A Deal with a Player

Chapter 7: The Ice-Tub Dare

Annabeth POV

We all made our way towards Piper's guest bathroom that was located upstairs. Jason and Frank were carrying two large bags of ice. I did not like this idea one bit. 

I mean it was a fun dare, but there was a certain level of cruelty about it. 

Thalia didn't like Percy. In fact, she suggested that Percy was just increasing his efforts of trying to sleep with me by taking me out to the museum. Thalia was looking after me and that involved a certain level of skepticism. However, I believed that Percy was being genuine about taking me to the conference on our fake date. 

Piper took the opposite approach to Thalia. She thought that Percy was genuinely a nice and romantic guy, and he was making the best of the situation. 

I was still in the middle of both of these perspectives, but I think I was leaning towards Piper's positive point of view rather than Thalia's cynical one. 

"Hey Pipes, do you have any swim trunks for me?" Percy asked. 

"Uh, yeah, you can borrow one of my dad's," Piper said as she went towards her father's room. 

The rest of us were waiting in the guest bedroom. There was ample space considering how big the room was. Piper, Rachel, and even Thalia never had to worry about money because of their fathers. That was one thing that differentiated them from me. 

"Alright, the tub is almost ready. Frank's just filling it up." 

Piper came back with some plain navy swim shorts and handed them to Percy, who went in the bathroom to get changed. He opened the door when he was ready. 

The visual in front of me left me speechless for several moments. Percy was only in the navy swim shorts. Everything else was exposed. 

My eyes scanned his toned body and tan skin. His body was fit and attractive. Perfectly structured legs rode up to a well-defined abdomen and chest. His arms were strong as well. His 'hot' body complicated his handsome face very well. 

I noticed that the area below his knee was red and swollen; he must've gotten hurt there recently. 

I reached forward and gently touched Percy's arm. "Are you sure about this?" I asked. 

He looked nervous, which was strange. Percy didn't seem like the type to back down from dares and challenges. 

"Yeah, of course, Wise Girl," he said after a few seconds. 

As Percy tested the water, he immediately jerked back. "Oh shit, that's so cold."

"For two minutes and a dunk, Jackson," Thalia said with a smirk. 

"This is fun for you isn't it. Why do you hate me?" Percy commented jokingly. Thalia just shrugged in response. The bathroom was crowded as Percy went into the freezing cold tub. Percy's initial reaction was priceless because he was so damn cold. 

However, around the 1.5-minute mark, I noticed a change in his expressions. Percy wasn't conversing anymore as he clutched the side of the bathtub. His skin was considerably paling due to the cold water. 

"All right, Percy, time for the dunk" Rachel said cheerily. 

While Thalia disliked Percy because she was concerned about me, Rachel disliked Percy due to her own heartache. Rachel hated Percy, and she was the only person that wasn't happy with Percy and his friends joining our group. 

Percy quickly ducked his head underwater as everyone cheered, and then, he stood up. Grover quickly shoved past everyone and handed him a towel. My smile fell away as I took in how bad he looked. I knew the water was cold, but I didn't think it would be this bad. Percy actually looked green.