Page 32 of While You're There
Her body started moving through the water before she even made the decision to go to him. They had always been so attuned to one another, so keyed into the desires of the other. For as sweet and caring as he could be, Everhett Wheeler was an indomitable force when he set his mind to something.
She reached the diving board at the same second he extended his arm. He wrapped his hands around her forearms, steadying her in place so she didn’t have to tread. They locked eyes, each one tempting the other to either come in or get out. This game was intoxicating in the best and worst ways. She desperately wanted it to be over as much as she never wanted it to end.
“That’s mine,” he ordered, jerking his chin toward the bathing suit top she still held in her hand.
“You’re bossy tonight.”
“You like it when I’m bossy. Now give me that top.”
“A-And if I don’t?” she stammered. Rhett smirked. They both knew she didn’t have a leg to stand on, literally, as he held her suspended in the water.
“You’re the most stubborn person I know, V. Stubborn. Determined. Strong-willed. So fucking strong. We both know you’re not going to do anything you don’t want to do. There’s nothing I could say or do to convince you otherwise.” He shrugged. “But we also both know you want to give that to me right now.”
She released her grasp on the slick fabric as he snatched her top from the air before it fell into the water. He released both her arms, granting him the view she knew he was waiting for. His sharp intake of breath confirmed the moment his eyes landed on her bare chest.
“Good girl,” he moaned as he threw her bathing suit top off to the side of the pool deck.
Tori smiled as she stretched out, floating on her back as her breasts crested above the surface. The humid night air barely registered against her skin, but her nipples pebbled under his gaze anyways.
“So goddamn beautiful." His words were muffled because her ears were half submerged. The filter of the water just added to the hazy, dreamy tension that continued to rise between them. “Hey, V?"
“Yeah?”
“Swim over to the shallow end and do a handstand for me.”
She considered arguing with him but started to swim across the pool instead. Resisting Rhett was futile. She didn’t know what he had in mind, but she was more than willing to let him call the shots tonight.
“I haven’t done an underwater handstand in years.” She reached the halfway point of the pool. She was still on her back, staring up at the swirling clouds, letting herself succumb to the humidity in the air and the heat from his gaze. Everything felt hot. Everything felt heavy. And yet she was floating. She felt so weightless she wondered if she could fly.
“Think you’ve lost your touch?”
“No way. Just thinking I might need a spotter. Any volunteers?” She held up the bathing suit bottoms she had just slipped off. In that moment, he was a bull, and she was the matador, waving her flag and testing his resolve with one extended hand.
Your move, Everhett Wheeler.
“You’re trouble,” he groaned, running a wet hand over his face and through his hair.
“Get in here and prove it,” she taunted.
“We both know once I’m in, the show is over.”
“Like I said—get in here and prove it.”
Rhett just shook his head, narrowing his eyes on her from across the rippled surface of the water. “Go,” he commanded. “You’re going to miss it.”
Curious, she turned away from him and made her way to the shallow end. She cut fluidly through the pool, each movement inspiring a ripple of water against her bare skin. When she reached the shallowest section, she turned back to him and cocked her head to the side in question.
Rhett didn’t speak, but he nodded eagerly, urging her on as he cast his eyes up to the sky.
Tori dove forward, stretching out her arms until she felt the textured bottom of the pool scrape against her fingertips. She held her breath and starfished her fingers against the bumpy surface, extending her arms straight as she raised her lower body out of the water. She may have been in the shallowest end of the pool, but the water was still four feet deep on this end, meaning only her knees, calves, and feet reached out beyond the surface.
She held the handstand as she held her breath, feeling the cool, delicate raindrops tickling the soles of her feet. Each droplet was a kiss, each streak of moisture a caress. Memories flooded her mind before the sensation fully registered in her brain. Running barefoot through her backyard to meet him at the broken spot in the fence. Cannon ball competitions with Maddie and Jake. Stolen kisses and secret underwater touches when they thought no one was watching them. Handstand contests in the rain.
She let her arms give out, desperate to feel more than just the rain on her skin. She stood up and wiped the water from her eyes, keeping them closed for a few extra seconds. She knew he’d be right there when she finally came up for air. He’d always been right there.
She was right. He was in the water now, standing right in front of her, just out of arm’s reach. He peered down through his wet, dark lashes, his grey-blue eyes a little hazy from the bottle he’d been nursing for the last hour. “How’d you know it was about to rain?” she marveled as she met his steady gaze.
“Do you remember?” he asked instead of answering her question.
