Page 53 of Finding Grey
He let go as soon as I was under the surface, but instead of rising straight back up I pushed off the nearby wall and streaked around to the back of him. He laughed when I came up behind him and wrapped an arm around his neck. Pulling backward, I pushed the ball of one foot against the back of his knee to destabilise him before yanking him off his feet. We both went under that time, but we’d had enough time to drag in more air. I let him go as we went down, but he twisted to face me and grabbed on to my wrist. I tried to free myself, but he only used the opportunity to take hold of my other wrist. He had me trapped.
We rose to the surface and, as the water sluiced down our bodies, I continued trying to wrench myself free. “Oh no, you don’t,” he told me, grinning like a maniac. “I’ve got you now, and I’m not letting go.”
A whole different type of atmosphere dropped on top of us and my laughter died. The words sounded like a dream come true, but it was a dream I’d had in another lifetime. It didn’t hold up in this one.
When I took a deep breath and sank below the water, he followed me. Down we went, down, until we stood on the bottom of the pool, staring at each other. A few air bubbles escaped his nose and floated upward. He let my wrist go, snaking his hand around mine until our palms pressed together and our fingers entwined. Then, he drew my other wrist towards him until my hand cupped the side of his neck.
I didn’t want to surface. I wanted to stay down here forever, in our little aquatic paradise where we couldn’t see or hear the rest of the world. But I was running out of air.
Pushing off from the bottom of the pool, I shot upward to the surface. When my head broke free, I gulped in a deep breath, easing the strain on my lungs.
Dante hadn’t followed me up. He stood motionless on the bottom of the pool, making no attempt to rise. Panicking, I dove back down and slid an arm around his torso before pulling him upward.
He was heavy, but I managed to struggle back to the surface.
We both gulped in air when we came up. Then, I realised he was laughing, and I pushed him away.
“What the hell?” I asked, glaring at him.
“Were you saving me?” he asked, looking ecstatic about the fact.
“You were down there too long. What were you trying to do, drown?”
“Hardly,” he said, laughing again. “Sean, I’m a professional singer. Do you have any idea how much time I’ve spent building up my breath capacity? You’d have to wait at least ninety seconds before starting to worry.”
“Then why didn’t you help me when I dragged your heavy arse back to the surface?”
“You were doing such a good job of rescuing me,” he said with a grin. “I didn’t want to interrupt.”
I splashed water at him. “You’re a condescending arsehole. You know that, right? And you weigh a tonne.”
He made a shocked face. “Are you calling me fat?”
“Yeah, right,” I laughed. “Because all those muscles look like rolls of pudding.”
“You’ve noticed my muscles, have you?” he teased, moving closer. “I’ve noticed yours too.”
I snorted. “There’s less of me to notice in that department.”
He caught his bottom lip between his teeth as he made of low sound of appreciation. “Enough to keep me occupied.” We’d drifted closer again, our knees bumping against each other under the water. “I missed you at dinner last night.”
I’d returned to the house in time to cook and serve, as my official duty demanded. After dinner, I’d made quick work of cleaning the kitchen before disappearing to my flat for the night. “Somehow, I don’t think your father would have appreciated rubbing elbows with me at the table. Besides,” I added, “you have company again now, so you don’t need me.”
“I’ve always needed you,” he said in a low voice. Below the surface of the water, his hand brushed against my waist. “Maybe, if things were different, we could have—”
“Babe!” I jumped as a deep, masculine voice boomed through the mid-afternoon air. “Your man has arrived.”
When I turned, Connor stood on the far side of the patio, a giggling Gabi at his side. He crooked a finger at me with a wicked smile. “Come give me some sugar, you gorgeous man.”