Page 39 of Save Your Breath

I know I shouldn’t be thinking that last one, but I can’t help it — especially in times like this, when she’s wearing nothing but a light blue triangle swim top and string bikini bottoms to match. It brings out the blue in her eyes, the color blazing against her tan skin.

“‘You light me on fire, you awaken my heart. But your grip on my hand made me nervous from the start. You know you can’t tame me, and yet you still try.’”She closes her eyes, searching for the next words as she hums along to the beat she’s created to match the lyrics. She repeats them a few times, seeking, waiting.

Then, her eyes shoot open and lock on mine.

“‘This body may belong to you, but this soul is still mine.’”

I smirk, swallowing when I hear her sing those words about her body being mine. I know she’s not singing to me, but that doesn’t keep me from wondering what it would be like if she was. “You sure this is a love song?”

“A love song to myself.”

“I like it.”

She grins. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Write that down.”

Mia does so feverishly, and then she drops the pen to the page and turns to face me. Sliding off the pool noodle, she sinksinto the water, emerging moments later with a smile as she swipes water from her face. It’s a hot day, but the breeze off the lake sends a chill over the pool as Mia cracks one eye open and then the next.

“Thanks for listening to me figure all this out,” she says, waving a hand toward the notebook. “I’m sure it’s silly to you.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Because,” she says, waving her hand again. “I don’t know, it’s all lovey dovey and cheesy and stuff.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Downplay your creativity. Make fun of your art.”

Her eyes widen a bit, her smile fading.

“You’ve got something, Mia,” I say, wading toward her. I make gentle waves with each step I take, waves that crash on her skin. “Something special. Something real and vulnerable.”

I stop when I’m just a foot away from her, when her body is close enough for me to feel the heat of it even under the water.

“I’m just a girl with a guitar,” she breathes quietly.

Her eyes fall to my lips, and my heart hammers hard in my chest.

“And I’m just a boy with a stick,” I say, daring to move an inch closer. “But I bet we can rule the world one day, Strings. I bet everyone will know our names.”

“You’re so cocky.” The words slide out of her in a whisper.

“I’ll be confident enough for the both of us until you catch on.”

“What if I never do?”

The muscle in my jaw clicks as I tentatively reach toward her, and before I know what I’m doing, my hand floats forward, finding her under the water.

It’s the first time I’ve touched her.

I can’t ignore the electricity that zips up my fingertips, my hand, my arm, all the way to my unsteady heartbeat in my chest. I hope I’m playing it cool as I run my knuckles down Mia’s arm, hope I lookcockylike she said and not like the scared kid I really am.

Mia inhales a shallow sip of air when I brush against her skin, and I follow the line of chills that erupt from that spot all the way up to her collarbone.

“I’ll find a way to make you see,” I promise, and this time, when I take another step, our bodies are flush together.