Floating in The Water

Chapter 8

"Are we still doing this, then?" Liam asks Tuesday night when he gets to the pool building, finding Zayn leaning against the wall with a cigarette just like last time.

"Just getting my money's worth," Zayn says easily.

"Maybe I don't want the money anymore," Liam says as he unlocks the door.

"Have fun telling my father that," Zayn says, patting Liam on the shoulder as he passes him.

Liam's shoulder feels too hot after his touch, like he can pinpoint where each of Zayn's fingertips touched him. A move like that, if delivered by Niall, or Harry, or even Louis, would be considered friendly. From Zayn, though, it felt both mocking and condescending.

When Liam gets into the changing room, Zayn is naked. He's not just tugging off his shirt; he's fully, completely naked. Liam discovers that Zayn has a tattoo on the inside of his left thigh, though he can't see exactly what it is, because only part of it is visible given the way he's standing with his back to Liam.

Liam's eyes move up Zayn's thighs to the curve of his ass, and then to the spot where his back dips in a bit above it. It's ridiculous, really, but his workpants suddenly feel too tight in the crotch area, and Liam feels his cheeks heat up, but he can't pull his freaking eyes away. There's so much smooth, dark skin, and then suddenly Zayn's grinning at him over his shoulder.

"Can I help you with something?" he asks, raising his eyebrows.

Liam shakes his head and practically runs into one of the stalls, shutting the door loudly behind himself. He leans against the cool wall for a moment, his eyes falling closed, breathing heavily. Closing his eyes is not a good idea, apparently, because all he can do it picture Zayn naked, and that's a very, very bad thing, given the fact that he needs to change into his swim suit. He doubts the flimsy material of it will hide his erection, and he really can't deal with this right now. He just can't.

He's aware that he's taking long, and that's only proven more obvious when Zayn calls, "Meet you in the pool, Liam."

Liam runs a hand over the short bristles of his hair, for the first time since he'd cut it missing the longer strands, because at least he could pull on those until the pain was enough to distract him. Instead, all he has is Zayn's words from last lesson, which he repeats to himself over and over in his mind until the anger outweighs the arousal.

Finally he undoes his pants and pulls off his clothes before tugging on his red swim trunks. He carefully folds his clothes and puts them in a locker, along with his towel, and then heads out into the pool room.

Zayn is just floating on the water again, looking like he doesn't have a care in the world. "Issue with your trunks?" he asks, smirking to himself.

Issue with you, maybe, Liam thinks. He doesn't say it, though. "If you wanted someone to come watch you float around I'm sure you could have paid any of the female employees to do it. I bet they'd do it for free, even."

Zayn's eyebrows draw together. "You sound almost jealous."

"And sometimes you seem almost bearable, but then you open your mouth," Liam snaps at him.

Zayn just sighs and opens his eyes a bit while kicking his legs. "You know, that kicking thing actually works, apparently," he says, managing to move to the shallower end of the pool without going under. "I think another lesson, maybe two, and we'll be done here."

"Thank god," Liam says under his breath.

"That quick to get rid of me?" Zayn asks, because apparently Liam is bad at saying things under his breath. The teasing tone is gone and he narrows his eyes. "Whatever, Liam, just get in the pool."