With This Heart(17)

Did they make petroleum engineers work out? It must have been part of the curriculum.

“ I’ll clean the rest, you go change,” he said, heading toward me. I instinctively took a step back and then did an awkward pivot so that he wouldn’t be standing right next to me. I understand that wasn’t the smoothest thing to do, and I sort of looked like a flustered robot, but it was just A LOT to take in all at once.





[page]CHAPTER SEVEN





I had to eventually give up trying to find a bright side to the bikini situation. Size-A boobs, giant scar across my chest, pale skin…there was no bright side other than the fact that I was pretty skinny and I had long legs. I adjusted the triangles over my boobs and then pushed them together one last time, forming a hint of cleavage. The moment I let go, the light pink material fell right back into place. I looked like a prepubescent boy.

“ C’mon Abby. The sun’s going down in twenty minutes!” Beck called.

“ Okay, okay. I’m coming.” I unzipped the tent flap and stepped out. Beck wasn’t busy doing “campy” things; he was standing there, watching me climb out, just as I had feared.

I had to concentrate painfully hard on each of my movements. Take one step out of the tent . Good . Now another. Turn and zip the tent. Yes, he’s looking at your ass .

His greenish hazel eyes were brazenly taking in my bikini body, only pausing for a moment over my scar. I had to say something to break the awkward moment.

“ God, if you stare any longer I’m not getting in that water with you.”

He laughed, thought for a second, and then cracked up at that, throwing his head back and clutching his stomach. I shoved him playfully with my hand, but as I moved to walk past him, he caught my hand again and pulled me back so I couldn’t keep walking.

I looked up into the green swirls around his irises and could tell he was on the cusp of revealing something. His dark eyebrows were pressed together. His lips were parted slightly and his gaze never wavered. But it didn’t last. I could see him pushing the thought aside before he formed a new one in its place.

“ You think you’re going in before me?” he asked with a goofy smile. He dropped my hand and raced past me toward the water.

I stood there speechless, wondering what it was he had really wanted to say. He dove into the lake with no reservations, and then surfaced a moment later. Translucent drops of water clung to his chest and shoulders. Cedars rimmed the lake on all sides and the setting sun shone beyond that. I wished I could have taken a picture for Caroline. We weren’t that far from the town, but it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.

“ Does it feel good?” I asked, creeping closer to the edge. There was no way I was going to jump in like he did. I wasn’t certain, but it seemed like I shouldn’t ingest any of the water. There was no telling what type of bacteria lurked in it and being immunocompromised meant snorting gross lake water was probably not the best plan.

“ Perfect,” he answered, treading lightly and waiting for me.

I waded in up to my waist, and then when I couldn’t touch anymore, I swam toward him. He was right. It was so warm outside that the water was refreshing, just shy of freezing. Yes, my teeth were chattering, but it still felt good.

“ It’s not that cold,” he laughed.

“ I’m smaller than you. You probably have like ten layers of fat warming you up,” I joked, knowing full well there was not even a single layer of fat on him.

“ Want to go to the middle and back?”

I looked beyond his shoulder. The lake was huge and I hadn’t swam in years, but I didn’t want to admit defeat.

“ Okay, but no going under. That’s cheating,” I stated.

“ Seems reasonable. Ready?”

My teeth were still chattering and I could feel my lips turning blue (one more side effect of being so pale), but I nodded. But before he could countdown, I started swimming as fast as I could. I kicked my feet in time with my arms, leaving him in the wake of my splashes.


“ Hey! Cheater!” he called, starting to swim after me. I don’t condone cheating, but we both knew he was going to win. I just needed a little advantage. Not to mention, seeing him flustered was priceless.

I grabbed some disgusting lake slime and chunked it behind me to add obstacles to his path like those bananas in Mario Cart. When I peered back, the slime sat atop his brown hair and sludge was dripping down his face. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

“ Sorry!” I offered innocently, but he tossed it off with a determined look in his eyes. Uh oh .

I kept swimming, never looking behind me for fear that he’d be on my tail. The center of the lake was still quite far, so I hunkered down and tried to concentrate on breathing in and out. It’s embarrassing how little I had worked out prior to that moment. I couldn’t do anything before my transplant, and then after, I’d worked with a physical therapist, building a bit of my strength back. It obviously wasn’t enough. My arms felt like lead weights and my stamina was quickly dwindling.

My lungs gulped in heavy breaths and I tried to push past the pain, but my body was deciding it had had enough. I paused and tried to catch my breath while I treaded water. That’s when I looked up and saw Beck in the center of the lake, looking relaxed and happy. Damn, I hadn’t even made it half way. I tried to swim closer to him, but quickly decided against it. Dying on the first day of an epic road trip would really put a damper on my plans for living.