Chapter Three
There was a bottleof wine on the patio table when I got home from work the following day, pinning down a note that said “Thanks again for letting me swim” and signed with a large ‘K’.I assumed he’d taken advantage of having the pool to himself, though the cover was safely closed and the heat of the day had dried any wet patches he might have left behind.Smiling, I put the bottle into the fridge, and then poured myself a glass from what was left over from the night before.
Out of sight didn’t mean out of mind, though.Sitting on the edge of a lounger, glass cradled in both hands, I pictured Kai’s movements through the water.The crisp, controlled way he’d cross from one side of the pool to the other, always with the most economical outlay of energy.Setting a pace that seemed to be something he might keep up for hours on end.
The benefit of imagination was that I could watch him do that without qualms, or second-guessing what he might think of my attentions.Focus on how the water flowed around him and over him; of the different glimpses of his body afforded as he moved and turned.
Only draining the glass brought me back inside, and back into the real world.
Part of me wanted him to come around when I was home.Kai was easy conversation - well, at least he had been up until the point he’d stripped down for his swim, at which point my side of it had stumbled into tongue-tied awkwardness - as well as being easy on the eye.I’d not felt myself particularly starved for company, but having experienced the back and forth with him, the memory of it had dug in its claws.I wanted to see him, but I feared seeing him too, or more specifically I feared my reaction to his presence.
With no way to contact him, bar knocking on my neighbors’ door, however, I was forced to wait.Passivity inflicted upon me.Whether I was to see him or not was down to Kai.
It took a week or so before it happened.I’d taken my laptop out onto the deck to work on a project, reasoning my eventual dip into the pool would be a just reward for completing the presentation.
A knock at the side gate distracted me, and then the sound of the gate itself opening a moment after.Kai’s head poked around the corner, a smile already in place.
“Is now a good time?”he asked.
“Sure,” I replied, half-closing the lid of the computer.“Like I said, any time is fine by me.”
He grinned again as he moved to sit on the other lounger.“Well yes, you did, but maybe you were being polite, or would rather I came when you were out.I didn’t want to presume.”
Hearing him speak, it sounded a lot like the second-guessing I was prone to myself.I couldn’t help but smile at that thought.
“It’s honestly fine either way.If it’s a bad time, I’ll tell you, okay?”
“Promise?”he queried, eyes searching my face to make sure I was being sincere.
“Promise,” I insisted.
“Well, okay then.”He settled back on the chair, slipping his bare feet out of his sandals.“I’m so glad, because this place is like an oasis.”
I smiled, recognizing again that tension I could only presume was down to going a little stir-crazy in his parents’ place.I’d known it well myself, when I was closer to his age.
“Drink?”
He shook his head.“I’m just going to swim, if that’s okay.”
Rolling my eyes, I gestured dismissively at the pool.“What did I just say?It’s all yours.”
Kai chuckled, then abruptly sat forward and pulled his shirt off.I forced myself to push open the laptop screen again and look at its contents.
The sound of him standing, just to my side.The sound of his board shorts unzipping, and the soft rustle of fabric as it slumped down his thighs.And then a pause.
I couldn’t help myself, I had to look.Just a glance, I chided, one quick glance to get it out of your system, and then that would be it.
The red fabric clung to him like a second skin.No more covering than the black suit had been; in fact, it was probably less so.Closer to a traditional swim brief in cut than the squared-off silhouette of the other day.
Kai half turned to me, a playful expression across his face.“I love this moment, when you’re about to go in and the anticipation is everything.”
