Recovery

Chapter 31

My alarm goes off at 11:30, giving me only about 3 hours since I fell asleep. If it weren't for the fact that I'm excited to meet up with Avery, I'd hit snooze and fall back to sleep.

I will my self out of bed and grab my royal blue bathing suit from my suitcase, quickly sliding into it.

I rifle through my suitcase and grab a black cover up, tying it on over my suit. I snatch up a towel and slip out the door.

I turn down the hallways, trying to remember where exactly the pool is. After taking multiple wrong turns, I eventually find my way there. I slide open the glass door and scan the area for Avery. He's not here yet, so I go sit on the edge, letting my feet hang over into the water.

After a few minutes, I hear the door open.

"Hey," I greet, glancing over my shoulder.

"Hey," he replies, offering me a wry smile. "So are you going to swim or...?"

"I was waiting for you," I chuckle, standing to my feet.

"Well I'm here now," he shrugs.

"I can see that," I laugh, reaching up to untie my cover up. I pause for a moment- Avery hasn't seen my tattoo yet. Even when I wear spaghetti straps, I fix my hair specifically to cover it so no one will notice.

He probably won't even notice, its pretty dark. Even if he does, I'm sure he won't care. What do I think's gonna happen? It's not like he's going to say: "Oh, you have a tattoo? Well I guess that means we're done."

I internally laugh at my foolishness, and untie the knot at the base of my neck, letting the coverup fall to the ground. I kick it to the side, and set my towel down beside it. 

I glance over at Avery, his figure lit by the moon. He's stands there, glancing me over and causing a blush to make its way to my cheeks. I'm glad he probably can't see the color in my cheeks.

"Take a picture, it will last longer," I tease, walking over to the steps that lead into the pool. Normally I'd just jump in, but I don't want to be too loud.

I wade into the water till I get up to my shoulders, before calling out to Avery, "Are you going to get in or not?"

He shrugs, and peels his shirt off, setting it down beside my towel. I mentally note it doesn't seem he brought one.

My eyes involuntarily examine his shirtless body, noticing how well built he is, most likely from all the farm work he does.

"Hello, abs," I think to myself.

"And I'm the one who needs to take a picture," he playfully provokes, making his way over to the waters edge.

I immediately avert my gaze, my cheeks flushing. I hear him chucklng under his breath, and my expression immediately changes into a scowl.

He laughs again, and walks into the water, making his way over to me.

Before he reaches me, I dip under water and swim to the edge, sucessfully evading him. When I come up for air, he's already heading towards me again.

"Grace-" he warns, though his voice is amused.

"You have to catch me first," I tease, diving over to the deep end. Even in the dark water, I can see his shadowy figure swimming after me when I open my eyes. I blow a few bubbles out of my nose in an attempt to laugh, before pressing my feet against the bottom of the pool, shooting myself up to the surface.

I grab onto a wall, and watch as he makes his way towards me.

"Now you're cornered," he chuckles, less than two feet away from me.