“You’ll be fine. Come on,” he encourages. I bend down and slide off the wooden floor surrounding the pool. The pool feels like bath water and I have to admit, it feels fantastic.
“Where are you?” I wade through the water, careful to step softly as there seem to be several large rocks, when suddenly a light comes on.
“Right here,” he answers and tosses the flashlight twenty feet away from us in the water. My arms wrap around my chest as I attempt to cover myself. The water is clear, which means with the flashlight illuminating it, it’s easy to make out our very naked bodies in the water.
“George!” I shriek.
His brows rise to his hairline as he takes in the sight of me. “I didn’t think you’d get completely naked.” He’s laughing loudly, and mentally, I recant my previous sentiments about how addicted I am to his laughter.
“I wouldn’t have if I had thought you’d throw a flashlight in the water!” I snap. “Turn it off!”
He only laughs harder.
“It’s in the water. Shouldn’t it have died already?” I squawk.
“Nope.” His laughter ebbs as his dark eyes focus intently on me. “Waterproof.” The word drifts through the air, deep and throaty.
Why did the word ‘waterproof’ just sound so erotic coming out of his mouth?
In an attempt to remain focused, I ask, “Did I mention that one of the first things my brother ever taught me was how to kick a guy in the balls?”
He’s laughing again.
One of those open mouth, I can see his amazingly-white-straight-teeth laughs. Okay, I really am addicted. Damn, him.
“I hate you right now,” I say, as I fight the laughter that’s attempting to bubble up my throat and out my mouth.
“Okay, okay,” he sighs and steps toward the flashlight before sinking in the water and crying out in mock anguish. “My ankle! I can’t move! I’m sorry, Charlotte, I can’t turn off the light.”
Glaring at him, I say, “I should blacken your other eye.”
As he continues to laugh, he swims toward me, causing me to back into the deck surrounding the pool. When I can’t back away any further, I’m forced to wait until he’s just a foot before me. My arms are so tight around me, my boobs are smushed up, the tops completely on display.
George’s brown eyes are trained on me as he stands to his full height, the water’s surface meeting his hips. Keeping my gaze on his, I refuse to let myself look down and see what’s below the water’s surface. “I don’t mind if you see me naked, Charlotte.”
“Shocking,” I say, dryly. “I’m sure you don’t. You’re a guy.”
“Maybe that’s part of it,” he concedes. “But you’ve seen more of me than anyone has in a long time. All the ugly parts. Things I’m not proud of.” When he runs a hand through his hair, my eyes disobey me and move to his abs and the delicious, deep V-shape on his hips. God, they’re beautiful. My fingers itch to reach out and slide down them. Then he says, “I want to know all of you, too. The good, the bad, and the ugly.”
My heart beats wildly with his words. I know deep down this is the moment I should tell him about me, about what I can do, but I’m not ready to come clean for a multitude of reasons. One being, what if he thinks I’m a liar? Or worse, what if he hates me for keeping this secret all this time? Or even worse, what if it speeds up Ike’s crossover? God, that’s such a selfish thing to even think. Ike wants to crossover. He’s been living in limbo for months, but that selfish part of me still isn’t ready for him to go yet. Ike is the only friend I have. I can’t tell George the truth. Not yet. So I stand to my full height and let my arms drop. Standing naked in front of someone makes you vulnerable, exposed. Maybe I can’t tell him everything, but I can show him this, something I’ve never shown anyone before. I can’t breathe as George’s gaze moves down my body and back up again. His mouth is in an even line, his chest rising and falling with each breath he takes. The lighting from the flashlight in the pool illuminates his skin and hair, flickering in his eyes. Even battered and bruised, he’s beautiful.
I’ve never been completely naked in front of a man before. I was a virgin before the accident and probably would have lost my virginity to Will, the guy I had kind of been dating at the time. But the accident took that from me and being a freak that can speak to the dead for the last six years hasn’t helped my love life at all. But feeling George’s eyes on my body excites me, preventing me from being embarrassed.
“I lied to you,” George says, quietly stepping toward me again. I tilt my head. That’s not what I was expecting to hear. “I said I wouldn’t kiss you until I knew I was clean and didn’t look like a punching bag, but I can’t wait that long.”