Page 24 of Phoenix

She stands at the pool’s edge for just a moment before diving in. She’s so graceful she hardly makes a splash.

I don’t know exactly how long I stand here, watching, spying, but she swims from one end to the other over and over and over. Only pausing for brief periods of time to catch a breath or two.

She’s free in the water. I can tell. I find myself becoming envious of her ease with it. I’d give anything to conquer the one thing that turns me back into a little boy.

She has disappeared under the water again, and I can’t really make out where she is until her head breaks the surface near the stairs. Her hands slide over her head, slicking her hair back and out of her face, as she turns to sit on the second stair.

Her bottom half is under the water, but her top half is fully exposed.

She leans back with her hands balanced on the stairs and arches her chest out, like she's stretching her neck and her back, but all she’s doing is giving me a primo view of her breasts. I am a man after all, so her position only makes me wonder if that’s how she’d look coming with my head between her thighs.

I swallow hard, making an audible sound like in the movies. I nearly have to grip the wall to keep myself from marching in there and taking her like the caveman she turns me into.

I close my eyes and look down, taking a breath and counting to thirty. She drives me fucking mad. Some would say it’s because I want her and haven’t had her, but I know better. It’s because she’s just...perfect.

She’s also a magician because when I open my eyes—and look up for one last peek—she’s gone.

Nora

His eyes on me felt good. Really good.

I didn’t see him at first, of course, but the minute I did, I didn’t want him to know. I wanted to see how long he’d watch me, and I didn’t want to embarrass him.

Though, I may have laid it on a little thick with that arched back, chest pop thing I did on the stairs, but a girl has to have fun sometimes, right?

I step into the shower inside the women's locker room and let the cool, crisp water wash over the top of my head and down my body, rinsing the chlorine from my skin.

I didn’t intend on coming here this morning, but with the rain and the need for a swim after being unable to sleep all night, I had to.

I waited for Grayson to wake, as he does at the ass crack of dawn, then I sweet-talked him into letting me use his truck, and I came right here with his gym membership card.

I wonder what Case was doing here so early?

Not that I’m complaining. As much as I’ll deny it if anyone asks, I enjoy his presence.

I reach into my shower bag and pull out my coconut shampoo and lather up my head, inhaling the sweet tropical scent.

I take my time, enjoying the seclusion and silence the shower brings. The steam opens me up and relaxes me. The steady sound of the water hitting the tile grounds me. Water, of all kinds, truly is my happy place.

When I finish in the shower, I turn off the water and wrap in a towel, stepping out into the cool locker room.

I dress myself in a pair of cutoff jean shorts and a red tank top, forgoing a bra since I’m going right back to the house and right back to bed.

I leave my hair wet and slightly wavy, because the rain will destroy it anyway, and obviously, I can’t be bothered with makeup.

Gathering up my things, I head down the long glass hallway by the pool and open the door into the lobby, nearly colliding with someone or something that was standing just on the other side.

“Oh! Shit.” The collision makes me drop all of my things to the floor, bag of clothes included, sending my bra and panties flying across the marble floor.

“Nora, holy shit. Are you all right?”

I feel strong hands wrap around my arms and pull me to my feet like I weigh nothing. I blow my hair out of my face and my eyes meet the hazel irises of Case Carmichael’s.

We stand there silently for a moment, just staring at each other like we are entranced, and a small smile curls at the corners of his lips. I open my mouth to speak, but a shrill, too high voice breaks through the moment.

“Uh, Case, I think she hit her head on the fall. She’s not answering.”

I look to my left and find the reason Case was standing here in the first place. Some brunette beauty with clearly fake boobs and a face full of makeup.

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