Page 102 of My Real Love Affair

“That’s the oldest trick in the book.”

“And yet here you are, considering it.”

One of the hotel guests, a guy probably in his thirties with a beer in hand, called over from the hot tub. “Do it! You know you want to!”

His friend laughed. “Come on. Live a little. Your man wants to jump in.”

I looked at Melody, raising an eyebrow. “See? We have peer pressure now. It would be rude to disappoint them.”

She was fighting a smile. “This is insane.”

“The best things usually are.”

For a moment, I thought she’d say no. Thought the responsible, practical part of her would win out. And that would’ve been fine. I wasn’t going to push her into anything she didn’t want to do.

If it was just me, I would have been in the pool already. My reckless ways were part of the reason I was currently on the verge of being disowned. It was nothing new to me to do shit like jumping into a pool fully clothed. But I was hoping she would do it. I wanted her to know that freedom. It was addicting, whichwas why I did half the shit I did. I loved saying fuck it. I loved going against the grain and shaking shit up.

I had a feeling if she would give it a try, she might understand me just a little better.

“It’s fine,” I said. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

But then she kicked off her heels. “This is going to ruin my hair,” she said.

“I’ll personally book you the best salon in Manhattan.”

“And if your family sees us.”

“Then they’ll finally have concrete proof I’ve lost my mind.” I squeezed her hand. “Ready?”

“This is crazy.”

“Is that a yes?”

She looked at the pool, then at me, then back at the pool. Then she laughed and raised her other arm in the air. “Yes. Let’s do it.”

We ran the last few steps and jumped. The water was warmer than I expected, closing over our heads in a rush of bubbles and chaos. When I surfaced, Melody was already there, laughing so hard she could barely stay afloat.

“Oh my god,” she gasped. “We actually did that.”

“We did.” I swam closer to her. “Regrets?”

“So many. And absolutely none.” She splashed water at me. “I can’t believe you convinced me to jump into a pool in a designer gown.”

“I can be very persuasive.”

“Apparently.”

The hotel guests were cheering from the hot tub. I gave them a thumbs-up with my goofiest grin, which made Melody laugh harder.

When I acted out, it was usually because of too much alcohol and generally involved nightclubs and women whose names I’dforget by morning. It was destructive and empty and left me feeling like total shit.

But this? This felt good. Really good. Like being a kid again, before everything got complicated. Before life meant you could never do anything just for the pure joy of it.

“Your makeup is running,” I pointed out, swimming lazy circles around her.

“Your hair looks like a drowned rat,” she countered.

“A very handsome drowned rat.”