Deeper Read Free Page A

pool. Often people can swim until the water is actually moving. The other main danger, and one that you’ll actually have to deal with, is the slide drop down pools. Often times people go down a slide thinking that even if they can’t swim, they can land on their feet. This isn’t the case. Often they panic when they hit the water. I’ve seen a six foot tall man drowning in three feet of water.”
    I begin to hear the first low murmurs of approval from my crowd, so I go on. “Everything’s different with slides. I’ll be showing you how to do spinals in the moving water, how to backboard, and how to do different saves.”
    They are nodding at me now, making eye contact. That’s good. I need them to know the seriousness of their job has just ramped up with the new additions. Many of them have probably never had a save. But that’s going to change this season.
    Dave hefts himself from his chair, runs a hand through his thinning brown hair, and comes to the front with a clipboard. He pats my shoulder and I sit, feeling satisfied with my performance for the day. I’ve let them know my goals and what I’m going to do for them. I will be an asset at this job.
    I meet Knight’s eyes, wanting to know if he understands me. He nods but doesn’t smile. Like he’s acknowledging me, but not going to be friendly about it. It’s fine. I don’t need to be liked to do a good job.

    We start slide drills on the second day of training. So far, Dave has had us working separately with two different groups, the experienced guards and the new. This is my first time training with Knight, and we’re working on slides. My turf.
    I hop in the slide pool while the guards assemble around us. I go to the end of both slides and feel the current gush around me. Not as strong as some of the slides back home but still enough to push a body out past you before you catch it. I dunk under and feel myself float forward so I have an idea of timing. When I come up, the guards are talking noisily amongst themselves, and Knight is staring down at me with narrowed eyes. I can never read him.
    “Two lines,” I say.
    “Why two?” Trent, one of our youngest, always has a mouth on him, always wants to know why.
    “Just get in line,” Knight snaps, coming up behind him. Trent moves immediately, shaking his limp brown hair out of his face as he scrambles to comply. Knight’s voice is as commanding as his stance is. He towers over the younger guards in both height and width, in that way that men do when they move from their teens to their twenties and just seem hotter and stronger. His whistle hangs around his neck, down between large, defined pecs that show even under his shirt.
    He grabs the bottom of his shirt and raises an eyebrow at me while nodding at the water. I nod, because I’ll need him to get in with me, even though I’m not sure how I’ll handle him shirtless. For the last day or so, I’ve barely been able to handle him fully clothed when we did paperwork.
    He pulls off his shirt in one smooth motion, over his head in a way that flexes his chest and elongates his biceps, and tosses it to the side. Cue appreciative noises from the female guards and my mouth going dry. I’m trying just to see him as my capable coworker, who in the last day or so of training has proven to be a stellar guard. But I find myself appreciating his fantastic chest as much as I appreciate his extreme dedication to the job. I can’t stop thinking of his lips on mine at night in the ocean. I’m just going to have to focus on the guards. Besides, Knight might be helping direct the guards, and acting friendly, but I haven’t forgotten his angry diatribe in the parking lot.
    “Why do we have two lines?” I say, pointing to each. “Because there are two slides. We’re going to be doing slide spinals and you’ll be running them with either Knight or myself. After we demonstrate, of course.”
    I feel a little guilty for planning my first training around slide