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CHAPTER 15

GRADY

I ’d gotten to the pool an hour early just to psyche myself up. Sitting on the bench in the locker room, I hadn’t gotten very far. I was stuck in place, working on the box breathing technique I’d watched on a YouTube video that morning. It was keeping me from spiraling, but then I heard the door to the ladies’ locker room click and knew Jill had arrived. Go time.

The smell of the chlorine was unsettling. As was the dark pool. Keeping the lights off had been part of the arrangement I’d made with Reggie, the gym manager. I’d told him I needed to workout without anyone around, and being such a big Brawlers fan, he’d agreed on the spot.

“Well, this is very horror movie-esque,” Jill said as she walked out of the locker room. “I take it the cloak of darkness is part of your plan?”

I scraped a hand through my hair, the sight of her in another bathing suit tipping the scales from anxious to excited in record time. “Just trying to keep that low profile. You gonna be okay with the lights off?” There were a series of dim lights all around the pool, but it was still pretty dark.

“Yeah.” She shrugged, tossing her towel on the bench by the wall. “Plenty of night swims in the lake. At least here there are no seaweed monsters grabbing at my legs.” She smiled up at me, and I relaxed a little more. With her eyes drifting over the still water, she tentatively asked, “How do you want to do this?”

“Very carefully,” I muttered, my eyes following hers as my stomach knotted. The fear of her getting hurt if I freaked out was very much top of mind.

Jill skimmed her hand down my arm and the touch sent a riot of sparks erupting under my skin. “Start small.” Moving past me she sat on the side of the pool, draping her legs into the water.

It was an invitation for me to do the same, but I needed to move faster this time. I didn’t want to give the fear a chance to creep up on me again. I needed to shove right past it, so I strode over to the stairs in the corner and took them one rapid step at a time. The water was practically room temperature but as it splashed up my legs and over my waist I grit my teeth. My whole body was shaking by the time I’d walked out into the shallow end, facing the other side of the pool but freezing in place before I could get there.

A tiny splash came from behind me as Jill hopped off the side and walked over. “Not sure why you needed me here. Looks like you’ve got this just fine.”

She stopped beside me, and I felt her eyes on me, but I couldn’t meet them. “Yeah, I’m doing great.” I looked down at my hands, water flinging off them because they were trembling so hard.

“You are. You’re doing better than you think.”

I needed a distraction from the sickness in my stomach that was starting to overwhelm me. “What’s your favorite color, Jilly?” Looking over in time to catch the surprise on her face, I focused on her as the stars started to flit on the edge of my vision.

“Green,” she finally said, lowering herself in the water until only her head and neck were visible. She spread her arms and fanned them back and forth, amusement in her eyes. “What about you?”

“Yellow.” I practically spat the word, fighting with my raging pulse to get enough air. “Favorite season?”

Jill stayed crouched beneath the surface, swaying back and forth, her eyes never leaving mine. “Winter. Best book-reading weather,” she added with a wink.

I huffed out a laugh, I loved winter, too, but for a different reason.

“And you? You know I’m going to hit you back.”

“Hockey season,” I said, my shoulders dropping a fraction as the stars faded.

“Typical,” Jill muttered, turning and moving farther away. The distance wasn’t great, but I found myself moving toward her, following her, not wanting the gap to get too wide.

“I know you’re going to hate this one, but what’s your favorite book?”

She spun back at me so fast water splashed up onto my chest and I let out a laugh. Her incredulous scowl was even more comical than I’d imagined it’d be. “How dare you! I could never.”

“You have to. Rules of the game.”

“You’re a mean man, Grady Holloway.” She frowned, splashing at the water like a kid. “If my life depended on me picking one . . .” She glanced up at me, biting her lip. “Just one?”

“Yep.” I was letting myself stare at the dent her teeth were making in that plump lower lip as I slumped lower in the water, letting it close around me up to my neck. Jill hesitated, watching me closely, as if she knew I was testing my limits, before she finally responded.

“Fine. Sadist.” She swirled the water around her again, and my eyes fell to the waves rippling off the tops of her breasts. “It’s not even a book. It’s a short story.”

“Spill it.”

“Floating Bridge by Alice Munro.”

I lowered all the way to my knees, the water just below my chin. “See, that wasn’t so hard.”

“It was cruel.” Jill moved in the direction of the deep end and I followed, stopping right before the edge sloped off. “Do I even bother asking if you have a favorite book?” She whipped around. “One that isn’t about sports.”

A laugh jumped out of me even as I felt unsure I could close the distance she was putting between us. “If I say something by Hemmingway, you’ll only roll your eyes.” She laughed, nodding as she treaded water. “And I can’t pick any of the biographies I like, cause they’re all sports related.”

“Okay, now I might pity you,” she said, twirling in place, her eyes up to the ceiling. “Please tell me you’ve read something respectable.”

I swallowed, pushing myself off the bottom of the pool into the deep end, feeling the safety of the floor float away. Moving my arms back and forth, I noticed the tension in my shoulder. The motion was putting just enough strain on it, but it didn’t hurt like when I’d tried with weights. The tiniest sliver of relief settled in my chest as I worked it back and forth in the water, regaining confidence in it with every stroke.

When I looked up, Jill was watching me, a bright smile on her face that helped settle my nerves even more.

“I liked this one book,” I started, trying to remember the name of it. “You’ll probably say it was still about sports, but it wasn’t. It was about a dog.” Jill swam in a circle around me as I tread carefully out into the deepest part of the pool. “It was about a race car driver.”

Jill laughed, her eyes sparkling. “The Art of Racing in the Rain?”

“That was it.”

I felt pretty proud of that one, especially seeing the nod of approval Jill gave me. But when I went to swim back toward her I was too close to the wall and I kicked it, hard. The shock of pain and surprise startled me, and my head slipped below the surface. Instantly my mind began to race. The darkness in the pool and not being able to touch the ground shot panic through me. I thrashed at the surface, as if my body had forgotten how to swim.

Slender arms came around me, as Jill yanked me back above the surface. I fought against her at first, but the sound of her saying my name made me freeze. I didn’t want to hurt her, so I let her close her arms around me, swimming us quickly back to the shallow end.

“I’ve got you,” she whispered as our feet met the bottom again.

As soon as we were back to where we could stand, I wrapped my arms around her. I buried my face into the crook of her shoulder, panting against her skin as the panic washed through me. Jill had cinched her arms around my neck, and I reached down to wrap her legs around my waist, sinking into the heavy warmth of her body closed around mine.

It had been a strong, quick shot of adrenaline, but it was fading fast with her in my arms, her heart beating against mine. She was silent but for the sound of her breathing, her fingers combing gently through my hair.

“Thank you,” I whispered, nuzzling tighter against her.

“It’s okay. You’re okay.”

The longer we stayed like that, floating just on the edge of the shallow end, the slower my breaths came and the softer my heart beat.

“Don’t let go, okay?” I asked, wanting to try something as I felt in control again.

“I never would,” she replied instantly, her voice so sure and unwavering it made my throat tight.

With Jill clasped to me, I toed back to the edge and then over it, treading water with one arm while the other held her close. My fear of being in the water again was only made worse by the idea of being around someone else while I did it. But even if I wasn’t comfortable or at ease in that moment, I wasn’t freaking out either. I had Jill in my arms, and it felt okay.

It felt better than okay. She hadn’t stopped touching me, her fingers in my hair, trailing along the top of my shoulder, down the valley of my spine. Jill was a grown woman, all the more evident by the feel of her breasts pressed tightly against me, the globe of her perfectly round ass just below my hand. But I still wasn’t sure if her touch was meant only as comfort. No matter how hard I was fighting it, my body sure as hell took it as more.

“You’re different than how I remember you,” I admitted, having thought a lot the last few weeks about the contrast in the Jill of my memories and the one folded around me. Her face was still tucked into my neck, so I couldn’t see her reaction to my words, but I could have sworn I felt her settle a little closer.

Her voice came out small and rough as her warm breath hit my skin. “Better or worse?”

“Neither,” I said, bristling at the implied criticism. “You were sweet and funny back then. You’re sweet and funny now, just in a different way.”

“I’m surprised you had much of an impression of me at all.”

At that I pulled back to look her in the eye. “How could I not have? We were friends for years.”

“No, you and Joey were friends. I was part of the set dressing, an extra who made the occasional cameo.”

It didn’t feel like that to me, but I couldn’t find any examples to prove that she’d been more than that. She might have been right. But after getting to see who she was up close since the start of the summer, it felt like a loss to have missed the chance to know her better back then.

“You might not have had a speaking part, but I still considered you a friend.”

Jill’s eyes dropped to my chin or my neck, someplace far away from meeting my gaze. “Yeah, same.”

Her cheeks turned pink and I was sure I felt her heart start to race. My legs were still kicking beneath us, but I guided us over to the side, resting my free arm on the thick cement edge so I could look at her better. Scenes from growing up played through my mind as I tried to sort out why she suddenly looked so nervous.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” she replied too quickly. She was still in my embrace, but she was leaning back as far as she could. I should probably have let her go, but Jill being in my arms was the one thing keeping me in the moment and I didn’t want it to end. “Why are you blushing?”

“I’m not. You’re just hot.” Her eyes went wide as soon as the words popped out and I laughed. “Temperature. Body heat. Shit. Shut up, Grady.” She smacked my good shoulder, but still didn’t unwrap her legs from around me. I liked that she didn’t seem to want to let go either.

“Did you think I was hot back in high school too?” I asked, digging my fingers into her side playfully. But I stopped when I saw her cheeks flame.

She wasn’t just pink anymore, she was bright red. Splotches broke out down her neck and my eyes followed them as they bloomed across her chest, all the way down to the scoop-neck of her suit where her breasts sat poking out of the surface of the water. She was fucking perfect. Delicious round edges, and gripping my waist with those gorgeous long legs.

“You would think every girl had a crush on you back then,” she said, her voice breathy even as she kept her eyes down.

“I don’t care if every girl did. I want to know if you did?” It was stupid to press her on this because it didn’t really matter. But some part of me wanted to think that Jill Jordan—clever, funny, never-impressed, Jill Jordan—had seen something in me back then that she liked.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to drop this are you?”

“Not a chance.” I was practically panting, my eyes glued to the thick lashes she was hiding under.

“Fine. Yes. Okay? Better now?”

“Really?”

“Yes, Grady,” she huffed, rolling her eyes again before they finally met mine. “I had a crush on you. Happy?”

She didn’t know how much. “Fuck yeah I’m happy now,” I said, grinning at her like an idiot. “I’d be happier if you still did, but I’ll take what I can get.”

“I don’t have a crush on you anymore,” she said, swallowing as her eyes dropped to my mouth. She licked her lips, and a fresh flush fanned out over her cheeks.

“No? That’s a shame.” My heart was pounding so hard I was sure she felt it thumping against her chest.

“I don’t think it’s called a crush once you’re old enough to drink it away.”

“What’s it called then?”

She shrugged. “Trouble.”

I laughed, but there was no humor in it. Jill was still looking at my mouth, and my dick was starting to respond to the heat in her eyes. We’d cruised right into dangerous territory without hitting a single stoplight and if we didn’t put the brakes on soon she was going to feel just how much trouble she was in.

My fingers flinched, tightening on her waist. Jill shifted, her legs cinching her body closer to my half-hard cock. I groaned, grinding my teeth to try and hide it, but failing.

“Sorry,” she whispered, looking away bashfully.

“Don’t be sorry.” I hugged her a little closer, my willpower starting to slip. We both knew this couldn’t happen. Joey would never forgive me, and the last thing I wanted to be was another man who fucked with Jill’s head. But the fire in her eyes wasn’t one I wanted to put out either. She’d had a crush on me all that time we were kids? Well, maybe I had one on her now. “How about we drink this away tomorrow?” I asked, her eyes sliding back to meet mine. “And tonight we just . . .”

Her voice was low, but clear. “Get into trouble?”

“Fuck yes,” I rasped, spinning to pin Jill against the side of the pool.

I bracketed her with both arms and sank against her warm, soft body as I took her mouth. God damn she tasted fucking good. She took handfuls of my hair, yanking me closer and sending a shot of pure fucking lust straight through me. Jill wasn’t the shy bookworm she appeared to be, and when she opened her mouth on a breath, licking the seam of my lips, every last reserve of restraint I had turned to dust. I ground my cock into her core, both of us groaning at the utter torture.

“I lied,” I hissed, grinding into her again and swallowing her moan.

“What?”

“You are better than I remember,” I got out, panting as I sucked on the tender spot beneath her ear.

“I am?”

I nodded, nipping at her ear lobe, my cock straining against the mesh of my shorts. “But only because back then I couldn’t do this to you.”

Jill was breathless, scraping her nails down my back, the twinge of pain like lightning straight to my cock. “Grady,” she whined, her thighs like a vice around my waist as she moved herself along my length.

I yanked her suit down, one plump nipple popping out of the fabric and then the other. I had my mouth on them, slipping a hand between her legs when my hips fell away from her.

“You’re so fucking hot, Jill. How the fuck was I supposed to resist you?” My hand cupped her pussy, heat radiating against my palm before I teased two fingers past the seam and between her folds.

“Oh god,” she cried out, her head tipping back as her eyes slammed shut.

Every sound she made struck me like a tuning fork, vibrating through me until I was shaking with the need to make her come. I hadn’t needed to see a woman come undone under my hand this bad in… ever. Jill was tapping into some part of me I’d never hit before. A hunger and yearning swelling in my chest and in my groin until I was blind to anything but her.

“Come for me,” I demanded, sucking her tit into my mouth and tapping my teeth around the sensitive bud. She bucked against me as I rubbed her clit in long, hard strokes and her nails dug deeper into my shoulders.

“I’m so close,” she choked out, her breasts heaving, my mouth clamping on as I sucked and licked and nipped.

“Let me feel it.” I glided two fingers into her, the slick hot skin tight around them as I pressed my thumb to her clit. I worked her as my own hips pulsed beneath the water.

“Oh fuck. Oh god. Grady .” Jill’s hands clamped around my neck, her face buried hard against my throat as the orgasm rocked through her. Every pulse, every tremor hit me and drove me until I nearly came right there with her.

Jill’s body sagged against me, her weight landing heavy on my shoulders for a split second before she jolted in my arms. “I’m sorry,” she said, propping herself back on the edge of the pool.

Wrapping an arm around her waist I yanked her away from the wall, so she had to put all her weight on me. “Don’t you dare,” I panted, my body still high on the satisfaction of making her fall apart.

“But,” Jill slipped a hand between us, closing her fingers carefully around the steel rod in my shorts. “We’re not done.”

I laughed, leaning back to catch the beet red of her cheeks and the playful desire in her eyes. “I’m game if you—” I stopped short as headlights flashed across the top of the wall behind her. “Fuck.”

Jill’s eyes whipped up to the cascade of yellow lights as they moved around the room, coming to a stop facing the building. Someone was there.

“I swear to god if he . . .” Jill’s words faded out, but we both knew who she was talking about. Joey was known to patrol town facilities after dark. If he spotted our cars . . .

Jill swam to the stairs, faster than me, as I struggled to fight the water that felt thicker and meaner without her in my arms. She stopped at the bottom step, turning back and holding out a hand to me.

“Go,” I hissed, hating that I was slowing her down.

“No.” She shook her head, taking a step closer and taking my hand as soon as I was within reach. It was a small thing, but her not leaving me there hit me. Getting caught by Joey would be epically bad, but a flood of emotion washed over me knowing Jill wasn’t willing to leave me alone in the water. I squeezed her hand so tight she looked back at me with worry on her face.

“I’m okay,” I reassured her, pulling myself up the steps as she did. We heard the door to the gym close and I scrambled toward the bench, throwing her towel at her. “Go,” I hissed and this time she listened, disappearing into the womens’ locker room seconds before the door to the pool swung open.

“Hey man,” Reggie said as he walked in, his chest puffed up and his smile disgustingly wide. “I wanted to check in, make sure you had everything you needed.”

Nothing was better at shutting down a boner than imminent demise, but I cursed under my breath and pulled at the fabric sucking against my groin anyway. I turned, reaching for my own towel. “Yeah, I’m good.”

It was times like these that I hated fans. I’d never admit it, even under the threat of torture, cause without them we’d be nowhere. But fucking hell. I could still feel Jill’s fingers around my cock. And it felt fucking amazing. I’d give anything to have had ten more minutes of that sweet, perfect, completely forbidden moment.

Cause there was no way I was ever going to have another like it.