Hold My Breath(81)

“Lose the bikini, Woodsen,” I say, splashing her once with my hand. She squeals when the water hits her, pulling her legs up.

She stares at me again, but I can tell she’s growing bolder. She’s going to do it, and cold water or not, I’m hard as a rock.

“You’re such a pig, you know that, Will Hollister?” she says, standing and reaching behind her back. She pauses, pointing a finger to her friend. “Camera off, Holly. I don’t need any TMZ video showing up during trials.”

Holly keeps her phone held high, until Maddy steps forward and dips her foot in the water, kicking up a splash at her friend.

“Hey! I was shutting it off. That’s how my operating system works, I hold the phone over my head and count to ten,” she jokes.

“Uh huh,” Maddy says, her mouth pulled in on one side.

“It’s off; it’s off,” Holly says, tucking the phone in her bag and kicking her own shoes from her feet and sliding her shorts down her hips.

“What are you doing?” Maddy asks, her hand still holding the straps behind her back while she tilts her head in question of her friend.

Holly tugs her T-shirt over her head, then slides the strap of her swimsuit top down her shoulder while eying her friend.

“I’m racing you,” she says, sliding the second strap down before reaching around her back and unsnapping her suit.

My eyes blink wide, and now I’m not sure how to proceed. I’m not sure I’m even needed, because in seconds, Maddy and her best friend are in a full-out, sorority-porn-style race to strip down in front of me, a guy named Nick, and incredibly shy Amber. Both naked and staring at each other, the two of them start laughing hysterically when their eyes meet.

“We do this together,” Maddy says.

“Oh f*ck yes!” I tease, holding my fingers in my mouth and whistling loud.

Within seconds, both rush at the pool, jumping toward me and splashing wildly, kicking their arms and legs while we all laugh so hard that we don’t hear the others join us. The pool deck is a pile of stripped away clothes and suits, and for the next twenty minutes we all make silly dares, jumping in and out of the water just long enough to catch glimpses of things. We act like children, and make sex jokes, and live like drunken college kids running on nothing but this natural high that somehow we all must have needed. When it wears off, I swim to the pool’s edge and toss everyone their suits, modesty hitting us all at once. Regardless, though, a new closeness settles in—a comfort that I feel in my chest and see reflected in Maddy’s eyes.

“Midnight swim,” she smirks, paddling around the water near me after slipping her suit back on. I tug on her loose strap, her hand gripping it quickly but not before I can bring her close to me. Our eyes lock and I reach behind her neck, tying her suit the rest of the way for her.

“This was a lot more fun than it used to be,” I say, my voice low. I peek over her shoulder to where our friends are climbing out of the pool on the other side, reaching for their towels and drying their bodies and hair.

My gaze slides back to hers.

“It was more fun for you because I have tits now,” she says, her mouth pinched in a crooked smile.

“You had tits then,” I say back quickly, and she pushes from my chest, splashing me. I grab her fast, though and pull her back in my arms.

I hold her against my body, and she turns so we’re both facing the front of the pool. We wave goodbye to our friends, and Holly holds up her phone.

“I’ll have it posted by morning. I’ll split the profits with you, Will,” she jokes.

“Awesome,” I say back, grunting when I feel Maddy’s elbow in my gut.

“She’s kidding,” I whisper against her ear. My lip brushes the side and I linger there, tracing it once with my tongue before pulling her cool skin between my teeth. Maddy hums and leans her head to the right, welcoming me to taste more of her.

I do. I kiss her neck and shoulder and eventually work her bikini top back off of her body, caressing her breasts until she whimpers and begs me to take her inside.

I do that, too. We don’t make it far, stopping at the small snack-bar nook where we both used to sneak sodas and ice cream pops from the refrigerator. I press her body against the counter, bending her over and untying one side of her bikini bottom, jerking the material to one side so I can slide inside her.

Our sex is hard and fast, and my hand covers her mouth to muffle the whimpers that escape her lips every time I push against her. When the pressure becomes too hard to hold back from, I press my mouth against her bare back and muffle my own moans. Her body is flush against the counter, her arms spread out to the sides and her fingers grip the edges of the granite while I fill her with every inch of me until there’s nothing left but our exhausted bodies and bliss.

I round up her clothes and the bikini top we discarded and lead her upstairs, whispering once inside. I make us a small bed and tug her body in against mine, under an old quilt that we probably used to build forts when we were young.

“Where’d you find that swimsuit, anyhow.” I smile through the words I speak against her ear, and I feel her shiver.

“I haven’t worn it since high school. It was in the supply closet, in an old box,” she says. Her voice is raw and weak, the early morning hours and our love making catching up to her.

“It still fits perfectly,” I grin, ticking her arm with my fingertips.