Wet students, reeking of warm chlorine, walked past me, but I was trapped in a daze. Then Hudson’s eyes met mine and tangled. His head tilted as he studied me, almost like he was looking at something strange and unexpected. And then a smug, knowing smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Don’t let him get in your head!
Shit, he’d caught me checking him out! The sexy bane of my life continued to smirk and dashed a hand through his hair to remove some water. His brothers surrounded him. They all at once, glanced at him before transferring their gaze toward where he was looking. As one of them said something in his ear, his lips twisted, and annoyance flashed across his features. Hudson’s jaw began to tick which suggested he was pissed off. I pulled away and dipped my toe in the water; it was so much warmer in there.
As I looked back, Hudson wasstillstaring. A stare that was strong enough to suffocate. How I wished I could slip back under the radar at that moment.
Meaningful smiles and fist bumps flowed between his brothers as we continued to watch each other. I vaguely heard one of the girls from behind me say something, and was aware of a body coming close to my side, but I couldn’t pull away. Hudson’s gaze had pinned me in place during that one, long, charged moment and then I recognised that look. He liked what he saw.
I could feel the weight of that look on my skin, and part of me wanted to drop the towel wrapped around my body to see how he reacted. I knew I had a good body.
And then that invisible thread which connected us was gone as he turned away, his broad back flexing as he bent to retrieve his towel.
And then the rug was quite literally ripped away as I felt the flat of someone’s hand against my back, shoving me, hard.
FUCK!
It was like the entire world had glitched, and I lost all sense of reality.
I plummeted forward, my arms flapping as I hit the water head-first. It felt like I had been hit in the face by a hundred needles.
Before I could register anything else, I went under, and panic set in. Itroaredthrough me like a lightning storm. A feeling of suffocation pumped into my gut.
My heart was in my throat. I kicked my legs, my arms flailing, finding the surface for a couple of seconds, allowing me to drag in a gulp of air and some water, which caused the oxygen to spew back out.
Clawing at nothing, the pool swallowed me again, and I could see a crowd of students standing on the poolside from under the water, some with their arms outstretched, but I couldn’t quite reach.
My mother’s words rang in my ears:You’re strong enough to deal with whatever life throws at you.
Managing to surface, I gasped for breath again before being yanked back down, my legs tangled. It almost felt like there were hands on my ankles,draggingme under. The rushing of water, bubbles fizzing, muffled cries and screams and that buzzing sound were deafening.
“Help,” I managed to shout as I surfaced again. Chlorinated water flooded my mouth.
As the realisation that I was going to die washed through my senses, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my body, my back jarring against something like concrete. For a split second, I thought it was the bottom of the pool, but then I realised itwasa person.
Before I could process what was happening, I felt myself being raised to the surface.
The barrier, which was now firmly wrapped around my ribcage, drew me up, and I took ahugegulp of air as my face broke the water. The shouts and yells from the other students echoed around the space.
Struggling, my arms scrambled forward, grasping for some air, and I heard a voice at the cuff of my ear, “Stop fighting me. Calm the fuck down.”
My pulse skipped, as a burst of adrenaline shot into me, and my body went limp. My muscles suddenly felt heavy.
“That’s it, shh, relax, baby girl. Igotyou.”
It wasHudson’svoice; I wasn’t so far gone that I didn’t recognise it.
And then the sense of what had happened hit me. Shit, I had almostdrownedand he me must have dived into the pool to save me. Thethrillof pleasure that thought gave me pushed away a healthy portion of my earlier panic. Gratitude raced through me. “Hudson?” I questioned, even though I knew it was him.
“I’m here,” he said softly.
Leaning my head back against his chest, students dotted around the pool with shocked faces, all eyes on us. They were all so still, like statues. I found it ironic that there were still some kids in the water, yet it had been Hudson who got to me first.
“Do you have her, Hudson?” the Coach shouted across at us.
“Yeah, Coach. I got her.”
“OK, everyone, show's over. Hit the showers,” the teacher barked.
