Free Avoiding Intimacy by K. A. Linde

asked, turning her face up to his.
    He met her gaze. “Enough. What did your mom do for them?”
    “She was a model. I mean, a supermodel,” she said, waving her hands in the air like it meant nothing.
    “Wow. Impressive. I’ve never met a supermodel.”
    Chyna smirked. “I find that hard to believe.”
    “They don’t often venture to Flint, Michigan.”
    “You never see them around Global?”
    she asked with a raised eyebrow.
    “Maybe. Not much time to pay attention,” he said casually. “So, is that what you want to do? I know you said you don’t base your life on your career, but do you want to model like your mom?”
    Chyna wavered on the topic. She hated the idea of following in someone’s footsteps, but on the other hand, she really thought she would be good at it. “Yeah, I think I’d like to try it. Just need an in besides old Mommy Dearest. Kind of like to forge my own path, if you know what I mean.”
    “Well, you should go for it. Really nothing holding you back,” he said, nudging her shoulder.
    “Yeah, maybe I will,” she agreed, not convincing herself and probably not him either.
    Silence ensued, and they were content in that moment to sit on the edge of the swimming pool, kicking their feet back and forth in time together. It was calm and peaceful.
    The moment passed, and Chyna ventured forward with the conversation.
    “Have you always swam?”
    “I got into it in high school. I always played ball, and my coach saw me swim during P.E., freshman year. He called me over and introduced me to the swim coach. She was the hottest teacher in school, so I agreed to be all but naked around her after school on a regular basis.
    I think that’s how she got so many talented athletes on the team. I ended up being pretty good, and I stuck it out all four years. Got more money in swimming scholarships
    than
    basketball
    or
    academics. It was an easy choice.”
    “You’re such a dude,” Chyna said, giggling and making the mistake of looking up at him and his all but naked body. “So, did you hook up with your swim coach?”
    “No way,” he said with a knowing smile. “She was married with two kids.
    Way out of my league.”
    “I find that hard to believe.”
    He laughed, reaching down and splashing water on her lap. She squealed and shielded herself from his attack.
    “You don’t even know me. Judgey, judgey!”
    “I surrender,” she said, raising her hands over her head now that she was wet from the waist down. “Waving a white flag!”
    “That’s better,” he said, eyeing her mischievously.
    She brought her arms down slowly.
    “But, come on,” she said, inching away from him, “didn’t you want to?”
    “Want to?” he asked as if that was a stupid question. “Of course, I wanted to…” He paused.
    “And?” she prompted.
    He laughed again. “And, when I went home on winter break sophomore year, she was divorced from her husband, so I did.”
    Chyna cackled. She knew it! “Now, who’s judgey, huh? I pegged you spot on,”
    she said, punctuating her last three words with sharp pokes to his chest with her finger.
    He reached out quicker than she had expected and snatched up her wrist, wrapping his long fingers all the way around it. He pulled her forward and threw part of her weight toward the water.
    She screamed, not having anticipated actually getting in the water, and reached out for him to save herself. Her hand came up and around his neck at the same time as he put his hand on her stomach, pressing her toward the swimming pool.
    “Don’t you dare!” she screamed, feeling her body edging farther and farther off of the ledge toward the water.
    “Oh, don’t dare me, babe,” he said, his hazel eyes narrowing with the promise of a challenge.
    “I will kill you,” she said, making a real promise.
    “You wouldn’t,” he said, gripping her wrist harder and tugging her just a little bit more into the pool.
    “If my hair gets wet, you will feel lucky to be alive,” she