Chandler
CHANDLER
I f I get through these next few days alive, I’ll be surprised. Pretty sure Sam was imagining committing an act of murder against me during our argument. Hopefully, she doesn’t try to drown me in the pool, which happens to have no occupants. I spot Sam sitting on the far side of the pool on a lounge chair in the shade. My heart lurches, and all of the blood rushes down south. She’s wearing a sage green bikini, and her hair is pulled back. My eyes scan over her beautiful body and spot a tattoo of a blue hummingbird on her ribcage. She also has a belly button ring. I am as fucked as ever. I sit in the lounge chair next to her, and I don’t know if she’s distracted or just ignoring me.
“Hey," I say.
She replies without looking up from her phone. “Hey.”
“Are you still mad at me?”
She looks up from her phone at me, and I notice her eyes roaming over my torso for a moment before looking back up at my face.
“I don’t know what it’s like not to be mad at you. ”
Wow. Well, I guess I can’t blame her for that. This is the longest we’ve had to spend together without having any time apart, so I guess we should have expected things to escalate at some point. Maybe we can still turn things around. I smile at her.
“We’re terrible at this truce thing.”
She looks at me deadpan. “Oh really? I haven't noticed."
Well, this is going great. She stretches her arms above her head, and when she does, her chest pops out a little, her breasts right in my line of sight. Jesus Christ. I need to cool off. “I’m going to go jump in the pool.”
“Have at it," she says and goes back to scrolling on her phone. The water is hardly cooler than the air. It feels more like a lukewarm bath rather than refreshing, so much for cooling off.
“You want to get in?” I holler at Sam.
“I’m good!”
“What’s the point of being at the pool if you’re not going to swim?”
“To get some sun!”
“You’re in the shade!”
“Then to get some fresh air!”
“I dare you to jump in!”
“I don’t do dares, ! I’m not 16!”
“Me neither!”
“Could have fooled me!”
I'm not sure why I do it. Maybe it's the tension from the kiss last night or from our argument from earlier. Or maybe I have a death wish, but I lift myself out of the water and run up to her, quickly slinging her over my shoulder, and she screams.
“Put me down! What the hell are you doing?”
“You’re not getting out of this one, Sam," I say. I hold her tighter when she tries to get out of my hold. “! If you throw me in the pool, I swear to god I will murder you!”
“Careful, this place has cameras.”
“Put me down," she grits through her teeth. I imagine me throwing her into the pool and then hurting her ankle or, worse, hitting her head at the bottom. The thought makes my chest tighten. Jesus. What the fuck is up with me?
I set her down next to the pool and take a step back. If looks could kill, I’d be disintegrated. “That wasn’t funny!”
“The only reason I didn’t do it is because I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
"Yeah, right!"
“Seriously! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you got hurt because of me," I say. For some reason, I have an overwhelming need for her to believe me. But the thought of anything bad happening to her makes me feel like I can't breathe. There's a momentary pause while she processes what I've just said, and I notice her cheeks turn a shade of pink.
“Well," she says, looking away from me. "That most definitely would have ruined our truce."
“Maybe you actually getting into the pool and playing a game of Marco Polo would strengthen our allegiance?” I ask, hopeful.
She looks deadpan at me, shaking her head. “You really are a child.”
"Got any better ideas?"
She bites her bottom lip and places her hands on her hips, and I have the urge to grab her hips, pull her to me, and kiss her again. God, it’s like I’m some horny teenager or something.
"Fine. I'll play Marco Polo with you!"
I jump back in the pool while Sam takes the stairs .
She says, "This water does not give off ‘come on in the water is fine’ vibes.”
“Nope!”
“It’s like swimming in sauna water!”
“Sure is!”
Once she's fully in the water, she says, "Okay, let’s do this."
I close my eyes.
“Marco!”
“Polo!” I hear to my left and tread lightly through the water toward the sound.
“Marco!”
“Polo!” She's behind me now, and I turn, hearing the sound of moving water
“Marco!”
“Polo!”
She’s close. I reach out in front of me, my hand coming into contact with something smooth and firm. I open my eyes, and she’s right in front of me. My hand is right on her breast, and my left hand is touching her face. She looks completely unamused. I pull my hands away from her quickly, and I expect her to move away, or kick me, or drown me. She doesn’t, she looks up at me, her nostrils flaring slightly. I move closer to her, but she still doesn’t move away. We’re staring at each other, and her eyes roam over me again. She has a similar look to the one she had last night. That alone is enough to drive me wild. I use my hand to move a loose piece of wet hair from her face. I catch her eyes flicking to my lips for just a second. We’re both breathing heavily, and the air around us thickens even more when I run my thumb down her cheek and over her bottom lip.
“," she says softly. “I thought we agreed it was a mistake.”
“We did," I say, my heart pounding. “But I never said it didn’t mean anything. ”
She swallows, and I tilt her jaw at an angle, leaning in closely. Her eyes start to close, and when I kiss her, she moans, her hands finding my shoulders. I hold her hip with my other hand, feeling her bare skin under the water, and I feel myself harden. She pulls me closer, and I press her into the edge of the pool, our tongues mingling. I bite her bottom lip, and she gasps like she did last night. I fucking love that sound . I trail my lips down her jaw to her neck and roll my hips into her. She wraps her legs around my waist, and I can't stop the groan that escapes the back of my throat. I pull back and kiss her lips again, her hips now rolling into me, and I can feel the heat of her core through my swim shorts.
"God, Sam," I murmur. Her hand goes to my hair and tugs just a little before going to my back. She whimpers when I bite her bottom lip again. I could listen to her make that sound all day. I hear the sound of my phone ringing, my sister's ringtone.. when we pull away, we're both breathing heavily, her legs still around my waist, my hands still tight on her hips. She unwinds her legs from me, and I let go of her, feeling an ache in my chest when I do. My phone rings again, and we look toward the lounge chair that it’s sitting on.
“You should probably get that," she says, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths, her cheeks flushed. Damnit Cheyenne.
“I probably should.”
I don’t move for several seconds, mostly because I’m still hard, and I don’t want to move. But eventually, I do.
“Hello?” I say, my voice thick.
“Hey, bro. Still on for tonight, right?”
“Yep," I say quickly. “We will see you there.”
“Six on the dot," she says and hangs up. I sigh and look at Sam. She gets out of the pool, grabs a towel, and wraps it around her body, shielding it from my sight .
“We should probably get ready to go," I say, my voice still dense.
“Okay.” She doesn’t meet my eyes.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She nods and grabs her things, still avoiding my gaze. “I’ll meet you in the lobby.”
“Okay," I say and watch her walk back inside. I’m not sure what the fuck is happening with us, but we need to fix it.