Page 63 of Never Will I Ever

From the blush still lingering on Avery’s skin, paired with the heat in his gaze as he looks at me, I have a sneaking suspicion his mind has gone to a similar place.

Clearing his throat, he breaks our connection and looks back at the frigid water.

“Are you really—”

I don’t have the chance to finish the rest of my question, but I don’t really need to when Avery’s actions answer for me. He takes two steps back from the ledge and then takes a running leap into the air. His body crashes through the water seconds later before disappearing from sight, leaving bubbles and ripplesin his wake.

“Like I said. Insane,” I mumble under my breath.

I watch the spot where his body vanished below the surface, waiting for him to reappear dripping wet and freezing, if only so I can gloat about being right. But as nearly a minute passes without any sign of him, I start to worry that the frigid water sent his system into shock and he drowned on my watch.

Ah, shit.

Instincts start kicking in, and I strip my shirt over my head and set to work on my boot laces. I’ve just toed them both off when I catch a blur moving in the water swimming back toward the surface.

“Holy shit,” Avery gasps, his damp hair and skin glistening in the sun. His eyes are comically wide when he turns toward me, and with all my panic now dissipating into the ether, I burst out laughing.

The look on his face is one I’ve experienced myself, because, as it turns out, I had the same bright idea Avery just acted on my first summer as a counselor. And much like him, I also quickly realized after jumping in just how much of a mistake it was.

“Shit. The first hit takes your breath away,” he says, but there’s a smile on his lips…even if they’re turning the slightest bit blue already.

“Full of regrets, huh?” I call out, unable to keep the smugness from my tone. It’s his own fault for not listening to me, yet again. Sometimes I think he does it just to spite me. “I’ve got myI told you soon hand whenever you’re ready to hear it.”

“As if I’d ever give you the satisfaction.”

Snorting, I shake my head. “No truer words have been spoken.”

Avery swims toward me until he’s lingering below the rocks he’d jumped off. The aqua hue of the water reflects off his eyes, making them appear even bluer than normal as he stares up at me.

“You decide to come in after all?”

What?

“Uh, no?”

“Then why” —he lifts his hand and motions to my chest— “are you half-dressed?”

I frown and glance down, only to remember my state of undress.

Oh, right.

“You took a minute to come back up. I was just preparing to play lifeguard and save your ass.”

He bursts out laughing and shakes his head, the water flicking off the ends of his hair from the movement. “Careful, LaMothe. Willing to freeze your ass off to save me? I might think you actually care about me or something.”

“More like I didn’t want to get fired for letting you die,” I toss back dryly.

That only makes him laugh harder, and the sound does something weird to my stomach. I don’t think I’ve heard him sound this carefree since…fuck, maybe sophomore year? The days we’d spend screwing around in the batting cages instantly come to mind, and I let myself linger in those moments as I slip back into my boots.

“Why’d you bring me here if you weren’t planning to take a little dip?”

Because it’s beautiful and I wanted to share it with you.

The thought hits me like a freight train, causing me to momentarily falter before responding with something a little safer than the unfiltered truth.

“Because I was looking for some fun today, and thought you might like to join. I didn’t take into account that you’d see a body of water and would automatically want to jump in it.”

His scoff floats on the breeze. “That’s like bringing a kid to a candy store and saying he’s only allowed to look.”

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