Page 26 of The Way We Are

From the way her bottom lip is quivering, you’d swear she's immersed in an ice bath instead of a semi-heated pool.

"Never. I'll never let you go," I guarantee.

Thankfully she’s too focused on not drowning to hear the massive sentiment in my tone.

My plans to teach her how to swim go to shit when she curls her legs around my waist and flattens her chest against mine. As we bob up and down in the water, her erect nipples drag against my pecs, and the warmth radiating between her legs is heating my stone-hard dick.

If her clutch on my throat doesn't drown us, I'm set to drown myself—in a pool of fucking misery.

Having the girl of my dreams so close I can feel every inch of her delectable body plastered against mine but being unable to touch her is the worst form of torture. But I'll do it; I'll suck it up and act like a man, because after witnessing Axel’s shameful display last night, she has enough guys playing tricks on her—she doesn't need another.

“You need to loosen your arms, or we’re both gonna drown,” I warn when Savannah clutches my neck so firmly my airways compress.

Not hearing the jeer in my tone, she tightens her hold, ensuring there's no way she could miss the stiffness in my boxers. I swear to god, I’ve never been as hard as I am right now.

"I'm joking."About us drowning, not my dick. It's as hard as stone. "We're in the shallow end. No one drowns in the shallow end."

Savannah's breath flutters against my neck when she cranks her head to view the depth etched on the edge of the pool. Satisfied we are still standing in water shorter than her, she loosens the chokehold she has on my throat. Mercifully, the remainder of her body stays glued to mine.

“I thought you were taking swimming lessons the summer after your pool was installed,” I say as I shift her to sit higher on my hips, easing the pressure throbbing between my legs.

“I did. They didn’t work out.”

I don’t know if the disappointment in Savannah’s tone is from her failed swimming lessons or because her pussy is no longer grinding against my raging boner. When the lust in her eyes fades for vulnerability, I realize it's a bit of both.

“Do you remember Kenny Truman?” Savannah asks, her tone curious.

My teeth grit. “How could I forget him?”

Savannah smiles, loving the jealousy laced in my tone. “His older brother Peter was the swim instructor. We didn’t make it past lesson one.”

I stare into her eyes, wordlessly asking if I need to have a word with Peter.

My anger is nipped in the bud when Savannah giggles, “Rumors around school were that he didn’t walk straight for a week after our lesson.”

“Ah... you’re the reason he’s called limpy Pete?” I laugh.

Savannah screws up her nose as the color in her cheeks drains. “Eww. No. Whatever happened between him and Lucy Glines at summer camp had nothing to do with me.”

“What happened at summer camp?”

I don’t give a fuck about anything that occurred between Lucy and Peter, but since Savannah is so caught up sharing school secrets, she has failed to notice we’ve merged into the deep end of the pool. Even her legs aren’t as tightly wrapped around my midsection—goddammit!

9

Ryan

By the time Savannah relays the story of a joint school camp gone wrong, we’ve been in the pool nearly forty minutes. Although her legs remain clamped on my hips, the top half of her body is floating freely. Her lips have stopped quivering, and the fear on her face is basically non-existent. She looks like the Savannah I used to know, just a few years older.

“Hmm?” I ask when Savannah’s voice breaks through the fading childhood memories filtering through my mind.

They aren’t vanishing because I am forgetful; they are disappearing because they are being replaced with new, more important ones.

Savannah asked me years ago to teach her to swim. I never took up the task until today. It's only now do I realize what she said last night was true. River Phoenix’s DVDs were more accessible than me. Until I lost Savannah, I didn’t comprehend how accustomed I had become to her just being there. I’m not saying I took advantage of our friendship, but I certainly didn’t put in as much effort as Savannah did.

That’s set to change. From now on, I’m going to meet her dedication with an equal amount of enthusiasm, if not a little more.

After rubbing the groove between my eyes with her thumb, Savannah repeats, “You never answered me earlier. Do you think you’ll fight again?”

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