“Definitely, although I’m not quite sure of any protocol for incorporating an American girl into Her Majesty’s Olympic men’s swim team.”
I studied her smile as we spoke, watched as her cheeks flushed when she laughed. Her eyes held a sense of mischief as we treaded water there and I wondered if she was enjoying herself as much as I was. It’d been ages since I’d hung around a girl and had a laugh, so long in fact, that I couldn’t even remember it.
“Well, let’s try one more lap,” she said. “I really think I can beat you this time.”
I nodded. “Do you want a head start?”
Instead of answering, she pointed over to the side of the natatorium with a puzzled look on her face. When I turned to see what had gotten her attention, she splashed a wall of water at my head and dove under the surface, swimming as fast as she could. I stayed where I was, watching as she made her way across the pool. I waited until she hit the other wall before I took off, and even then, I didn’t swim at my normal pace. We were lazy about it, swimming laps together. She tried to grab hold of my ankle under water, to sabotage me and slow me down, but she couldn’t grip tight enough. I pulled myself out of her hold and took off, always just a little too fast for her to catch up.
“I can’t do it,” she said halfway through our final lap of the day.
“What?”
She nodded her chin toward the starting wall.
“I can’t make it back. My arms don’t work any more.”
I smiled.
“Well, I guess you live here now.” I made out like I was going to swim away and leave her there, but she shouted after me.
“No! Stop!”
She could have pulled herself out of the pool and walked round the slow way, but I had a better, more selfish solution.
“Hop onto my back. I’ll swim us back to the other side.”
She narrowed her eyes at me and added a little smirk for emphasis.
“I’ve seen enough movies to know where that leads.”
I tilted my head as though I didn’t understand.
She shook her head. “We shouldn’t cross that line. If I get on your back and you make out like we’re just casually crossing the pool, it’ll be a sham. I don’t want to turn this afternoon into something I’m going to have to feel sorry about later.”
“Do you feel sorry about it now? Because I don’t. This has been the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
She smiled. “Me too. So let’s not ruin it.”
After we made our way back to the starting wall—me swimming back and Andie walking around the side of the pool—she and I sat on the ledge with our feet kicking up water. I passed her a spare protein bar and she tilted her water bottle in my direction to let me know I could have some if I wanted. There was nothing but silence while we caught our breaths. I could see her chest rising and falling out of the corner of my eye, but I kept my gaze ahead, too aware of how close her hand was to mine, too aware of the sound of her heavy breaths. She was right. The moment we touched, everything would change.
“Don’t you feel bad inviting girls to swim with you?” she asked, breaking the silence first. “Other women might get the wrong idea, with you in those booty shorts.”
“Booty shorts?”
She laughed.
“No,” I said, confidently. “I don’t feel bad. Not about this.”
“Caroline might.”
“I don’t really care what she thinks.”
It felt weird to acknowledge that out loud, like I was taking the Lord’s name in vain inside a church or something.
“Odd,” she said, sliding her eyes to me, “considering you’re about to be married to the woman.”
“If I had it my way, I wouldn’t be.”
I knew she probably suspected as much, but her brows rose in shock all the same. “So why don’t you end it?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“You already said that last night. I’m beginning to find that phrase really annoying.”
“Truthfully, I was never supposed to marry Caroline. She was intended for my brother Henry.”
“Wait. Seriously?”
I nodded.
“Were they in love?”
“No.”
She kicked up water with her foot.
“What is it with you people and not marrying for love?”
It did seem that way, though I hated to admit it.
“It’s sort of a long story.”
“Well, I still have half of this gross protein bar to get through, and you can’t swim for 30 minutes after eating, so spill.”
I smiled. “Right. Well, my brother was the oldest child and the heir to our family’s estate. Caroline’s family—the Montagues—have been family friends for as long as I can remember and it was established early on that Caroline and Henry would marry.”
“Why? To unite two powerful families? What is this, Game of Thrones?”
I laughed. “Actually yes. But with no White Walkers or King Joffreys.”
“Whew.” She smiled. “So then what happened? Why isn’t Caroline marrying Henry?”