Page 71 of The Battery
“Just making sure you guys are all set,” I said. Marley smiled, then turned his attention back to Cody.
“Okay, now I’m going to press down and apply light pressure. Tell me when it feels uncomfortable.” He knee-walked a few inches forward for a better angle. He was wedged right up to Cody. I hadn’t even been in that position yet. I felt steam erupt from my ears.
Remove yourself, killer, or you’ll actually become one.
I went back upstairs to cool off.
I put on a swimsuit and leaped into the deep end to sit at the bottom of the pool for forty-five seconds. I surfaced, pushed my hair back, and waded to clear my head. Looking back, I couldn’t recall feeling true jealousy except for overly dramatic emotions from my youth. As I got older, the more I understood my relationships as transactional. If someone didn’t like me, they could leave. If they became interested in someone else, well, I could always find another and easily. No one ever stayed for more than two weeks. Guy, girl, it never mattered. As long as they were warm and willing, I would have my fill and fun.
This feeling would have to get checked. I already felt like pushing the limits by insisting Cody move in. What kind of person would I be, demanding he change out his physical therapist simply because the man was gorgeous? That wasn’t fair to Cody. It wasn’t fair to me.
I dropped below the water again and sank to the bottom. My ears popped as my rump hit the floor. Pure silence, the water colder down here. I mastered the stupid, jealous rage. It served only vices and that was not something that could be used to my advantage for the game. And really, maybe it was a good thing? It confirmed my feelings for Cody, not that I needed to explore it. I was jealous of another guy touching my man.
Mine.
There. I smiled. A big one. One that no one ever got to see, safe here at the bottom of my pool.
Oh, yeah. That jealousy came from a place of not just desire, but true, deep, beautiful affection. Positioned for much, much more.
I rocketed back up to the surface to see Cody standing at the side of the pool. He was slowly and arduously making his way to sitting on the edge to dip his legs in. I swam over to help him but he managed on his own. I floated to the edge so that his knees went to either side of my head. As if by vestigial reaction, he hooked his feet around my back to tug me closer.
“You, sir,” Cody said and pointed at me with his index finger, “need to check yourself.” I dipped half my face below the water. I didn’t want to respond. He then added, “I mean, heisgood look—”
I splashed him. Fully. Without remorse. Shock bloomed on his face, followed by a controlled laugh that made him clutch his side. I had completely soaked his t-shirt and shorts.
After he recovered, he shot me with a sly grin. “So youarethe jealou—”
Another tsunami crashed into him. This time he let out a gasp of air. He started to say my name but I hit him with another splash. He was now thoroughly soaked and stripped off his t-shirt.
Ah, shit, I realized as he looked at the monitor seated over his heart. I swam to the edge and popped out deftly and dropped beside him. “Dammit. Didn’t realize you had that on.”
He gave a careful inspection, probing the edges of the silicone stickum. “I think it’s okay. It’s waterresistant, not waterproof.” He turned on me and hit me with what appeared to be an attempt at contempt.
A pang of guilt hit me. In my need to be silly—which was just ridiculous, in hindsight—I may have caused damage to a critical piece of equipment meant to monitor his heart rate for a month. The word was on the tip of my tongue and instinct told me to clamp down and not release it.
But that was the way of the past.
“Sorry,” I said. “I hope it didn’t cause too much damage.”
He looked up from the patch. Hit me with a look. “It’s fine. No worries.” That smile of his dimmed into soft concern. “Listen, Leo. You really don’t have to be jealous. To be honest, I haven’t looked at another person in that way since I laid eyes on you.”
I reached up and rubbed the stubble on my chin. “So you’re saying you hit me on purpose, like what kids do when they like each other? Finally. An admission.”
He tried to elbow me but the hit put too much pressure on his chest. He shifted into a scoff instead. “You don’t have to worry about me wandering and looking around, all right?”
I braced my palms against the edge of the pool and kicked my legs to agitate the water. “You’re saying this is an exclusive thing, then.”
Cody had been staring at me as if he could read something. “You’ve never been in a relationship before, have you?” He exhaled sharply. “That is, I mean, not to say, y’know, we’re notina relationship right now, I just…”
I put a hand on his knee. My eyes stayed on the water. I let my legs relax. Felt the heat of the sun on my shoulders burning off the water. “No. I haven’t been. I was always more of the hot, heavy, and short-term kinda guy. Like when we first started off.”
“And now?”
“I practically forced you under my roof. Told you we’d ‘date’ and I’d try to keep my hands off of you while you’re recovering. I thought I could divide those things.” I shook my head. “Way harder than I thought.”
Cody slipped his hand under mine and laced our fingers together. “What do you mean?”
I could tell he was loving this. The Spartan, opening up about hisfeelings. “I want to simultaneously fuck your brains outandexplore the furthest corners of that mind to know your soul. And I have no idea how to reconcile those two things.”
