I take a deep breath, then drop my towel before making a clean dive into the pool.
“Balls!” I whisper-squeal as I come up for breath, the frigid water stinging my exposed skin.
Trying to ignore the icy bite against my skin, I swim for a moment, working up the courage to remove my final item of clothing. The sarong is of a semi-sheer fabric meant for swimming, and I’m tempted to leave it on. But that would be cheating.
“Fuck it” I whisper to myself, unwrapping it and setting it near the edge of the pool.
I’m not sure what I expected, but being naked outdoors is electric. It reminds me of the night in the fountain. Even the possibility that I could get caught adds to the energy coursing through me.
Not that there’s much chance someone will come to investigate. At least, not at this hour. I purposely waited until Ryder’s crew left and everyone else was finally in bed. The whole house is black as pitch, no piano music or guitar chords from the basement, no jovial arguments, loud laughter, or feminine giggles. No video games, beer pong, or pool games. Just peace and quiet.
I float on my back, acutely aware of my pale breasts in the moonlight, and look up at the stars. The stars are faint, but it’s still magical to see them hanging above me in the inky sky.
Something brushes my foot.
“Gah!” I scream.
A dark figure moves past me under the water.
I splash furiously and then freeze. My imagination conjures up various scenarios. I wouldn’t put it past Sebastian to arrange for a shark in the pool, so I’d have to do his risk. Not like a giant killer shark. But maybe a small one. Or a dolphin. It’s one of those fancy saltwater pools. Could a baby shark survive in it?
There it is again. A splash in the water a few feet behind me, and I scream, “Ah! Shark!”
“Olivia, what the fuck are you doing?” a familiar voice floats to me.
Oh, hell no.
I’d rather deal with the shark.
“Chase!” I immediately sink deep and splash into the darkest corner of the pool.
“I’m swimming,” I answer, while I huddle in the grotto with the fewest lights, praying he can’t tell I’m naked. “What are you doing sneaking up on me? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”
“I’m not sneaking up on you. I swim at night. You interrupted me.”
“At two a.m.?”
“I get insomnia. Swimming helps. What are you doing in the pool now?”
“I, um… Well, you see… Yeah, insomnia too. Ha.”
“Olivia?”
I pretend to ignore him, but he isn’t deterred.
“Are you skinny-dipping?”
“What? No. It’s none of your business.”
“Damn Daisy and her damn ideas,” Chase mutters.
“Hey, this isn’t all on Daisy. Who would have thought anyone else would be swimming at this hour? Why do you keep seeing me naked? And Ryder, too.”
“Ryder?” Chase advances toward me. “When did he see you naked?” Spotlighted by the pool light now, he looks menacing, with several days of scruff and all those wet, glistening muscles.
I try to concentrate on his question. “Ryder didn’t see me naked, just naked-ish.”
“Olivia,” Chase says in warning.
“I was coming out of the bathroom in my towel, and he was in the living room at Daisy’s apartment, and my towel slipped a little. So, it was innocent, and I don’t think he actually saw anything. And I don’t know why this keeps happening. My previous twenty-five years were towel-incident-free.”
Chase’s tightened expression relaxes a little. “You’re very exasperating,” he remarks.
“You’re bossy. And obnoxious,” I charge back. “You haven’t been home all day, and suddenly, you go for a swim?”
“I’ve been playing catch-up on meetings I missed while I was filming.” He pauses. “So. What do you think of the water?” He asks, his voice going husky.
“It’s cold,” I lie. Right now, cold is the last thing I feel. I’m warm and tingly in interesting places and aching in others. I move deeper into the dark, as if I can hide the evidence that just being near Chase turns me on. “You shouldn’t be looking at me. Turn around.”
“Olivia, I can’t see a damn thing. You’re just a shadow in the corner.”
“Good.” I tread water, feeling naked emotionally as well as physically. Even in the dark, it’s as if everything in me is on display just for him. My annoying flaws, my deep hurts, and my obsessive crush.