“Take that out. I don’t want it to get wet.”
I toss it beside my gun and kiss her again. She repositions her feet, and I loosen my hold so she can move how she needs to. Gripping my shirt, she maintains her balance before abruptly leaning back, pulling me into the pool with her.
48
SERAFINA
Icouldn’t help myself. It was tooeasy.
Lev’s body crashes into the pool with a loud curse. Using years of practice, my legs kick me far away, gaining distance before his own paddling catches up.
Instead of splashing, the pool goes silent, and I stop, twisting right as a hand grips my ankle and yanks me beneath the water. Pressure builds over my head, and my arms scramble to return to the surface, even though Lev would never drown me.
Because hecaresabout me.
The people who care most about me are Madre, Zeno, and Nero, but Lev’s admittance was nothing like Madre’s forehead kisses or Zeno’s hugs.
Lev’s care ismore. It’s heavier—a weight on my heart. It has the power to rip it in two if this ends badly. It’s everything light andright. It’s sun on a warm day, a hot drink on a winter night. It’s cookies at Christmas and champagne on New Year’s.
The grip around my ankle releases to let me return to the surface, and I rub a hand down my face to clear away most of the water from my eyes. Lev pops up beside me, looking even more ominous than he did sitting beside the pool.
“I’m wet because of you.”
“Now you know how I feel every time you touch me.” I wink before moving back a few feet before he finds it in himself to drown me again.
He follows, treading the water too easy for a man fully clothed. “You’re playing a dangerous game,printessa.”
“Ah, but I’m winning, and that’s all that matters.” He lunges, creating a large splash, and a light feeling blooming in my stomach pushes me out of his trajectory. I giggle, a sound that betrays today’s grimness. “At least I made you put down your phone.”
“Am I supposed to thank you for that?” He bears down on me, a predator I’m finding myself becoming too tired—too enthralled—to swim from anymore.
Still, I swing my arms through the water, splashing him. When the waves die down, he appears in front of me, backing me into the nearest wall. Water makes his mixed hair nearly black, dripping down the side of his face. His arms come around me, his smile threatening pain and promising love.
I touch the corner of his mouth. “There he is. I missed seeing you smile.”
“Today didn’t give me much of a reason.”
“I know,” I murmur, stroking the side of his face until my hand comes around to the back of his neck, fingering strands of hair clumped to his neck. “I’m sorry for being the cause.”
“I don’t want your apology.”
“No? Then what do you want?”
“You.”
“You’ll always have me.”
I expect some sort of heated comment; instead, I get his small head shake. He pushes off the wall and away. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
He treads towards the staircase, but I grasp his elbow, twisting him back around. “What if I can keep it? Let me prove it to you right here, right now.”
“Not here. Location considering, let’s leave something untouched.”
My heart pangs when he lifts himself onto the stairs and out of the water, pacing the length of the pool back to the other side. He takes a seat again, his legs stretched stiffly in front of him.
Not wanting him to retreat into his head too much, I decide to join him. Swimming the pool, I lift myself out and spread my towel over both our laps.
Minutes pass, and he does nothing but glare at the stars. Every so often, his lips move like he’s speaking, but nothing verbal comes out. Five in total before the voice I adore fills the calm air, but his question makes it tense.
