13. Rory

CHAPTER 13

RORY

I spotted Nic walking out of the rec center just in time. She had her swim bag slung over her shoulder, and her hair was wet and matted from the pool water. I’d wondered whether or not she would be here today since swimming laps was also one of her favorite day-off activities. I didn’t even know if she had the day off. She was already gone by the time I woke up.

Hiding behind a nearby tree, I watched her walk to the bench next to the bus stop and sit down. She got her phone out and called someone.

A second later, my phone rang.

Luckily, I was a safe distance away, so she didn’t hear the dinging. I answered in a hushed voice. “Hey, Nic, what’s up?”

“Hey,” she said. “I’m at the rec center.”

“Yeah? Is that where you ran off to this morning?” I asked. “Matt and I were taking bets. He thought maybe you took an extra shift at work, and I said you were out on a date with Jackson, but you made him take you out at the crack of dawn so nobody would accidentally see you two together.”

“Ha, ha, very funny. No, I wasn’t at work nor was I with Jackson. I went shopping and then came here.”

“Shopping? You hate shopping.”

“Which is exactly why I chose to do it super early in the morning when the mall isn’t crowded yet. I needed new underwear—sue me.”

I laughed. It felt good to be joking with her again. Maybe she wasn’t mad at me anymore. “Well, anyway, what are you calling about? Need a swim partner?”

“No, actually, I just finished up a long set of laps and was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat. I’m starving.”

I winced. If only I hadn’t just engorged myself at breakfast with Matt. I literally couldn’t even stand the thought of having another bite of food. But she was offering me an olive branch, so I didn’t want to refuse it.

“I just left the cafe,” I said. “Matt and I kinda went all out, so I’m not hungry. In fact, I’m not sure I will be eating anything for the rest of the day, to be honest.”

“Oh.”

“But we can still hang—” I was perfectly willing to ditch my swim plans if it meant getting the chance to talk to Nic in private. To figure out what’s been going on with her. Or if she’d rather pave over the last few days by saying nothing and pretending like it never happened, I was fine with that as well. “I could meet you at a restaurant and just order a drink or something.”

“Nah, that’s okay,” she said. “I’ll just order something when I get back home.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m positive. It’s no fun going to a restaurant and being the only one chowing down. But hey, I’m catching the bus, so I’ll be home soon. Are you at the house? We could watch a movie or something?”

I made another pained expression. I couldn’t lie and say I was home since she would surely beat me back there. I was on foot and would have to catch the bus after hers to even get there in the next thirty minutes. But I also couldn’t confess where I actually was because she would want to know why I was hiding from her.

“Nah, I’m—walking on the beach.”

She laughed. “You’re what?”

Admittedly, it was a terrible lie. I’d stolen it from Matt without really thinking. He was the kind of guy who went for long walks on the beach. I wasn’t.

“I needed to—digest.” Yes, that’s what Matt had said. “After eating so much at breakfast. Thought I would go for a walk.” Mental note—text Matt after hanging up and give him the updated cover story.

“What time do you think you’ll be home?”

“Not sure yet,” I said. “Did you wa–”

“Alright,” she cut me off, sounding a little irritated suddenly. “That’s fine. I’ve got some errands I need to run later anyway, so I’ll just see you around.”

“I mean, I could head back to the house right now, and we could?—”

“Oh, hey, the bus is pulling up!”

I peered around the tree and saw that she was lying. The bus was nowhere in sight.

“I have to go,” she said. “I hate talking on the phone while sitting next to strangers. Bye!” She hung up before I could say anything else, and then I watched her put her phone away and get up from the bench. She headed north, towards where the house was located, apparently deciding she was going to walk instead of wait around for the bus. For a split second, I thought about running to catch up with her, coming clean about having been there the whole time, but I ended up staying put. She’d lied to get off the phone with me, which meant she was still mad. If she found out that I’d avoided her, it would only make things worse.

So I went inside the building and, instead, headed for the locker rooms, more in need of a good workout now than I was before.

At lap fifty, I took a break.

I was out of breath and my arms were starting to get tired. I pulled myself out of the water and dried off with one of the impossibly small towels provided by the rec center. A group of women in string bikinis walked by and smiled at me. I waved but didn’t try talking to any of them. That’s not what I’d come to the pool for.

I had only just sat on the edge of the lounge chair. However, then I spotted a woman I was actually very interested in talking to.

Katrina.

She was sitting on the other side of the pool, where there weren’t designated laps or anything, and she had her feet in the water. She wasn’t wearing a bathing suit, and she’d had to roll up her pants in order to not get them wet. Without thinking, I got to my feet and dove back into the water. I swam underneath all the lanes with only a single breath, then popped up on the other side directly in front of her. She smiled and didn’t seem surprised to see me.

“Took you long enough to notice,” she said.

“You’ve been here a while?”

She shrugged. “Twenty minutes, maybe.” She looked up at the sky. “The forecast said it was going to rain, but now I don’t see a single storm cloud.”

I grinned. “Were you watching me swim this whole time?”

“I was watching everyone swim, not just you,” she said. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Alright, well still, what are you doing here?” I asked. “And don’t say you came for a swim because I think we both know that’s complete bullshit just based on your outfit alone.”

“I wasn’t going to say that.”

“Why then?”

“Would you believe me if I said I came looking for you?”

She was flirting. That much was obvious. But I wasn’t about to jump right into the deep end of this back and forth until I had at least some sense of what was going on.

“How did you know I was going to be here?”

“Your friend Matt told me. I ran into him on the beach a little while ago. First, he gave me a bit of a lecture on how I should conduct myself regarding you, his best friend, and then he let slip that I could find you swimming laps here.”

Oh shit! Matt!

I’d forgotten to text him and ask if he’d go along with my lie to Nic. It had been over an hour since I spoke to her on the phone, so if she arrived home and Matt was already there, the lie had probably already been uncovered.

“You good?” she asked. “You look like you just saw a bolt of lightning or something?” Her head shot upwards again. “Are we about to get dunked on?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then what?” She frowned. “Should Matt not have told me where you were?”

“Wha—oh no. I don’t care that he did.” If there was anyone who could get me to move past my panic that quickly, it was this girl. I looked up into her golden hazel eyes and relaxed almost immediately. Whatever was going to happen between Nic and I was something I could worry about later. “I’m glad he did. I was hoping we’d get a chance to see each other while I had some time off. I work at the fishery. Did I tell you that?”

“If you did, I don’t recall,” she said.

I rolled my eyes. “You can’t give up your ‘cool, mysterious chick’ act for even a second, can you?”

She merely pursed her lips in response.

“Well, I’m onto you,” I said. “There’s definitely more underneath this intriguing exterior because the cool, mysterious chick doesn’t show up at the public pool looking to talk to a hot guy she just hooked up with.”

Katrina raised a brow. “She doesn’t? And how would you know? Have you had a lot of experience with that type of girl? And are you saying you’re hot?”

“Maybe.”

She laughed. “Okay, maybe just a little hot. And I get it now—this girl you’re describing—she’s your type.”

“I don’t think I have a type.”

“Every man has a type,” she said. “And apparently, yours is the girl who’s really an enigma. The one you can never pin down, who has a dark, storied past and trust issues.”

I laughed. “That’s pretty specific.”

“I call it like I see it. No wonder you haven’t been able to leave me alone. I must remind you of some of the other girls you’ve dated.” She leaned back on her hands. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but I’m really not that cool. And you may see me as ‘mysterious,’ but that’s not because I’ve got anything interesting to hide. It’s just that I’m not an open book. Not a puzzle, just a private person.”

I shook my head. “You’ve got it all wrong.”

“I do?”

“You do,” I confirmed. “You think I’m into you because you remind me of someone else, but that’s impossible because you aren’t like anybody I’ve ever met before.”

This seemed to give her pause. I enjoyed finally being able to surprise her. “By the way, I heard Al say your name last night,” I added. “Katrina. It’s pretty.”

“Thanks.”

“You don’t agree?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But I can tell.” I smiled. “If you could pick a different name, what would you choose to be called? Quick, first thing that comes into your head.”

“Daphne,” she said, then covered her mouth as if the name had shocked her somehow.

“Daphne, like from Scooby Doo?”

“Ye–yeah,” Katrina said. “Exactly. She was always my favorite character.”

“Really? I would have pegged you as a Velma fan if I had to guess. What is it you like so much about Daphne?”

“I don’t know… she’s… she’s smart.”

“No,” I said. “Velma’s the smart one. Daphne and Fred are the pretty ones. And Shaggy and Scoob are the comedic relief.”

“Oh, right. I like her because she’s pretty. That’s it.”

“How vain of you.” But I didn’t quite believe what she was saying. There was a wary look in Katrina’s eye suddenly, and she was no longer smiling. “I was just kidding.”

“I know.”

She continued to look off into the distance and say nothing.

“So, listen, about last night,” I began. That caught her attention. She glanced back at me but didn’t interrupt. “You seemed pretty freaked out when I first walked into the alley, and I know you said what we did was a distraction—happy to help, by the way—but you know a lot of people seem to think that the best way to move past something traumatic or scary is to talk about it.”

She laughed under her breath. “Where did you learn that? Dr. Phil?”

“He’s a quack,” I said. “I would never suggest that you take advice from him. No. That’s just something I’ve picked up over years of helping my friends with similar problems.”

“I don’t have a problem.”

“Problem was the wrong word,” I said quickly, trying to stop her before she was offended. “I didn’t mean to suggest there was anything wrong with you. But…” I trailed off.

“But what?”

“Clearly, there’s something going on. And since you just moved here and probably don’t have any friends in town, I thought I would let you know that I’m here to talk if you ever want to. About anything.”

She shook her head. “Not anything.”

“Yes, anything.”

She looked me dead in the eye. “I’m sorry, Rory, but there are just some things that I really don’t think you would understand about me.”

“Try me. Weren’t you the one who just said you weren’t harboring any dark secrets or whatever? Now, you’re trying to convince me that your issues are too complicated for me to comprehend. Which is it?”

“You know what, this was a mistake,” she lifted her feet out of the pool.

“No, wait,” I said. “Don’t go.”

“I shouldn’t have come here. I don’t even know why I thought this would be a good idea.” She laughed bitterly. “I blame your friend Matt. He got in my head.”

“He has a way of doing that.” I sighed. “I’m sorry for prying just now and for challenging what you’ve said.”

“Basically insinuating that I’m a liar.”

“That too,” I added. “But I swear, I was only trying to get to know you a little better. That’s all. I won’t let it happen again.”

She smiled with one side of her mouth. “It better not.”

A kid wearing floaties and oversized goggles swam between me and the ledge, kicking water everywhere and getting Katrina soaked. She screamed and put her hands up, not that it did anything. I chuckled. “You might as well just get in now that you’re so wet.”

“Not a chance.”

“C’mon!” I floated on my back and swam around a bit. “The water feels great.”

“I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”

I made my way back to the ledge and was close enough now that I could reach out and grab Katrina’s foot if I wanted to. But I didn’t. “What are you wearing underneath your clothes?” I asked in a low voice. “Because you might be able to get away with swimming in your…”

She offered me a mischievous look. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

I moved a bit closer. “I honestly would.”

She stared at me for a few charged seconds, and I could tell she was thinking the same thing I was. She slowly bent down, and I put my hands on either side of her legs, pushing myself out of the pool with little effort. Our lips were not even an inch apart when she spoke.

“Then come and find out!” she said playfully, and before I could react, she pulled her feet out of the water and darted off toward the locker rooms. I breathed in deeply, pushing down some of the delicious sexual frustration that was building up inside, and then I got out and chased after her.

I was pretty sure I’d seen her dart into the men’s locker room, which was great considering I wasn’t about to bust through the door of the women’s. Inside, all was quiet. I didn’t see any men in there, just rows of lockers and empty showers. I said nothing but listened carefully. At the end of the row, I heard a handle turn and then the rush of water. I came to the closed curtain and hesitated.

What if it wasn’t Katrina behind the curtain? What if she had gone right through the locker room and was hiding somewhere else? Waiting for me in a different bathroom or something?

Then I looked down and saw a little piece of black fabric poking out from underneath the shower curtain. Her jeans.

I tore back the curtain, and there she was—standing under the shower spray.

Completely naked.