Page 50 of The Roommate Experiment

Until, at the lack of restraint from his best friend and sister, Dylan scoffs and upends their chaise with a casual shove. Nina and Tristan tumble into the pool in a tangle of limbs, water splashing everywhere, the scent of chlorine rising in the warm air.

They emerge laughing, Tristan pushing his hair back from his face, his cap floating away. “Thanks, man. I needed to cool off.” Then he grabs Nina again, and their lips meet in a kiss that’s even more heated than before.

“If you two get into any more PDA, I’ll grab the hose, I swear.”

Nina and Tristan ignore him, lost in their own world.

Dylan looks away, shaking his head. He rights the now-empty chaise and sits, the plastic creaking under his weight as he stretches his long legs out in front of him. “About the couch situation.” He turns to me and I’m glad I’m wearing sunglasses as a shield of sorts because being the sole focus of his blue-green gaze is overwhelming, like staring straight into the sun. The heat of it washes over me, my skin prickling with awareness. If Dylan is Apollo, the sun god, in our little Greek mythology drama, I’m Icarus. I might want to fly to the sun, but the only thing that’s going to happen to me if I do is that my wings will melt and I’ll splatter to the ground, shattering my heart.

“What about it?” I ask, ignoring the pounding organ in my chest. “Will it dry in time for tonight?”

“Even if it dries, the old guy doesn’t have another night left in him.” He grins. “It’s smelling a bit too moldy for my taste.”

I return the smile. “Ah, he had a valiant death, then. Serving his purpose until the end.”

“A true hero,” Dylan agrees solemnly. “But that leaves us with a problem. All the shops are closed today; we can’t get a replacement.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What’s the plan then?”

He shrugs, the movement causing the muscles in his shoulders to ripple in a way that’s entirely too distracting. “You can take the couch in the living room. I’ll blow up an air mattress and stay on the floor. At least we’ll have air conditioning. Silver linings, right?”

“Air conditioning sounds way better than spontaneous garden sprinklers.”

Dylan is about to reply when Nina and Tristan creep out of the pool behind him, wicked grins on their faces. Before he can react, they each grab one of his arms and yank him backward into the water.

The splash is enormous, and almost gets me and Rowena, too. Dylan emerges a second later, sputtering and shaking his head like a wet dog. Droplets fly everywhere, catching the sunlight and splintering into tiny rainbow crystals.

“Oh, it’s on,” he declares, his eyes narrowing playfully at the giggling couple.

With a roar, Dylan lunges for Tristan, trapping him in a headlock and dunking him under the water.

Tristan comes up laughing, his hands raised in mock surrender. “I yield, I yield.”

But Dylan isn’t done. He turns to Nina. “And you, dear sister. You think you can escape unscathed?”

Nina squeals, to swim away, but her brother is too fast. He captures her waist and hoists her over his shoulder, spinning her around as she beats her fists against his back. Tristan comes to a heroic rescue, and together, they overwhelm Dylan.

“Hey, you’d yielded,” he protests with Tristan.

“Sorry, bro. All’s fair in love and water fights.”

Dylan splashes him and turns to Rowena and me. “You two joining in, or are you too chicken?”

Rowena sets her lemonade down and stands. The sun catches on her chestnut hair, turning it to burnished copper as she saunters to the edge of the pool. With a playful grin, she drops backward onto a floatie, the plastic squeaking under her weight. She sighs as the cool water laps against her sides. Rowena wiggles her butt, adjusting her position, and leans back, tilting her face toward the sky. All her worries seem to melt away.

I hesitate. The idea of being near a wet, shirtless Dylan is both tempting and terrifying. But the heat is oppressive, and the water looks inviting… also, I don’t want to be a party pooper.

Dylan is watching me and cocks his head in invitation or in a challenge, I’m not sure.

Oh, what the hell.I stand by the pool’s edge and dip a toe in. The water is colder than I expected. I could ease myself in gradually but I’d take forever, so I dive in. The contrast in temperature against my overheated skin makes me gasp as I resurface, goosebumps erupting all over my body despite the warmth of the day.

But after the initial shock, I swim below the surface again, letting the coolness envelop me as I float back up.

When I open my eyes, I realize I’ve drifted closer to Dylan than I intended. He’s watching me, an unreadable expression on his face.

I panic and paddle backward, putting distance between us. Safer. I develop a radar system tuned into his location and always position myself at the opposite edge. The safety buffer holds until Tristan dive-bombs into the pool right next to me, sending a wave crashing over my head.

I sputter, flailing my arms to regain my balance. My hand connects with something solid and warm, and I grab on instinctively.

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