Chapter 38 You Mean You Travel Without a Bathing Suit?
You Mean You Travel Without a Bathing Suit?
Maisie
I’m frozen in place, shock at what almost happened rooting my feet to the room’s gray carpet. Connor was going to kiss me, right? There’s no other way to interpret what happened, but doubt still sits like a weight at the base of my stomach.
Connor lifts the lid off each dish on the cart with a casual ease I envy. Is it so easy for him to switch from what just happened? Or, I guess, almost happened.
He wheels the cart closer to me and waggles his eyebrows. “Can I have a fry?” He pouts pleadingly, then sits down at the edge of the bed, patting the space next to him.
“Yeah—not too many, though,” I say on autopilot.
I’ll share my food, but if he wanted fries, he should have gotten himself some.
A girl can only be so generous. I scooch onto the end of the bed beside him, my feet dangling.
Our elbows brush, and my cheeks heat. Images of our naked bodies pressed together filter unbidden through my mind.
I wonder what it would feel like…my towel dropping, but this time no clothes hindering our contact.
I suck in a breath and shake my head, reaching for a fry.
He looks at me out of the corner of his eye but doesn’t say anything. We eat in silence, and it should feel awkward, but that’s the great thing about being with Connor. Whether I’m charged with electricity at his touch or sad or upset, I’m still comfortable. Safe. We’re friends first and foremost.
He nudges my arm right as I’m about to put a ketchup-dipped fry into my mouth, the jostle knocking it back onto the plate.
“Hey!” I scold. “Don’t come between me and my fries. You’ll regret it.”
He grabs his stomach with a laugh, then reaches out to wipe away the stray drop of ketchup from my cheek with his thumb.
He brings it to his smiling lips. Licks it clean…
and winks. WINKS. The electricity beneath my skin returns on a current as strong as the ocean’s.
I can’t help but imagine his tongue elsewhere.
He’s being bold. Acting outside of his character.
He wants me, I think. He was going to kiss me.
I need to show I’m interested, too. I want this.
Yes. Logically, I know this could mess with our friendship, but the logical side of my brain is being fried by the spark racing under my skin, gathering at my core like there’s a conductor pulling it there.
I swallow and decide to be bold, too.
“Was your sandwich good?” I ask as I lean in ever so slightly, our sides touching along the full length of our upper bodies now. I let out a soft, contented sound, and he quirks a smile.
“It would have been better with some fries,” he says, but adjusts so his arm is around my back, his hand on the bed holding his weight.
I lean my head down slowly until it rests on his broad shoulder. I can feel his heart from here. It’s pounding into my ear like it’s calling my name.
Suddenly, nerves seize me by the throat, and I sit up abruptly.
He shuffles back, dumbstruck. “What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Should we go for a swim? We should probably swim, right?” My voice pitches higher on every word that stumbles out of my mouth.
His eyes widen momentarily but then quickly melt into their softened hazel pools of warmth, crinkling at the edges. “We obviously should go for a swim. But, I, uh—” he rubs the back of his head, pushing his thick hair forward “—didn’t bring a suit?” He shrugs, looking sheepish.
“You mean you travel without a bathing suit?” I laugh. “I didn’t know that was even a thing. What if you had to practice while we were home, or we got stuck from, oh, I don’t know, a blizzard?! And had to fly straight to a meet or something?”
As someone who plans for every scenario, I am flabbergasted that a man at his athletic level would travel such a long distance without a bathing suit. I might have more suits than regular outfits packed.
“We can still swim. I’ll just go in my underwear. It’s late enough we shouldn’t run into anyone else in there,” he says nonchalantly. Like swimming in his underwear in a public place is a common practice for him.
My confusion must show on my face because he barks out a laugh and grabs my hand, urging me to stand up with him.
“It’ll be fine, Betty. I’ll grab our key and wait outside. You change into your suit, and then we’ll walk down together. The worst that happens is there are people there and you can get in without me for a while, or we can come back to the room, whatever you prefer.”
He’s always giving me choices. Making it clear that he values what makes me comfortable and happy.
“What do you want to do?” I ask in a rush, the words running together.
“Huh?” One eyebrow bent.
“If we get there and there are people, which would you prefer? Stay and watch me swim, or come back to the room?” I enunciate so he can hear me clearly this time.
“Oh, hmm, I guess watch you swim. There’s something sexy about watching your body glide through the water.
I usually only get to see it when you’re diving.
Not that I don’t love that too—” he holds his hands up placatingly “—but it would be nice to watch you just…be. In the water. Swimming for pleasure, not having to perform.”
My mouth drops open, and I shut it so fast my teeth click. Sexy? He thinks I’m sexy? And he wants to watch me swim? My head suddenly swirls, feeling like it could float away, and I stagger back a step.
“Whoa, you okay?” He lunges to steady me, his massive hands wrapped around each of my biceps.
“Ha, yeah, sorry—I don’t know what that was. I’ll get changed and meet you outside.”
He eyes me warily for a moment, like he’s afraid I might pass out the moment he walks through that door, but finally relents, swiping the key off the bedside table and sauntering toward the door.
“Connor?” I call out before it closes behind him.
He turns expectantly toward me.
“I really hope there isn’t anyone else at the pool.”
His eyes darken and glide over my body with such intent that it feels like he’s physically touching me.
I hold my breath, worried that if I so much as allow my ribs to expand, this moment will vanish.
He slowly, so slowly, retreats backward through the door, his eyes never leaving me. He lets go of the handle, the door closing and forming an unwelcome divider between us.
I rush to change.