Labels || H.S. [#Wattys2020]

FORTY-TWO

Instinctively Reagan knew better than to react to Harry's ridiculous proposition. He always said and did things like this to rile her up in the first place, and she just wasn't having it today. She fucking knew better, she knew him too well. She was not going to fall victim to his shenanigans again, damn it.

"I'm not skinny dipping," Reagan said, not even bothering to get up from her comfortable position.

Harry though didn't exactly have that in mind.

"Well." He said taking off his boots and socks, "That wasn't what I was thinking."

"What were you thinking?"

He peeled off his shirt, and Reagan couldn't look away. He smirked knowing she couldn't. He wasn't a narcissist, but he knew he had a good body. Of course, he had his own trepidation, but on most days he was pretty damn pleased with himself. He took care of himself, worked out a hell of a lot, and he was going to show off his tattoos every chance he got. So of course Reagan couldn't look away, she was instinctively drawn to him. And the fact that she wasn't looking at him through a computer screen like she was accustomed to wasn't helping. She wasn't ready to see him like this yet. It terrified her a bit, but at the same time made her feel things she wasn't ready to acknowledge.

"Well, we don't have to strip completely. Just enough." He said, throwing his t-shirt onto the towel where they were sitting.

Reagan tried to look away, not wanting to make him think that she cared that he wasn't wearing a shirt."Enough for what?"

"Enough to go for a little dip."

"I don't want to go for a dip, it's only April. It's not even that warm out."

"It's almost May, and we're in LA. Come on Rae, live a little." He said, starting to unzip his pants.

She looked up and screamed, "NO! YOU ARE NOT TAKING OFF YOUR PANTS."

He looked at her, trying to hide his laugh, "That's the first time a girl has told me that. I don't quite know how to feel."

"Look, if you want to go for a swim, go for it." She said firmly.

"The water is not that cold and you don't have to take off your clothes. At least just wade on the shore?"

"Why?"

"Just your toes, come on? I'm sure you can just take off your sandals, can't you?"

She looked down at her feet and figured there couldn't be any harm, could there? She could just roll up her pants and go ankle deep in the water while Harry could splash around all he pleased. No harm, no foul.

Reagan reluctantly pulled her shoes off and rolled her jeans up. Harry pulled her up, his warm hand in hers, and led her towards the shore. She tried not to look at him, his broad shoulders and bare tattooed chest. She peeked though, and the moment she saw the fucking butterfly tattoo on his stomach, she started giggling. She couldn't help it. She just couldn't understand him sometimes. How could the world see him in such a harsh light? He was literally the sweetest, weirdest, and most endearing person she had ever met. He had a fucking butterfly tattoo for god's sake. How could people peg him for a womanizer? A heart breaker? A snob? She just didn't comprehend it.

"Christ, it's cold." He muttered as he stepped in first. He hadn't taken off his pants, hadn't even bothered rolling up them up. He walked into the water up to his hips though, and turned around to look at her. He motioned towards him and she shook her head.

"I'm not going in that deep."

"You're not even in the water."

She dipped her toe and looked up, "Yes, I am."