Prove It

Chapter 13

Tristan and Sierra agreed that the lessons should wait until after they took their Biology test. This way Sierra would have more time to get used to the idea of learning to swim and Tristan would have more time to convince himself of why he couldn't have her. Now, that his brain insisted that Sierra play the leading role in all of his fantasies, Tristan had no control over the filthy things that flooded his mind at the sight of her.

It was getting harder and harder for him to pretend to not want more than friendship. Although, that friendship meant everything to him, sometimes, it just didn't feel like enough. But there were a million reasons why being with Sierra was out of the question. Sierra was not the type of girl you played around with, she needed a relationship and she deserved a guy who could give her everything and Tristan couldn't do that. Not right now.

Not after Jessica.

So, Tristan decided that the best thing to do would be to leave her alone. And just like that, Sierra became the one girl he couldn't have. Which made her the one girl he wanted the most. Why the fuck do things work out that way? His need to protect her from himself was the only thing keeping him from doing something they would both regret.

The Biology test was tomorrow and today was their last "study" session. They'd been telling jokes and laughing with each other the entire time. Tristan was thinking how beautiful Sierra was when she laughed when he heard the doorbell ring.

Tristan's father went to see who was at the door.

"Gregory, what a pleasant surprise." Tristan heard his father's voice float into the living area where he and Sierra were pretending to study.

"Jon, I thought I'd drop by to give you the new building plans in person so I'd have an excuse to finally meet your boy. He's been occupying a lot of my daughter's time recently.".

Tristan's dad laughed. And Sierra immediately stopped smiling.

"Yes, it seems she's become a welcomed addition to our household. Come in. Come in."

"Daddy? What are you doing here?" Sierra asked as soon as the man at the door walked into the room.

"I just wanted to meet the young man who is going to be teaching my little girl to swim."

Tristan stood when Sierra's father entered the room. He was huge, towering over Tristan and his dad. It was hard not to be intimidated. He had to be at least six foot five and built like a linebacker. This was Sierra's father? He was definitely a man you didn't want to mess with.

"So, you're Jon's boy. It's nice to finally meet you, young man."

"Likewise, Mr. Foster. My father talks about you all the time. He's shown me some of your designs. You're very talented, Sir."

Mr. Foster's face lit up at the compliment, regarding Tristan with interest.

"So, you know a thing or two about architecture?"

"Only what my father tells me, but I've seen your work. He told me that you led the design team that created the Metropolitan Arena downtown. That building is a work of art."

Mr. Foster laughed heartily. A big bellow of a laugh that came from his gut.

"I think I like you, Tristan. Come, take a walk with me."

"Sir?"

"Don't worry, my boy. I don't bite. I just need to talk to you about an important matter."

Tristan looked back at Sierra hoping she had some clue of what her father wanted. She shrugged, looking as worried as he did, making Tristan think that she had no idea what this was about. Tristan turned, following Mr. Foster out of the room into a secluded spot out on the back patio.

"Tristan, I appreciate you offering to teach my daughter how to swim. She gave up trying to learn a few years back, so this means a great deal to her and to me, but I feel I should make something clear before you guys get started." He looked directly into Tristan's eyes, he was serious. "Sierra is my little girl and she'll always be, so that means I'm trusting you with the most precious person in the world to me."

"Uhhh, Sir..." Tristan began feeling uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going.

"Wait a minute, Tristan. I want to make sure you understand this. That young lady is to be respected at all times. You're an attractive young man and she's a beautiful girl and there won't be someone to keep an eye on you guys all the time. I need to know that this is not going to be a problem."

"No, Sir. You have nothing to worry about from me."

Sierra's father regarded him closely as if he could see the lie for what it was. Tristan fully intended to keep his hands to himself regardless of how much he wished things could be different. But, it was like her dad knew. Father's intuition or something.

"Okay, son. Just be safe and be firm, she's strong-willed and you're going to have to be tough if you are going to be effective. I'll leave you guys to work out your own schedule."

He gave Tristan another wary glance before leaving. He went back into the living area to give Sierra a kiss and hugged her to him before yelling a goodbye to Tristan's dad and leaving.

"What was that about?" Sierra asked.

"I'm not sure. He basically told me to be careful with you and be safe."

Sierra seemed embarrassed by this. "I'm sorry. He's so overprotective."

"It's no big deal, he's just looking out for you."

Sierra shrugged her shoulders, totally carefree, and walked back to the spot where they sat earlier surrounded by unopened books. Tristan smiled to himself. She really had no clue how much looking after she needed. Tristan vowed that he would do his best to look after her and keep her safe, even if that meant keeping her safe from himself.

---------------------------------------------------

Today was the big day and Sierra was ready to change her mind. She was standing in the changing room in the pool house trying to remember why the hell was she agreed to do this? She wasn't prepared. She wasn't ready yet. She wanted to run. But she couldn't stomach seeing the disappointment in Tristan's eyes when she told him she wasn't going to go through with the lessons. She had to try.

For him.

Some of it was for her, but she definitely wouldn't be doing this if it were anyone else trying to teach her to swim. For some reason he was determined to do this for her. He insisted on picking her up from her house this morning and taking her home. It was obvious he was excited about today.

Sierra pulled her clothes off, revealing the modest two piece suit she bought yesterday. It was one of two swim suits she purchased just for lessons with Tristan. Her dad wasn't very happy about her getting a bikini but he got over it the minute he saw the other choices, which consisted mostly of three to four triangles, all held together by pieces of string. This suit covered everything and it kept all the important parts snuggly in place. There was no danger of her falling out of it, unless someone purposefully pulled the thick straps that held the thing together and Sierra was pretty sure she was in no danger of that happening with Tristan.

Sierra knew she had to have this one the moment she tried it on in the store. The suit was simple but she loved the color. It was cream with gold trim and gold straps and complemented her skin perfectly. The fit was effortless and still functional for swimming lessons. But, now, looking at herself in the mirror, Sierra wished she did a few hundred more sit-ups before she came over.

She was so nervous and she knew she couldn't hide in this room forever, Tristan will come looking for her pretty soon. She threw her hair in a ponytail and took one last look at herself.

"You can do this, Sierra," she coached.

She folded her clothes, grabbed a towel, and marched out to the pool with much more confidence than she felt. The pool area was beautiful. She felt like she walked into a Greek villa. The room was completely white, with white lounge chairs and sofas filled with white and blue pillows. The floor tile was white with beige diamonds patterned throughout. There were green vines wrapped around huge white pillars along the sides of the room. And then there was the pool. She'd never seen one this big inside anyone's house before. It looked Olympic-sized. Sierra guessed it was so Tristan could practice at home.

Speaking of Tristan, he was already in the water. His body was completely submerged as he sliced through the water, moving like a torpedo toward the deepest part of the pool. Sierra looked at the numbers listed on the side. The deep end was 13 feet, more than twice her height.

Oh God.

Sierra's heart began to pound, she couldn't do this. The chlorine filled air felt heavy, making it harder to breathe and her vision began to blur. She heard some splashing and suddenly Tristan was out of the water and at her side before she had a chance to bolt. He reached his hands out to support her.

"Breathe, Sierra. Nice and slow. Good girl. Take a breath, in through your nose, out through your mouth."

He led her to one of the lounge chairs and sat her down. His muscles flexed unconsciously with his movements as he tried to make her comfortable. He was so close, the water from his hair dripped onto her skin. He kneeled in front of her which putting his bare chest within touching distance. Suddenly, Sierra couldn't breathe for a different reason. He looked really good wet. No guy should be so perfect. There had to be something wrong with him, but Sierra found no faults, just more things to drool over. After today, she can add six-pack abs and rippling muscles to the list. She took big, slow breaths like Tristan instructed.

"That's it," he encouraged. His green eyes held a note of worry, but they were alive. He was excited.

"I'm okay," she told him, not wanting to see his excitement fade.

"You're not going to run?"

"No."

His dazzling smile made an appearance.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She nodded. "Good, then let's get started." Her heart started to race again and her breathing changed. He noticed. "Sierra, we're just going to get in the water. Today's lesson is to get comfortable. And we'll go at your pace. I'll push you a little bit, but not more what you're ready for. You understand?"

Sierra took in another big, slow breath. "Do you have any of those floatie things I can use?"

"You won't need any."

"We're not going in the deep end?" she asked, puzzled. Maybe today wasn't going to be as bad as she thought. He was going to take it slow. They weren't going in the deep end.

"We are." Her face dropped at his words.

"I don't understand. You do know I can't swim right?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know. That's why I'm going to be your floatie."

"You're going to be my floatie?" What does that even mean?

"Don't look at me like that. A floatie can't save you if something happens and you panic. I can. And I don't want you to depend on those things. I'll be there." In response to her silence, he asked, "You trust me?"

"Yes," she breathed.

"Then stop stalling and come on."

He grabbed her arms tugging her away from the lounge chair and toward the stairs leading into the water.

"Tristan, wait."

"No, no more waiting. It's time to get wet."

Sierra paused, fighting the giggle that threatened to come out. "What?"

Tristan wiped a hand across his face. "That didn't come out right." She smiled as his cheeks colored. Ugh, he was so cute.

She let him pull her the remaining distance, until she stepped down, officially putting her feet in the water. Before she knew it, he'd taken her out to the 4 feet mark.

"Okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Ready to go further?"

"Can I have a minute?"

"Of course. Take all the time you need. But we're going all the way to the other side, even if it takes all night."

He drifted away and began to swim circles around her unconsciously reminding her of what she couldn't do. Sierra looked around her. She was within arm's length of the pool edge, which offered some comfort, but not much. She looked down and could see that she was two steps away from a decline where the pool depth increased to 6 feet. Her breathing accelerated again. She wanted to run, the urge was unbearable. She looked to the other side of the pool where it was marked 13 feet and she realized she couldn't see the bottom. The water became so blue, too blue. She knew there had to be a bottom, but not seeing it freaked her out. She wanted to stay here where it was safe, where her feet touched the pool floor.

"Tristan, I don't think I can go over there."

"Then don't think. Let me do that. I'll take care of everything."

"You don't understand."

"Sierra, don't do this. Don't psych yourself out. You can do this, it's as easy as stepping off the edge. I'll be right there to catch you."

She watched him swim away into the deep end, he went under into that deep blue where she couldn't see.

"Tristan?"

No answer.

Panic swept through her. "This isn't funny."

Maybe if she went under, she could see him, just to make sure he was okay. Don't be a coward, Sierra. You got this. She held her nose closed, took a deep breath and submerged her head below the water, looking around her. She couldn't see much more than that damn endless blue, she still looked around, needing to know where Tristan was. Then, her lungs started to constrict signaling that she was running out of breath, so she came up for air.

"Looking for something?"

Sierra gasped, turning to find Tristan standing directly behind her. How the hell did he do that? She punched him in the chest. He grunted at the contact.

"What was that for?" he asked and she wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.

"What is wrong with you?"

His smirk grew bigger.

"Were you worried about me?"

She flushed and clumsily navigated her way to the edge of the pool to pull herself up and out, but Tristan put his hands around her waist to stop her. The feeling of his hands on her skin froze her in her tracks.

"Don't go," he begged.

"You left me."

"I didn't leave you. I was right behind you the whole time."

"But I couldn't find you. It scared me when I didn't know where you were."

She watched as realization began to dawn on him.

"You're right, what I did was beyond stupid. I didn't know you'd get scared. I just... I wanted to play with you. And I hate seeing you so tense. I thought it would lighten the mood. I'm sorry."

Sierra had to admit she was pretty uptight. But she couldn't help it. Everything about this whole situation took her out of her comfort zone.

"Please stay," he pleaded.

"Fine. Just, please don't do that again."

"Promise."

He pulled her body away from the edge.

"I hope you had enough of a break because we're going further out." He felt her tense. "I'm here. I'm your floatie, remember?" She looked past him, seeing that seemingly endless bottomless blue. "Don't look there. Look at me."

"Can I close my eyes?"

"Yes. Hold on to me."

As if she could do anything other than hold on to Tristan with a death grip and hope he could protect her. He pulled her past the decline to where her feet no longer touched the floor. She instinctively grabbed for Tristan, moving into his arms, clinging. He closed his limbs around her protectively, but he didn't stop. He moved them toward the other end of the pool with Sierra securely in his arms and her face buried in his neck. She was completely surrounded by nothing but Tristan and water, too afraid to move or open her eyes. She focused on Tristan. He was holding her, one arm under her bottom, the other across her back. He was gliding with her through the water with ease, his legs working beneath her. She felt the side of the pool hit her arm when Tristan stopped. They were on the other side.

"Sierra?" his voice full of concern and something else she couldn't identify.

"I'm okay," she answered softly.

"You going to open your eyes?"

"No," she said holding on even tighter. He chuckled. She felt him push the wet hair away from her face and she could feel his eyes on her.

"Do you know how brave you are? You're doing so great. There's just one more thing we have to do before we're done for the day."

"What's that?"

She rested her head on Tristan's shoulder, trusting him completely. It felt good being in his arm. His thumb made small circles on her skin under the water.

"We're going to the bottom."

"What?" she asked. Her eyes flew open. "We're going to sink on purpose?"

"Yes."

"I don't like that idea. Is this how you always teach people to swim?"

"Not exactly. I don't usually let just anyone cling to me like this." He squeezed her bottom to get his point across. Sierra blushed realizing how familiar they were being with each other. "I've also never taught anyone who was as scared as you before. We have some extra hurdles to overcome and I can't begin to show you how to swim until I teach you that you have nothing to fear. Your first instinct is still to panic and that's the worst thing you can do in the water. When you relax, you'll see just how much the water supports you and how hard it is to actually sink."

Even if she wasn't terrified, how was she supposed to relax with Tristan holding her this way, she could feel him so close. She was practically in his lap with not much clothing between them.

"I'm not going to rush you here. You tell me when to let go of the side. Okay?"

"Just don't let me go."

"Never. I've got you," he said giving her thigh a reassuring squeeze.

"Let's get this over with," she said gathering her courage. He smiled at her, his arms seemed to contract around her, involuntarily squeezing harder.

"That's my brave girl."

She felt warm at his words. He pushed away from the side of the pool, leaving them in the middle of the deep end. He kept one hand around her as the other one worked in conjunction with his legs to keep them afloat.

"Ready?" he asked, his voice full of anticipation.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Take a big breath." Sierra inhaled deeply. "Here we go." Tristan stopped kicking and wrapped both arms around her as they sank into the silky watery depths.

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A/N: Have I told you guys how much I love you all, yet? Cuz I do. I love every single one of you. Even the ones who leave rude comments about me not updating fast enough. But, you can't rush the process.
I read every comment, so please continue to leave feedback, even if it's negative. It helps to give me perspective. Love ya!