret’s completely calm, his breathing steady.

“What else do you like about me?” It comes out in a flirtatious tone that surprises even me.

His eyes lock on mine and my heart pounds even faster. “I like that you give me shit. Because nobody gives me shit. Ever.” He pauses. “I like that you ignore me, making me work my ass off to chase you down. I like that you don’t care what people think, including me.” He moves his face to the side of mine and his lips brush my ear, his warm breath sending a chill through me. He speaks so low it’s almost a whisper. “I like that you’re incredibly hot and don’t know it. And that you’re completely turning me on in a way I didn’t think was possible.”

“Anything else?” I ask, now completely breathless.

He comes back to face me. “I like that I have no idea what you’re gonna do after I do this.”

He leans in and gently kisses me, then waits for permission to continue. I slowly kiss him back, feeling the wet slick of water that still graces his soft, full lips. I secure my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. He smiles at my response, then tightens his arm around my lower back, pressing us even closer together. His other arm slides up between my shoulder blades under my hair, his hand grasping the back of my neck guiding me to his mouth again. I part my lips and feel his breath as his tongue mingles with mine.

His kiss goes deeper and I get lost in the feel of it. And of him. And of the way we feel together, his chest pressed up against mine, our lower bodies fused together with only the thin fabric of our suits between us. It wakes up parts of me I didn’t know could feel this way. Sensations are firing off inside every cell. I tighten my grip on him, wanting to be even closer.

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