I close my eyes as we fly out of the pool and above the house, as we soar up through the darkness toward the heavens.
I feel the stars around us, but I don’t look. I nuzzle my face into the neck of my angel and hold him tight, hoping he never lets me go.
Chapter three
Dare
“Are you guys fucking serious?”
I can’t believe I’m the one to say something.
Me.
I hardly spend my time looking out for anyone else’s well-being, but there is literally a girl drowning at the bottom of my damn pool, and no one is making a move to help her.
An average swimmer might not be able to do much more than toss something for her to grab onto without endangering themselves, but half the seniors on the swim team are here tonight, and we are certainly above-average swimmers.
I look at everyone crowded around, watching the girl thrash wildly at the bottom of the pool. One girl pulls out her phone to record it, but her friend grabs her arm and asks her if she’s fucking crazy.
Scofield from the swim team finally starts to pull off his shirt and move toward the water, but Anae stops him with a sharp, “Don’t.”
I look over at my girlfriend, hiking an eyebrow in disbelief.
She must feel my gaze on her because she looks back innocently. “What? She knows how to swim, she’s just trying to get attention.”
Anae’s fucking crazy, so I don’t take her word for it. I also don’t take her orders like the rest of these assholes, so I peel off my shirt, toss it behind me, and dive into the pool.
The girl is near the bottom when I finally get to her. She’s exhausted her body fighting to get back to the surface. She’s sinking, but I pull her up.
She hasn’t been down here too long, so she hasn’t lost consciousness yet. I’m prepared for her to panic again, to grab at me and try to pull me down with her.
When someone’s drowning and clinging to life, it’s not unheard of for them to drag their rescuer down in their desperation to get back to the surface. It’s animal instinct, a fight to survive. If pulling me down helps you get back up, you’ll pull me down 10 out of 10 times. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to themselves.
I’m not worried, though. I’m the strongest swimmer on the team. If she starts fighting again, I’ll immobilize her and tow her back to the surface, but there’s not a shot in hell she’s drowning me to save herself.
She doesn’t try to pull me down or climb over me, though.
As soon as I bring her in, she hugs me. I’m already caught off-guard, then she nuzzles closer, resting her head on my shoulder.
Before I break the surface, her limbs have fallen away from me and her body has gone limp. Her eyes are closed when I get her head above water, her long dark hair floating like squid ink in the water behind her body.
“Get the fuck over here and help me,” I bark at Scofield and Clemmons.
My orders trump Anae’s, so they hustle their asses over and help me haul the girl out of the water so I can climb out myself.
The girl lies motionless on the tile surrounding the pool.
I’m dripping water all over the fucking place, but I push what I can out of my hair so it doesn’t drip in her face when I lean over her, then I drop to my knees and see if she’s breathing.
She isn’t.
Fuck.
“Should we call someone?” Scofield says, glancing at me uncertainly.
“Oh my god, she’s fine,” Anae says, but this time there’s an edge of nervousness, like it might be occurring to her she’s taken it too far.
Not because the girl isn’t breathing, but because people are starting to question her.
I don’t answer. All my focus zeroes in on the girl and the noise around me dies away.
As a competitive swimmer, I know what to do in a situation like this. I tilt her head back and lift her chin to open her airway. I listen one more time to make sure she really isn’t breathing, and when I confirm she’s not, I position my hands in the middle of her chest and do compressions. After the first round, I pinch her nose, lower my mouth to hers, and breathe my air into her lungs.
I sense the nervousness of the people gathered around increase when I do a few rounds and the girl is still unconscious.
“Come on,” I murmur, pressing her chest, and then leaning down to press my mouth against hers again.
Relief hits hard when her body jerks and she starts coughing up pool water.
I sit back on my legs and breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
That was fucking close.
Even though it’s a hot night, the girl shivers as she tries to regain her bearings.