Page 21 of Affair
Free from Gamble’s arms, he began flailing, and sinking toward the bottom of the pond, unable to swim to the top like Gamble had.
And it hit him.
So this was how he died.
At least he’d had a good final moment in Gamble’s arms.
Right?
As he was about to panic, that’s when he felt a strong hand grabbing his and pulling him back up to the light.
As he broke the surface, Gamble had him and was treading water.
Poe gasped, taking in a breath as he was being held against the Marine.
“Poe!” he said, horrified. “Why didn’t you tell me that you couldn’t swim?” he asked, his heart racing. “Before I nearly killed you!”
When Gamble came up, and Poe didn’t, he nearly shit himself. It was clear that Gamble had nearly made a costly mistake.
He’d almost killed the man he was in love with, and how would he live with that?
As Gamble kept him afloat, Poe let the man save him since the other option wasn’t pleasant.
At.
All.
“Because I didn’t think you’d drop me that far out. It’s shallow by the side of the dock. I certainly didn’t expect you totake us to the deep end of the pond,” he admitted, as Gamble swam them back to shore.
It didn’t take long.
As they crawled out, he went there.
“I’m so sorry, Poe. I just assumed…,” he admitted, gently placing him on the shore. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I’d never do that to you. I was being playful, and that could have hurt you.”
Poe wasn’t upset.
Why?
Here was the sweet side of Gamble that he’d found deep within the damaged part of him. He was clucking over him, and he looked scared.
The last thing he wanted was this man terrified. There had been no harm done.
None.
At.
All.
Poe put his hand on his face to reassure him.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. I didn’t get hurt. If anything, now I need to learn how to swim,” he joked as they sat there.
Gamble was shaken to his core. He could have killed the man, and then, what?
Gently, Gamble put his hand over Poe’s on his face and stared into his blue eyes.
What he wanted to do was kiss the man. It was insane, and he couldn’t understand the feelings that were building in him, but they were there.
