Free One Week of Summer by Amber Rides

“Has anyone ever told you you’re funny?”
    “Never,” I admitted. “And I’m not joking.”
    He eyed me speculatively. “Does this have something to do with what happened at the beach yesterday? And the fountain last night?”
    “Yes.”
    “You’re afraid of drowning.” It wasn’t a question.
    “Terrified.”
    It was easy to talk to him when he was so far away, easy to admit things I didn’t normally admit anywhere but in my head.
    “And what would happen if I did it anyway?”
    “Threw me into the pool?” Even saying it made my throat want to close up. “I don’t know. I’d panic. Freeze up. Maybe not even be able to stand. And I would drown.”
    “Maggie,” Teekay said slowly. “I would never, ever let you drown.”
    “Okay,” I replied, sounding just as uncertain as I felt.
    He smiled. “You’re not supposed to just agree.”
    “I’m not?”
    “No.”
    “What am I supposed to do?”
    “Bat your eyelashes and say, ‘You wouldn’t, Teekay?’”
    “And what’s your reply to that?” I wondered out loud.
    “I say…Of course not, darlin’.”
    “And then I jump into your arms and into that pool of death?”
    “Pretty much.”
    “Well. I’m glad I don’t have bat-able eyelashes then.”
    Teekay threw back his head and laughed, then climbed out of the pool.  He ignored the water dripping from his body as he stretched, but I couldn’t do the same. 
    His wet shorts hugged him flatteringly, leaving little to the imagination.  I suddenly wished I’d taken a closer look when he’d stripped in the parking lot yesterday.  Now, I watched him breathlessly as he tossed his goggles aside, shook his hair, and moved toward me.
    “You sure you don’t wanna jump into my arms?” he teased.
    My face got warm and I tried to look away, but in just seconds, he was on his knees at my side, and he had my face cupped gently in his hands.  When he spoke again, though, his was anything but gentle.
    “What the fuck happened to your mouth, Maggie?”
    “Oh.”
    I’d all but forgotten about the injury. 
    Teekay’s thumb grazed the little split.  His touch, though soft, stung a little.  But the pain was secondary to the way heat fanned from my lips to my face and down my throat.
    “Maggie?” he prodded.
    “It’s nothing,” I managed to breathe.
    “It doesn’t look like nothing.”
    “It was silly,” I elaborated. “I was in your ensuite bathroom and I slipped.”
    Teekay’s thumb stopped moving immediately. “You were in my bathroom?”
    “You left my dress in there.”
    “I left it outside the bathroom,” he corrected.
    “I got changed inside though.”
    “Did you look around?”
    “No.”
    Why does it matter? I wondered as I remembered Donnie’s reaction my presence in his room, too, and my mind took a dark turn that I had to shove aside. What’s he hiding?
    Teekay’s grip on my face was growing a little more intense with each second.  It didn’t quite hurt.  But it was no longer pleasant, either.
    “Are you lying to me, Maggie?” Teekay demanded.
    I jerked my head away. “I’m not a liar.”
    “You don’t swear and you don’t lie,” he said. “So…What is your vice?”
    His body had relaxed, but mine was still tense.  His sudden changes in mood were starting to get to me.  And the ache of my jaw made it that much worse.
    It wasn’t as though I hadn’t been hurt physically before, but Teekay had made a point of asking me about trust – something I didn’t give out, not just freely, but at all.  And he had saved me.  Swept me off my feet.  Literally.
    So I want him to be different.
    The realization hit me hard, and before I could stop myself, I voiced my thoughts aloud.
    “Why does it matter?”
    “Because I want to know what makes your bad side tick,” Teekay replied with a lopsided smile.
    I refused to take the bait. “I’m not talking about my vice, Teekay.”
    His smile slipped slightly before he forced it back in place. “I know.”
    “I