Page 19 of A Little Bit Reckless

I grimaced, my brother’s friends like brothers to me. We’d all known each other since we were in diapers, and she was right that I didn’t see them that way.

Mostly.

Chewing my lip, I tried not to stare at Wells, who was lifeguarding today. My brother and his friends all did that summer, but only Wells was out here today.

He smiled at me.

It was subtle, but the wink he gave in my direction wasn’t. It made my stomach spasm and flutter, and I started to lift my hand and wave, but the girl in front of him splashed him. She sent a strong current of water in his face, and Wells laughed.

He was always laughing.

The water completely drenched him, but all he did was splash her back. He then rubbed her head like a puppy, whichwas cute and flirty. He was always flirting. He was easy to flirt with. He was so nice.

I hugged my legs, studying him and that girl. He’d forgotten about me now, but he didn’t usually. Out of all my brother’s friends, he always made sure to include me in things. He even stood up for me when the others treated me like a little kid sometimes. He never babied me or treated me like one.

My butterflies left as Wells sat on the side of the pool. He put a leg up, his muscled arm on it. He had lots of muscles since he and the other guys played football for Windsor Prep. The girl continued to kick her legs in front of him, clearly flirting. Wells had flirted with a boy earlier today. He was always flirting because people flirted with him, but he typically didn’t for this long.

My cheek touched my knees, my stomach tight. My feet touched the wet concrete. “I’m going in.”

I did before my friends said anything, rushing. I didn’t plan on getting wet today since Wells was lifeguarding. I didn’t know why, but I didn’t care about my hair or anything else when I got in the pool.

I ended up sinking.

I could swim just fine, but I let myself fall, my eyes closed. I let my arms extend in the water. I didn’t want to open my eyes. I just wanted my stomach to not be so tight.

It was so tight.

A rush hit me when a hard body slammed into me, held me. Firm arms came around me, and the next thing I knew, air filled my lungs.

Wells.

He’d brought me to the surface and was yelling something. People were screaming too, girls, guys. Two of the girls sounded like Jasmine and Leigh, but it was like my brain turned off. Like Icouldn’t hear them anymore because the only thing I was aware of was Wells’s voice.

“Bow,” he said, swimming so hard with me in his arms. His arms felt good, warm. “Bow, hang on.”

He cradled me like a small child, and my eyes closed. I felt drunk, euphoric. He ended up carrying me out of the pool in his arms, my legs dangling, and I held on to him like a bear cub.

He feltsowarm.

“Everyone get out of the way!” Wells said, and he laid me flat on the wet concrete. He hovered over me, and I saw that right before his mouth touched mine.

Oh, God.

My eyes closed again, air from his mouth breathing into mine. I’d never touched my mouth to a boy’s, but it didn’t feel icky. Not like it would with Ares or Dorian.

No, this didn’t feel icky.

Wells’s breath was warm, and he tasted like syrup. He was always eating sweets, and he gave me sweets too. Buttercups and fruit chews.

“Bow?”

My eyes shot open. Wells’s green eyes were on me. He had eyes like green quartz or jade. He frowned. “Bow, are you not…”

He didn’t finish his sentence, scanning me. He’d clearly thought I wasn’t breathing, but that wasn’t the case. I could breathe just fine. Kinda.

It was hard when his mouth touched mine, and, seeing I was breathing, Wells sat back. He lifted my head. “Are you okay? You were at the bottom of the pool and you weren’t moving.”

He thought I’d been drowning.