Page 53 of The Blonde Who Came in from the Cold
“Don’t tell me you can’t swim.” He grinned up at her, a challenge in his voice—a dare in his eyes. Then he pushed his wet hair back and droplets slid across his skin and—“Hello. Donna!”
Alex jumped so quickly, she surprised even herself, and when she came up, spitting and gagging, he was grinning in a way that made her want to drown him. “What?”
“I didn’t say anything.” But he wanted to. He wanted to mock her and... tease her? Alex wasn’t certain. He was still the most condescending man she’d ever known but there was something like fondness in his eyes. Like he was amused. With her. Like she was the only part of this whole thing that didn’t make him want to scream.
Flora was pulling large pieces of foam out from behind a boulder and setting them afloat in the water. They were like a cross between extrawide surfboards and yoga mats, and Alex could tell just by looking that King was in denial about where this was going.
“Lovers, choose a mat and join each other in Cupid’s sacred embrace.”
“I could be climbing... something... right now,” King growled as he held the mat still while Alex wriggled onto it, and then climbed on behind her. The mat dipped. She almost fell in. Together, they were trained in at least eight forms of hand-to-hand combat, but they were going to fail “trust falls” and Alex regretted ever mocking him.
There was no obvious current in the pool, but there was a massive waterfall, so the surface was choppy and unsteady and so were they. Alex and King were young and athletic and agile. They were also two of the most competitive people on the planet. King didn’t want to be here—doing this—but he’d rather die than be bad at it, and he wasn’t the only one.
“Lovers, bring your lovelies closer. Center yourselves on your mats and within your lover’s aura.”
“Are you the lover or the lovely? I’ve been meaning to ask,” King whispered.
“Shut up and spread your legs.”
“See... when you say things like that...” he grumbled while she scooted into the V of his thighs.
“No, Donna. Turn, lovely,” Flora said, and King cocked an eye as if to say,Well, I guess you’re the lovely, but Alex was too busy thinking... realizing...
“Lovers, entwine your bodies. Legs over legs. Arms around shoulders. Cuddle time is couple time. Donna, your legs should be...” Alex knew. She knew and so she did it, but that didn’t mean shelikedit. At all. They were wrapped together like a pretzel, mat floating in the water, bouncing with the not-quite-waves. They were seated, at least. But close. Very close. If either of them moved, they might tip, and tipping would mean losing, and they did not lose—ever. So Alex and King stayed on that floating mat in that ultimate paradise and tried not to look too much like people who had never been in love.
A voice echoed from across the water. “It’s not my fault you never learned how to swim, Todd.”
“Do you think we should help...”
“Get over here.” King pulled her closer. “Are you going to letthese people outcuddle us?” His big hand was on the small of her back, his big thighs were underneath her legs.
“Fine.” She scooted closer. Practically straddling him now.
“Lovers, breathe in unison with your lovelies. As one chest falls, another rises. Your breath becomes their breath.”
“Great,” King whispered. “Now you’re gonna kill me with carbon dioxide.”
“Is that a challenge?” Alex didn’t know how, but she got even closer.
“Cuddle time isn’t just about touch. It’s about contact.” Flora was walking around the shore like a very colorful drill sergeant. “Legs gripping. Torsos touching. Gazes locked and arms entwined. Contact isn’t touching—it’sjoining. Bodies. Hearts. Minds.”
Their mat had floated so close to the waterfall that Alex could barely hear Flora over the roar. She could barely see the others through the mist. She could barely remember the Farm or Cartagena or any of the reasons why it was weird to be on that mat in that place with that man. She wasn’t aware of anything but the feel of his chest brushing against hers, the caress of his breath on her skin, so warm she was suddenly covered in goose bumps. They were closer. Their grips were tighter. They were adrift somewhere in paradise, but she didn’t see a thing—not the rainbows or the couples or the cliffs.
Condensation pooled on her skin, and when King swiped a finger across her cheek, she felt it in her core.
“Well done, David! Donna!” Flora was saying, but Alex was too busy thinking about how she’d never noticed the little flecks of brown in his eyes. And then those eyes moved—just a flash. Just a flicker—down to her lips, and she could have sworn they both stopped breathing. His hands were warm on her back, pulling her closer. Holding her tighter—
“Sterling...” The word was more breath than whisper, and she couldn’t even scold him for the slip because they were lost behind a curtain of fog and mist and—
“Watch out!” someone yelled, but it was too late.
They were too close to the waterfall, and a split second later, the water hit the edge of the mat, pushing it under and flipping them both into the water and under the falls. For a moment, there was nothing but a constant, pummeling pressure, like a wave that never crested, pushing Alex down and holding her under. Beating her like a fist. Like a hundred fists. Bubbles floated all around her, but there wasn’t one to breathe, and Alex knew there was no coming up from this, no fighting nature or gravity or—
King. She had to get to King, and so Alex swam away from the bubbles, out from under the pressure of the falls and toward the hand that was grabbing, reaching, pulling her to the surface.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m...” She couldn’t catch her breath. She couldn’t even think. “I’m—”
