Page 26 of Operation Prom Date
I slapped the surface of the water with my palm out, sending a spray at her. We laughed, and then we fired at will, stream after stream. Some crashed in the middle, and some hit their target.
Little by little, my body got used to the cold water. Or maybe it grew numb, but either way, it wasn’t so bad anymore.
Kate ran her hands through her hair, slicking it back away from her face. “Okay, let’s see who can spin all the way around and come back up faster. Ready…? Go!”
I dove under the surface, tucking and spinning, and kicked for all I was worth.
She was already up and waiting. “You lose.” She added a victory dance, doing some kind of chicken thing with her arms as she made anoot-oottaunting noise.
“And you wonder why I get so serious about winning. Where’s my ‘good try; you’ll get ’em next time’?”
“Good try, sport, but you had your ass handed to you.” She giggled, apparently thinking she was hilarious. And okay, she kinda was.
“Fine. Let’s see who can hold their breath longer.” I lifted my fingers toward my nose to plug it.
“No way.” Kate shook her head. “In, like, every movie where they do that, the other dude doesn’t come up, and then the person is left swimming alone, calling their name in a panic.”
“You’ve seen too many movies,” I said.
“Go ahead and hold your breath, then. If the sea monster gets you while you’re down there, just know that I’m not coming after you.”
I laughed and swam closer. I reached down and grabbed her leg, laughing harder when she squealed. She kicked me and stuck out her tongue. “Jerk.”
Unlike when she called me Coach Jerk Face earlier, this time there was a lighter, joking tone to her voice.
Suddenly she lurched toward me, her arms wrapping around my neck. “Okay, for reals, I just felt something slip past my leg.” Her gaze skimmed the surface of the lake. “I’m telling myself it’s just a fish, but it felt like a really big fish.”
“There are some pretty big fish in here.” I paused for dramatic effect. “Then there’s the alligators.”
“I know there aren’t any alligators,” she said with a click of her tongue, but she still searched the area around us.
“Okay, but I know for a fact that the police caught a couple last year.” It was true, but they were little ones, and the police concluded they were pets someone had abandoned. If the owners had done any research, they’d know the water was way too cold in the winter for alligators to survive it. But I wasn’t going to tell Kate that quite yet—messing with her was too much fun. “Do you see the way the water’s parting over there? I thought it was a log, but a log doesn’t move like that.”
She practically crawled up me, her grip on my neck nearing chokehold levels. “Not funny.”
I was going to tease her some more, because we hadn’t even covered snake territory yet, but then I noticed the soft press of her curves, and how if I looked down, I could see her skin and her polka dot bra through her shirt. And then I couldn’t stop looking and noticing, even though I knew I shouldn’t be.
My breath grew shallow, and for a couple of seconds, I forgot I needed to continue to tread water, and we started dipping lower.
“Okay, I think that’s enough enjoying the lake by being inside of it today. I’m ready to get back to rowing.” Kate let go of me and swam toward the boat, and as she climbed in, I noticed a few other things I shouldn’t. Namely her legs and the way her clothes molded to her body, every curve on display.
Get it together, Callihan.Still, I couldn’t help thinking she was right earlier when she said I didn’t slow down enough to enjoy the actual lake. I was in such a hurry to be on the water as much as possible before my time ran out that I forgot to actually appreciate the ability to get lost out here. The sense of calm it brought to my life, and how it felt more like my home than my house sometimes.
I lifted myself into the boat and returned Kate’s smile. Goose bumps covered her skin and water dripped from her hair and clothes into a puddle on the boat floor. The bit of makeup she’d had on was long gone, and the last rays of the sun spotlighted her natural beauty and those features I was starting to crave seeing.
Kate wadded her hair in her hands and wrung it out. “Did you want to tell me how I was right about how fun it can be to slow down once in a while now, or later?”
I could think of so many girls who would’ve yelled at me for pulling them into the water fully clothed, and how there’d be talk about ruined clothes and hair and makeup. Kate had to be freezing, but she was sitting there all smug, grinning like she’d just had the best adventure.
While I was slowing down and enjoying things, I figured I should add the time she and I had left together to that list, too.
By the time we made it back to my truck, we were both cold and tired. Kate was still in a happy mood, but I worried she’d catch pneumonia or something, like every person over the age of forty threatened kids they’d do if they didn’t cart around big coats 24/7.
I cranked the heater and looked behind my seat. “Jackpot.” I handed my hoodie over to Kate.
“But what about you?”
“I’m fine,” I said, ignoring the squish of my jeans against the seat as I moved to start the truck. “Just put it on. Please.”
