Page 66 of A Little Bit Reckless
“They don’t care about you.”
I could hear that voice again, the one that told me I was nothing and no one wanted me. It was that same voice that made me ignore Bru after what happened between all three of us at the boys’ house. Bru had reached out several times. I told him I hadn’t wanted to talk. For weeks, I did to him what Wells did to me tonight.
And all because of that voice.
“They don’t care about you.”
I was about to let myself go limp again. Maybe this time my body would hit the pool’s floor.
Maybe this time I would drown.
I closed my eyes, but I opened them when I heard a sound behind me. I immediately turned around.
My eyes flashed.
Hisdidn’t though, his green eyes harsh, narrowed. Wells Ambrose had a way of pinning me in place every time, but this time, I was in a pool in a very vulnerable position.
I was basically naked.
Completely aware I was in nothing but my bra and panties, I lowered below the water. In fact, the only thing I had above the water was my eyes, and that was enough to see Wells circulate the pool. He strode along it in his fitted tux and black shoes, his hands in his pockets. He stopped at the pool’s stairs and stared at me in a way that completely made me shrink.
As well as tighten my nipples.
I felt like an idiot for that and immediately hugged myself below the water as if he could see. I started to back away, but the mere shock of what Wells did next froze me in place.
He took off his jacket. In fact, he tugged it off, aggressive about it. He exposed the white button-up shirt beneath that was tailored perfectly to his broad shoulders. Then he took off his vest and tossed them both on a pile of clothes.
Mypile of clothes.
I shrunk again as Wells went for his cuff links. His face was red as he undid one, then the other. The next thing I knew, he was working the shirt off and exposing a white tank. I didn’t know what he was doing. Then, that went too, his tank. He worked it off, revealing his tanned abs with an anger on his face I didn’t understand.
If I could have physically gone beneath the water, I would have. I was frozen. After kicking away his shoes and pulling his socks off, he stripped his pants down to his boxers, then dove into the pool swimmer-style. He glided across the top like the expert swimmer I knew he was. I mean, he was a lifeguard in the past for a reason.
White-hot panic had me quickly swimming toward the nearest pool exit. I had no idea what Wells was doing, but it didn’t feel like a good thing.
He knew I wasn’t drowning, right?
This time, I’d been above the water when he spotted me, but I had considered letting myself sink to the bottom.
Dread hit me that maybe Wells did think I’d been drowning, and, when my back hit the pool wall near the stairs, I just stayed there. I watched Wells swim toward me, his broad figure beneath the water now. He looked like a shark before he breached the surface with a snap of his platinum-blond hair. He pushed his hair back, his eyes open, narrowed. He swam long strides toward me, and I hugged the wall.
My mouth parted as he came up on me, and again, I was very aware of my lack of clothing beneath the water. I was aware ofhislack of clothing too, and how beautiful he looked in the pool’s glowing lights. His blond hair back, his dark roots were exposed, the water dripping down his chiseled jaw to the solid build of his shoulders. Wells was a work of art and always had been.
“What are you,” I started to say, but then his strong jaw clenched. It was like my voice made him angry for some reason, and I didn’t understand why. I shook my head, water dripping from my chin to chest. I sucked in a breath. “I wasn’t drowning.”
There would be no other reason for him to come into the pool, and I wondered why he’d bother saving me at all. He obviously hated me and hated what happened between us. He hated what happened betweenall three of usbecause I’d seen him avoid Bru too. Not just me.
The fact made my chest sink, but I remained standing tall in front of him. I didn’t know how I had, but I managed.
Wells said nothing. His green eyes analyzed me, the water dripping down to my chest. His nostrils flared, and I hugged the wall again when he crowded me. He pressed one palm on eitherside of me. He had a long reach, but that still placed him a foot in front of my face.
I swallowed. “What are you doing?”
And how good he smelled. He smelled like him, Wells, and that had been one of my favorite parts that night at Legacy House. I loved how familiar Wells smelled to me. Between Bru and him, I’d been in euphoria.
I wished for that ally now, Bru. Especially when Wells managed to get closer to me. His jaw tightened. “I want to know something.”
Again, I didn’t understand.
