THALIA IS AVOIDING me.
Ever since her panic attack in the ocean the other day, as soon as we got back to Sandy Cove and went separate ways, she's been avoiding me. Like she's embarrassed to have admitted what was going on her with and being that vulnerable with someone. I haven't seen her on the beach. I suspect she's been going to the other knowing I would be at work, haven't seen her around town or on her balcony at the house.
You must admit when she doesn't want to be seen, she's great at it.
Placing my hand over my eyes to block out the sun as I look up to the house from where I stand on the beach, I see the balcony doors closed and no movement anywhere. Shaking my head at her stubbornness, I reach down to wrap the cuff around my ankle.
"Do you think with Thalia on the judging panel, we have a better chance at winning the comp?" Charlie questions as he, Landon, and I sit on the beach preparing to go surfing.
With the news of Thalia agreeing to judge having spread through the town, a new energy has been given to the surf competition. People are practising harder in order to impress a professional surfer who will eye their every move and mistake.
Leaning my elbows on my knees, I shake my head at him and can't help but laugh. "Definitely not. I think we have even less of a chance because she'll be judging us harder to make sure there's no bias," I snort, and their faces fall at the idea of not having a leg up. "Don't trust your skills enough?"
"Fuck you, man. Twenty bucks says I place higher than you," Charlie bets, and I raise my eyebrow before shrugging and agreeing to his terms. Charlie salutes before running to the ocean, and Landon looks at me.
"You could have bet higher. We all know you'll place higher," Landon says as I stand up, holding my board under my arm.
"The satisfaction of his facial expression is win enough."
"I'll be sure to get that on video for the next time he makes a stupid bet. Remember when he bet he could out-dance Gabi? He regretted that one," Landon says, shaking his head at the stupid bet Charlie made, considering Gabi is known for dancing. He claps me on the back before making his way to the water.
I take one last look up at the house and around the beach before following them. Diving in on our boards and paddling out to the waves. Charlie is already catching the waves. Meanwhile, I take a moment to sit on my board and watch them.
Paddling away from the wave towards the beach, I paddle faster and faster, matching the speed of the wave. Popping myself up on the board when it's time, I ride the wave. Turning as I do to ride the wave for longer, I allow myself to focus on the feeling of surfing, the ocean and beach in front of me as I do.
Coming to the end of the wave as my board glides along the now flat wave, I fall off to the side. Shaking my head as I come back above the water and running my hands through my hair, I climb onto my board and head back over to the guys.
"If we don't win or get placed, I'm asking for a recount."
✺✺✺
Knocking on the door of the house, again, there is still no answer.
Sighing, I look up, seeing there are no lights on in the house, but there is a glow coming around from the back of the house. Making my way over to the side gate, I open it using the trick Easton and I used to use when sneaking back into the house as teenagers. Grandma June caught us every time. From every way into the house, we thought was sneaky.
Closing it behind me, I make my way around to the back of the house that I once used to call home. The floor is covered in cobblestone with a pool in the center of the backyard, with lights surrounding the outside of the pool, and tall hedges separating the houses.
Placing my hands in my pockets of the board shorts, I walk closer to the pool. Thalia glides through the water as she swims laps, not noticing my presence as she does. The glow of the lights illuminates not just the pool but also her. Sitting down on the side of the pool, I let my legs dangle. That gets her attention that someone else is here. She appears from under the water, wiping the water from her face before she looks at me.
She looks surprised to see me, as if she didn't think I would come looking for her as she continued to ignore me. She swims back from the other end of the pool until she's in the middle of it, facing me. Her hair is up on her head in a bun, still dry aside from a few wet strands, and the surrounding light is enough to reveal her bikini under the water.
"Is breaking into people's houses a new hobby you're trying out?" She questions with a smirk on her face, tilting her head to the side.
I play along. "Turns out I'm very good at it. Maybe I could do this professionally. Teach a class about it."
"Hilarious," she deadpans, and I can't help but chuckle. "How did you get back here?"
"I used to live here. I know all the ways to get in and technically I didn't break in," I say, placing air quotes around the words. "I let myself in through the side gate."
"I'd say it's a gray area," she adds, and I shrug. "And so would the police."
"I'm guessing being in a pool is a lot different from the ocean."
"I don't get it. When I'm in a pool, I feel safe. There are no horrible flashbacks rearing their ugly head. It's the one time I can be in the water and feel secure," Thalia explains, her arms moving around the water. "My therapist says it's normal. There will be some things I can do, others I can't, and that's out of my control. It's the way my brain thinks."
"Even when you're swimming underwater?" I ask curiously, and she nods.
"I think it's because my brain subconsciously knows I'm in a pool. That I'm not surfing and there is no chance of what happened happening in a space like this where it's still water, there's no waves," she explains, and I nod my head. "It gets me back in the water, though, and there's no place like it."
"Like a safe haven," I say, and she nods before snorting. "What?"
"My safe haven is also my undoing," she says, and I can't help but chuckle with her.
Kicking the water with my feet, I nod to the pool. "Mind if I join?"
She shrugs. "Knock yourself out."
"Hmm, half of me thinks you mean that." I raise my eyebrow before pulling my shirt up and throwing it away from the pool. Her eyes watch me intensely as I lower myself down into the pool with her. But being slightly taller means that I'm not fully submerged unless I bend slightly. "You know if I was anyone else, I'd be hurt you were avoiding me."
"I am not avoiding you. Don't think so highly of yourself," Thalia says as I float closer to her.
"So, this has nothing to do with you projecting your inner deepest thoughts the other day?" I ask, and she stays silent. "See. Avoiding me."
"So maybe I was," she admits, and I am now standing in front of her.
"Don't forget I also divulged something very few people know," I tell her, and she nods, sighing. "Can we agree you won't avoid me now or in the future if you happen to share more?"
She struggles for a moment before agreeing. "Sure...and Atlas?" I hum as I look down at her and her head tilts up to look at me. "Just know I wasn't avoiding you because I don't trust you or regret sharing that with you. I just haven't divulged that much to anyone before, and it scares me that it could be someone I haven't known for long."
"I don't know. I think three months can be a long time. I've had relationships last for less time than that," I say, and she laughs, shaking her head.
"Of course you have."
"Not everyone can handle my unique nature."
"I can see that."
"So now we've clarified that. How about a race?" I suggest, watching as Thalia's eyes flicker back to mine, her gaze having been on my chest. Interesting.
"There and back?" She asks, raising her eyebrow and I nod my head. We make our way over to one end of the pool and get ready. "And go!"
Pushing off the wall, I do my best to swim as fast as I can. Racing through the pool, I get to the end and push off once again to swim back and, by the time I'm back, Thalia has already surfaced.
"Ha, I win!"
I groan as Thalia gloats of her win, although not surprising considering her training comprises swimming religiously.
"I demand a rematch. I should get some sort of head start considering who I'm up against," I whine, and she looks at me, gaping.
"How did I not know you were such a sore loser?" Thalia asks, placing her hands on her hips.
"I am not a sore loser. I just believe in fairness and that was not fair," I say.
"Whatever. I'll give you a two second head start," she suggests, and I raise my eyebrow.
"Five," I argue.
"The pool isn't that big."
"Okay, fine, two."
I take my two second head start and push off the wall, beginning my swim. Once I make it to the end and push back off, I see Thalia at my side, and she wins once again when we make it to the start.
"See, still win," Thalia gloats, and I smirk before diving and wrapping my arms around her waist, pulling her into the water with me as she screams.
We resurface laughing and we stand back up with my arms that are around her, dropping to her hips. She notices the distance between us has closed a lot and she looks down as my fingers play with the ties of her bikini bottoms.
She looks up at me and maybe it's the moment, maybe it's the romantic lighting or maybe it's just something she realizes was already there, but she's looking at me in a way I can't describe. A mix of confusion and possibly attraction.
As we exhale, our chests touch and I can't help but reach out to place a strand of her loose hair behind her ear, with my fingers brushing against her cheek and remaining there. Her eyes flutter shut before opening again and searching mine deeply as I stroke her cheek.
Neither of us focus on the surroundings but instead on each other. She clears her throat, ripping her eyes away from mine, and she steps away from me. My hands fall back to my sides, feeling cold, as I watch her face close back up once again. Her eyes flicker all around us, avoiding my gaze.
"I've been in here for a while. I don't want to turn into a prune," she says as she swims over to the ledge and pulls herself out of the pool. She wraps a towel around her. "You know the way out," Thalia comments before she heads back inside.
I sigh before leaning back to float on the water with a million thoughts running through my head.
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A U T H O R N O T E
I love this pool moment between the two of them, I'm really excited to start showing more of their attraction towards each other and getting into that part of the book. Hopefully it comes natural and you can see it in the start of the book with their moments of looking at each other. I also hope it wasn't too out of the blue and also we'll get Thalia's POV in the next chapter.
Next weeks chapter may be out on Saturday. I am supposed to be going away next week however there's train strikes in the UK so we're having some issues right now. If the trip goes ahead I won't be back until Friday/Saturday.