Chapter Twenty-Two
Ella stood with Donovan, waving as Abby’s taillights disappeared down the street. She’d been the last of the “planning committee” to leave. Now it was just her and Donovan, here alone.
Tingles zipped along the surface of her skin, just like they did every single time she was alone with Donovan. This had been a constant for their entire lives, but she’d forgotten how intense it was in the years he’d been away. She’d forced herself to forget.
Since he’d been back in town, even for just these couple of days, all of those feelings had come back in full force. In fact, maybe even stronger than she’d ever felt them in the past. When it had become clear that Donovan wouldn’t be coming back, she’d tried to create an “out of sight, out of mind” scenario to deal with the pain of missing him, but apparently she’d missed the mark and created an “absence makes the heart grow fonder” situation instead.
Whoops.
“Do you want to try something fun?” he asked.
“That sounds like a loaded question.”
“Depends on your definition of loaded.”
“I’ll go with…’having more layers of meaning than first meets the eye’ as a good definition of a loaded question.”
“Then, no. It’s not.”
She’d been teasing, but her heart still sunk a little at his words. It seemed that, when it came to their relationship, there was nothing but hidden layers of unseen meaning. Apparently a little part of her had been excited at the prospect of bringing some of those depths to the surface.
“All right, then. Define ‘something fun.’”
He grinned. “How about a little night swim?”
She grimaced. “Oh, God. The ocean is freezing this time of year.”
He nodded, the smile never leaving his face. “I know that. That’s why I’m talking about the pool here at the high school. Indoor. Heated. Paid for by my grandmother, as she was always fond of pointing out to me every time I told her I wasn’t interested in joining the swim team.”
“I don’t have a suit.”
He stepped closer to her, his fingertips brushing her hips and causing her to shudder. “Sure you do. Your birthday suit.”
Her eyes widened at the idea. “You want to go skinny-dipping in the high school pool?”
He shrugged. “Well, I’ve been told the ocean’s too cold this time of year.”
She shook her head. “I don’t have keys to the aquatic building.”
“See? That’s why you’re lucky I’m around.”
“Oh, that’s why, huh? I was wondering.”
“Oh, it’s one of many reasons, I promise you. But, yeah. I’m not sure if you’re aware of this, but you happen to be in the presence of an athletic god. A true legend of Valentine Bay High.”
“I wasn’t aware of that, actually. Largely because I’m pretty sure it’s not true. But go on.”
“Well, here’s what you also might not have been aware of—when it comes to legends, we’re not born; we’re made through hard work and dedication. And with that, comes a lot of hours here at the school.”
“Training, you mean?”
“Or legend-building. Whatever you want to call it.”
“Training, then.”
“Among other things. Like learning how to break in after hours.”
At this, she genuinely perked up. The banter had been fun, but this was the first piece of new information in the conversation.
“Are you suggesting that we break and enter into the school’s pool, and then skinny dip?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. All I know is, that’s a pretty conventional reaction for someone who’s supposedly this free-spirit artist.”
That hit her where she lived. She was trying to overcome her timidity, to live free, unfettered by convention and inhibitions. This was exactly the kind of thing she needed to do to push herself out of her comfort zone. Of course it felt scary. Being alive was scary! Life was risk, and it was about time she started taking some.
She nodded. “All right, Mr. Valentine. I accept your challenge. Let’s go do something fun.”
Donovan took her hand as he led her back behind the gymnasium, and her heart started to pound as if they’d already started the “dangerous” portion of the evening.
Well, in a way we have, if we’re talking about dangerous to my emotions. Every time he opens his mouth, and every time he touches my skin, I fall a little deeper, and my feelings spin a little further out of control. If that’s not dangerous, I don’t know what is.
When they reached the aquatic building, Donovan walked to a specific window out of the row of windows that lined the wall. He gave her a rakish smile. “Now, after all that big talk, I hope they haven’t fixed the window in the years since I’ve been back.”
Ella burst out laughing. “That’s your big spy move? The fact that you’re aware of a busted latch?”
Donovan adopted a comically injured tone. “Hey, now! Anyone can be aware of a busted latch. That would be too obvious. I, on the other hand, am aware of an unreliable latch, that has a very specific trick to it. Allow me to demonstrate.”
Donovan reached up and jiggled the latch back and forth, all the while placing pressure on the window at various points to provide leverage. After about thirty seconds, his lock-unfastening voodoo was successful and the window swung open.
Ella gave him a slow clap while he hammed it up with bows and mimed waves to an adoring crowd.
This felt so right, the way they were together. One of the things she’d always loved about spending time with Donovan was that it didn’t matter what they were doing, it felt like a grand adventure. Something as simple as ordering a pizza and watching a movie turned into the BEST. NIGHT. EVER! just because they were together.
She hadn’t even realized she’d been missing that until it was back, and now that it was, she was scared to lose it again…so completely freaking scared. But she wouldn’t let that ruin the time they did have together. She refused.
Zip it, lock it, throw away the key. That had to be her motto. If all they ever had together was these brief few days, she’d be damned if she was going to spend them stressed out of her mind.
Donovan gave her a boost, and she climbed through the open window, dropping softly to her feet on the other side. The smell of chlorine hung heavy in the air.
She looked at the window and saw his fingers curl around the ledge. She knew that, in a matter of seconds, he would’ve hoisted himself over the ledge. A wicked idea occurred to her, and she knew she had only seconds to execute it.
She scrambled, whipping off her clothes and tossing them on the bleachers. She had just enough time to get completely naked and then arrange herself in a sassy pose next to the edge of the pool, hip cocked and hand on her waist, by the time Donovan dropped down from the window and turned around to see her.
His eyes widened as he laid eyes on her bare skin, and he licked his lips as his gaze traveled hungrily from her head to her toes and then slowly back up again.
When she thought she’d given him enough time to appreciate what was waiting for him, she winked and said, “Catch me if you can, athlete legend,” and then in one smooth motion, turned and dove into the water.