Chapter 15 #2
Pulse pounding in my ears, I quickly peeled off my undergarments and kicked them into a pile with the rest of my clothes, all while keeping an eye on JJ to make sure he didn’t peek.
It took me a moment to find the ladder in the dark, but once I did, I lowered myself into the lake, hissing at the brisk temperature.
Only once I’d pushed away from the dock and swam out a few yards did I give JJ the go-ahead.
“Okay,” I called, treading water.
Five seconds later, I heard the slap of bare feet against the dock, followed by a whoop of glee.
JJ hit the water with an explosive splash, and when he resurfaced, he immediately glanced around for me.
I let myself sink lower so only my nose and eyes were above the surface, but he spotted me anyway and started swimming in my direction with a slow, lazy breaststroke.
“No,” I said, pointing my finger at him. “You stay over there.” It was hard to see much of anything under the dark water, but I didn’t trust JJ to behave.
Or maybe I didn’t trust myself.
Against the backdrop of night, JJ’s smile was a brilliant white. “Now where’s the fun in that?”
I splashed him, hoping to ward him off, but JJ ducked below again and disappeared. He popped back up a few seconds later, only a handful of feet away from me. I squealed, sent another spray in his direction, then dove under.
The water was brisk but nothing in comparison to the Frozen Dip.
More a friendly reminder than anything painful, like nature had leaned in close and whispered, you’re still here.
Extending my hands above my head, I dolphin kicked toward the center of the lake, swimming as far as my lungs allowed.
When I finally resurfaced, I’d almost made it to the swim raft.
With a few quick strokes, I reached the side.
“Damn, girl,” came JJ’s voice from somewhere behind me. “You’re a little fish.”
“My mom forced the three of us to join our middle school swim team,” I explained, twisting around to look for him as I clung to the edge. He was still a few yards out, steadily making his way toward me in slow strokes. “I quit after three years, but some of it stuck.”
JJ didn’t respond right away, focusing instead on reaching the floating platform.
When he finally did, he made sure to keep to the other side.
Once he caught his breath, he said, “Pretty sure the extent of my swimming lessons started and ended with my dad chucking me in the deep end of the local community pool and telling me to figure it out.” I must have looked horrified, because he was quick to add, “I was fine. He wouldn’t let me drown, but he’s always been a tough love kind of guy. ”
“That’s pretty intense.” And it explained a lot.
He shrugged. “To me, it was normal.”
“Normal for my dad was carrying My Little Pony and Scooby-Doo Band-Aids around in his pocket in case one of us scraped our knee,” I said. “Can you close your eyes for a minute? I want to jump off the raft.”
As I pulled the ladder into the water, JJ made a show of covering his face with a hand.
“No peeking,” I instructed, then hoisted myself out of the lake. The night air was cool against my bare skin, making goose bumps ripple up my body. “Oh my God, it’s freaking freezing!”
“Says the girl who did a polar bear plunge,” JJ replied, but instead of answering him, I ran across the platform and flung myself back into the water with a delighted scream.
As if I’d plunged into a giant glass of champagne, bubbles rose around me as I let myself sink to the bottom.
There was something peaceful about the darkness surrounding me, so I held my breath and enjoyed the calm until my lungs started to burn.
Once I resurfaced, I wiped my bangs out of my eyes and swam back to the ladder.
JJ had edged around his side of the raft so only the corner separated us, but I let it slide; instead of the mischievous look he normally wore, there was a puzzled expression on his face, like he was contemplating something serious.
“I have a question for you,” he said, his eyes sliding up to meet mine.
“Ask away.”
“You don’t swear.”
“Pretty sure that’s not a question.”
He scoffed and splashed me. “You know what I mean. I’ve never heard you cuss, not once. There’s nothing wrong with that, but for some reason, you don’t strike me as a ‘freaking’ kind of girl.”
“Well,” I said, trying to buy myself time.
Because how was I supposed to answer that? We were having such a good time together, and I didn’t want to ruin the mood. But judging from the intense way he was holding my gaze, JJ already knew the answer to his question. He just wanted to hear me say it out loud.
The sigh I was holding in slipped out, and I gave him exactly what he was digging for. “Every little bit counts, right?”
“I don’t know,” he said, the line between his brows deepening. “Maybe.”
“How can it not?”
“Look, I’m not a religious person, so maybe I’m completely wrong, but if the big guy upstairs won’t let someone like you in because of a colorful vocabulary?” He shrugged. “Then we’re all totally screwed.”
“Someone like me?” What was that supposed to mean? Just because I was sick didn’t mean I deserved a free pass to heaven.
He nodded. “Yeah, someone like you—caring, vibrant, kind.”
“Oh.” His straightforward reply caught me so off guard, it was the only response I could muster.
“Besides,” he continued, waving his hand animatedly, “you just said ‘Oh my God.’ Isn’t that taking the Lord’s name in vain?”
“I…well, yeah. I guess I never considered that.”
Finally, he grinned. “So let loose. One little swear isn’t going to damn you to hell for all eternity.
” The hesitation must have been clear on my face, because he was speaking again before I could respond.
“I’m amending my earlier suggestion. For number sixteen, we have to go skinny-dipping while cussing at the top of our lungs.
Preferably the f-bomb. Go big or go home. ”
“You sure like your amendments, don’t you?” I replied, not giving him an answer, but I didn’t need to. He knew he’d won from the smile on my face.
“On the count of three?” he asked.
I glanced around as if we were having this conversation in a library or a crowded church, not clinging to a swim raft under the cover of darkness. “Okay, fine.”
“On the count of three? One, two, three—”
“Fuck!” we both screamed in unison.
As the word echoed across the lake, along with the sound of our laughter, a tight feeling I hadn’t noticed loosened inside my chest. Of all the burdens I carried, I didn’t know why I’d held on to this one for so long. It felt good to finally let it go, no matter how minuscule.
“Wow,” I said. “That was—wow.”
JJ’s eyes gleamed as he watched me. “Felt pretty good, didn’t it?”
“Freeing, yeah.” The entire evening felt magical somehow, like it was a piece of someone else’s life. “Thanks for tonight. This was a good suggestion.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded.
“So.” He inched closer as he grinned at me. “What’s next on your list for us to tackle?”
“Well, have you ever been to a Renaissance festival before?”