Chapter 28
Twenty-Eight
JESSE
I t was the pool of black satin and her underwear by the door to the pool that told me where she was. I picked them up and walked over to find her halfway through a length.
She was gliding through the water with a grace that I found incredibly attractive, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind and sat on the edge of the pool, her dress in my lap.
Thankfully, for me, she wasn’t naked in the pool. She had managed to procure a bikini from somewhere in the minutes since I had last seen her.
She didn’t acknowledge me, and I didn’t try to get her attention, perfectly content to sit there and watch while she rhythmically pulled her way through the water. I don’t know how long I sat there and watched her go from one end to the other, but I zoned out enough to not notice that she had stopped swimming. I realised when I felt a wet finger run along one of the veins on my forearm. When I looked down, she was leaning against the side, her hair pushed away from her face and fanning out behind her. Her mascara had smudged a little, but the rest of her make-up was intact.
“I didn’t know you were a swimmer?” I knew she went to the gym four times a week with at least one of the girls, but I’d never asked for details.
“I swim,” she clarified, as if that was somehow any different.
“You okay?”
“Never have I ever liked playing Never Have I Ever.” She smiled, her finger trailing higher up my arm until it reached the crook of my elbow.
“I’d drink, but I am without one.” My voice sounded deeper than normal. I cleared it. “You wanna talk about it?” I asked.
She was quiet for a moment, content to keep tracing the veins on my arm.
“I thought he asked me out as a joke. I don’t know what it says about me that I thought I was only worth being asked out as a joke, but there you go. When he didn’t show up, that just further cemented to me that it was.”
Clara was the only person I ever saw in any room. Even if I didn’t know for certain that she was there, I knew. Somehow, I always knew. The idea that she thought anyone would ask her out as a joke broke my heart.
“What happened?” I asked gently.
“He’s Gavin’s best friend. They were thick as thieves. And he went to bat for Drew. I gave him a second chance because I trusted Becky’s judgement. I didn’t think she would date someone who had friends that were assholes, so it seemed like a good bet.”
“Did he even have a good reason for standing you up?”
She laughed, but it was lifeless. I didn’t want to hear that version of her laugh ever again.
“He was apologetic, but the excuse for not showing up was pitiful at best. He wouldn’t get a second chance now. But back then? I was just lonely and desperate enough to let it slide. After that, he did all the things I felt like I should want. He was good to me, and I felt safe around him. It was easy. Comfortable. I dunno, on paper, it was the kind of thing that should work. Was supposed to work. Maybe if I hadn’t changed, we still would be working. But he was right, I’m not the girl he fell in love with, and I know now that isn’t a bad thing.”
She fell silent for a moment, her fingers tracing aimless patterns on my arm.
“So, tell me, are you one of those naturally smart people, or did you have to study really hard?” she asked eventually.
“The first one.” Clara smiled as she floated onto her back. I missed the presence of her fingers on my skin. “Hey, where did you get the bikini from?”
“Rachel. She runs to deal with her emotions. I swim. It was a direct hit on both of us, and Rachel knew I would end up here. That’s my favourite bra you’ve got there. You think I would ruin it with chlorine?”
“You could have been naked,” I countered.
“I would not have just let you sit there if I was naked.” She brought herself upright and swam back to me.
“What would you have done?” I asked.
Her hand came to rest on my calf under the water. “Told you to leave. Or demanded you level the playing field.”
I hoped the cloak of darkness and the blue light of the pool would mask the fact that I was turning red. I was glad that her dress was covering my lap. All these light touches were driving me wild.
“What about if I was someone else?”
Her fingers moved slowly up my calf until they reached my knee, and she started drawing patterns again. “Anyone else would have left the second they saw me swimming.”
“Should I have gone?” I asked.
“No, you were fine. You should have come in.”
“I’m not wearing swimwear.”
“I’m sure your boxers could have handled the chlorine. Plus, I wouldn’t have minded the alternative.” She squeezed my leg, which caused my brain to short-circuit.
Clara seemed completely unbothered as she pushed herself out of the pool.
“You wanna get ice cream and watch a film?” she asked as she walked over to one of the loungers, where a towel was waiting for her.
“Yeah, sounds good,” I called over my shoulder as I stood up. I tried to make her dress hang over my crotch in a way that looked natural. I had the time it took for us to get back to our room to kill my erection. I just had to not look at Clara or think about the fact that I was holding her underwear.
Easy.