Deeper Read Free Page B

spinals, because I know how to do them and I’m sure Knight doesn’t. It’s not that I want him to look stupid, it’s just that I need to gain respect in my own way. If it puts him in his place and shows him not to mess with me, even better.
    “I’ll show Knight how to do it first, then we can teach at the same time. Watch closely.” I wave to Amy. She goes around the back and up the slide tower. I am about to signal her when Knight taps me with his foot underwater. It trips a nerve in my leg that shoots right up to my hip. He couldn’t even unfold his stupid complacent arms long enough to tap me with a hand? I glare at him.
    He shrugs and looks forward, giving me his sharp profile. “I can demonstrate it.”
    “You’ve done slide spinals,” I say skeptically.
    He nods. “I took a course when I knew we were getting slides.”
    He’s not what I expected. Maybe it’s his tattoo, or the way he smiled and tried to seduce me in the ocean, but I was expecting him to be more of a slacker. “So you’ve seen the videos, and simulated it in a pool, but have you done one?”
    “No, but I can.” He raises an eyebrow, a hint of a smirk on his face. “I’ll demonstrate right now if you want me to.”
    I don’t want him to. If he does it wrong it’ll be humiliating for him, and if he does it right it’ll be humiliating for me. But he won’t do it right. No one does it right the first time.
    He pushes me gently out of the way of Amy’s slide, and waves for her to go down. After a doubtful look at me that I return with a nod, she goes.
    Midway down the slide she turns to be headfirst. It won’t be an easy spinal. The brace you make has to be perfect. I look over at Knight. He’s folding his arms and watching her progress. How can he look so relaxed?
    Amy hits the water and Knight snaps into action, submerging and smoothly spinning under her, since she’s face down. He braces her perfectly before turning them both face up. He turns slowly and holds her in the slide current and calls for a backboard. The guards look at me and I nod for someone to go get it. I can’t believe it.
    I take the backboard from the guards and move into position to help Knight. My face is burning, both from the embarrassment of being wrong about him as well as how hot I find it that he’s so damn good at this. I drop the backboard with a hard push and let it float smoothly up beneath her. He holds her head while I start the straps. Even though I’m not looking at him, I can feel him watching me. I can’t ignore the current between us. Like the air is charged whenever he’s near. I finish the last strap on the head piece and meet his eyes as I move to the end of the backboard. They’re so blue, but so intense. Like pool water with sun glinting off of it.
    He places his hands on the edge of the pool and pulls himself up out of the water with one smooth motion. All glistening muscle with water falling off of him. I want to hit my head on the side of the pool so I can stop thinking this way.
    My plan to look good has failed, and I should be bitter, but as he reaches for the top of the backboard while I grab the bottom, and we lock eyes, we can’t help momentarily grinning at one another. It’s just odd like that when you find someone else who is just as good as you are at what you are best at. It’s hard not to see them as a possible partner for more than just lifeguarding. Even now, my mind is going back to the night of the bonfire, and thinking of the other things we do well together.
    I pull myself out of the water and kneel beside Amy, who’s smiling a bit too happily for a person with a spinal injury. Knight’s behind me and I can’t ignore the feel of him as I explain to the guards what to do next. I’m lucky CPR is like breathing to me, and even if I stutter a bit, the ideas are clear and easy to remember.
    Even as I’m remembering his big, capable body as he pulled himself out of the pool to help me complete the perfect