One second I am standing there with the cold biting at my bare legs, everyone watching to see if I will back out, the next, I am moving. My arms finally leave my waist, my feet pushing offthe patio. The pool rushes up in a sheet of electric blue as the water swallows me whole.
It is freezing.
The shock of it tears a breath from my lungs, sending every nerve in my body into a stinging frenzy. For one disorienting second there is nothing but water in my ears, blue light around me, and the violent cold clamping down on my skin.
Then I break the surface.
A gasp rips out of me as I shove wet hair from my face, blinking through the water streaming down my lashes. Cheyenne and Maria are laughing so hard they can barely stay upright, both of them already wading closer like they expected this exact reaction.
“Oh my God,” I sputter, teeth nearly chattering. “This is abuse.”
“Admit it, you love it.” Maria says, still laughing.
A splash lands against my shoulder before I can retaliate. Turning just in time to see Kadin wade near me, he doesn’t move quick. He fully lowers himself with far more control than I had, the water making him hiss under his breath when it hits his chest.
He comes toward me almost immediately, one hand lifting as if to steady me even though I’m already upright.
“See?” he says, smiling as he brushes wet hair back from his forehead. “Not scary.”
There is something unfair about the way he looks in the water. His hair is darker now, soaked and pushed away from his face, the pool lights tracing clean lines over his shoulders and collarbones. The cold has flushed his skin slightly, making him look even more alive somehow.
“It’s freezing,” I say, though the panic that had knotted inside me on the patio is gone now, blasted out of me by the shock of the cold.
“You’re in,” he replies, as if that proves his point. “That’s what matters.”
More people begin pouring into the pool area behind us, some jumping straight in, others sitting along the edge with their feet in the water, drinks still in hand. The noise grows louder with every passing second. Splashes. Screams. Music drifting out from the house. Someone knocks over a stack of towels and gets cheered for it.
The crowd should make me feel more exposed.
Instead, the chaos gives me somewhere to hide.
Kadin is close enough now that I can feel the heat of his body beneath the cold water, his hands brushing lightly against my sides as he steadies me when someone dives in nearby, sending a wave crashing toward us. My breath catches, not from fear this time, but from the simple ease of being held without tension.
Cheyenne is already on Maria’s back, trying to dunk her while Maria curses and laughs. Their chaos gives me just enough cover to stop thinking and just act.
My arms lift, sliding around Kadin’s neck.
The motion surprises him just enough to widen his eyes for half a second before his hands come down to my waist automatically. Water shifts around us as I step closer, then closer again, until there is no room left between us. My legs curl around his waist before I can second-guess it. He catches me with a soft grunt, both hands bracing firmly at my hips to hold me up.
The intimacy of it lands all at once.
His chest against mine, damp and warm beneath the cold water. My fingers threaded into the wet hair at the nape of his neck. The easy strength in the way he keeps me lifted without making it feel like effort.
For a brief second, he just looks at me.
There is a question in his expression, but no pressure.
That makes it easier.
My mouth finds his before the moment can slip away.
The kiss is wetter this time, messier from the water and the laughter still ringing around us, but no less sweet. His grip tightens slightly where his hands hold my hips, anchoring me more securely against him as his mouth moves with mine. The pool water shifts around us, cool against my legs, while the rest of him feels impossibly warm.
He tastes faintly like whatever he’d been drinking, something cleaner hidden beneath it. My hands tighten behind his neck, pulling him closer even though there is nowhere left to close.
The cheers come a second later.
Go figure.
