I exhaled, it was a ragged sound, and I rolled my neck to ease the aching muscles there.
“Did you hurt yourself when you hit the water?” Hudson asked, running his fingers across my collarbone. It was a brief touch, but I felt it everywhere. At that moment, there was no sign of dislike, although that devil-may-care energy still pulsated from his large body.
“I don’t think so,” I replied, feeling woozy.
“Hey,” he whispered, his hands coming to my shoulders. The contact sent another shiver across my skin, awareness of his closeness pooling into me.
As his fingers dug into me, I worried my lip, not knowing what to say, and Hudson glanced towards where my nipples were pushing against my suit.
“Cold?” he questioned, dragging his eyes back to mine.
“No,” I replied, rubbing my neck, feeling nervous.
“Then it must be something else,” he whispered against my ear. Hudson knew I was turned on.
The big guy was still treading water beside us with that huge grin on his face. Hudson dropped his hands from my shoulders and said, “When you’re dressed, talk to Storm and find out what the fuck happened.”
“I’m on it,” he replied, swimming towards the steps.
My teeth started chattering as I watched him pull his huge body from the water. As he got out, he turned to look back at us with a lopsided smile, walking backwards. As I twisted back, I saw Hudson flip him over my shoulder before his eyes cut to mine.
Using the hand that had given his brother the finger, Hudson grasped my chin and pulled my face towards him. It was gentle but firm. My eyes widened.
“Why thefuckdidn’t you swim to the surface?” Hudson growled, now angry as he released my jaw and pushed some hair back off my face.
I didn’t know what to say.
“Well, what thefuck, English?”
Rubbing my arms and feeling miserable, I replied, “I can’t.” My voice sounded weak and pathetic.
“You can’twhat?” he barked.
“I can’t swim.”
NINE
Hudson’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Are you for real?”
The full extent of the meaning behind my confession caused his jaw to drop. A second later, he was swearing savagely under his breath.
A chunk of hair had fallen across his brow, and I itched to brush it back with my fingers. Hudson must have seen where I was looking, as he raked a hand roughly through the black strands. I found it fascinating as I watched it bounce right back. It proved that he wasn’t in control ofeverythinghe touched.
Dark, amber eyesdrilledinto me, and he bared his teeth. “You can’t swim? What thehellwere you doing in this lesson in the first place, then? I can’t imagine a non-swimmer qualifying for the fuckingswimteam.”
Gosh, he was cross.
My voice cracked as I responded nervously, “I thought I could stay in the shallow end.”
Hudson’s jaw then started to flex, “You should have let the coach know you were at risk,beforethe lesson, yousilly little bitch.”
His words hit me like daggers. “I know,” I admitted weakly. How embarrassing; I had almost drowned in front of the whole class, and it was only my second week there. I felt like such a loser.
Hudson was still raging. “Fuck. It’s a good job I went with my gut and realised you were in trouble.”
My brow crunched. “Surely, my screaming for help madethatclear. What did youthinkI was doing?”
