the boxer // lrh au

fifteen ; natural

"do you have a problem with discarding your clothes where it's safe?" luke asks while holding my hand as i try not to slip on the rocks. as i was doing all that, i was also trying to take off my shorts to get to my swimsuit. 

"done!" i cheer, taking my shirt off next. 

when i was finally ready to swim, i look over at luke. his attention was clearly elsewhere. i wasn't going to interrupt him checking me out as i didn't have the guts to but as soon as i see him lick his lips, i realize that it's time i actually learn how to swim. 

"stop being creepy and teach me how to swim." the adrenaline in my veins was pumping rapidly.

"just looking, not touching." he murmurs, leading me into the water. as soon as more than half of my body is in the water, i begin to rethink my decision. 

"on the other hand-" i begin, pulling away from luke. 

"nope. you need to learn how to swim bella. i've been swimming since i was six." 

"i don't like the water," i whisper, clinging onto luke. when he notices that i was truly bothered by getting started, his eyes soften. 

"i'm not going to let anything happen to you. c'mon." luke pulls himself away from me and i frown. 

"just one more thing-" i start, waiting for his approval to ask him my question. 

"what?" he nods, a bit impatient. 

"why are you doing this for me? i'm sure you have better things to do than teach me how to swim." the thought had been itching at the back of my mind for a while now and i had just let it surface.

"well," luke begins, scratching the back of his head. "having you here as company isn' t all bad. i don't usually hang around girls unless i'm banging them, and i know you've never had anyone there to teach you how to swim and it's just something everyone should know so here i am." 

i choose to ignore his crude words and focus on his last sentence. i slightly smile at luke's words. even though i had not told him, i knew he knew about my past with my dad because of tyler and it made my heart warm that luke's facade was slowly deteriorating. 

"plus, i get to see you in a swimsuit so it's a win-win situation." i scoff at the additional words luke adds to his statement, but i laugh a little anyway. nice try covering your tracks luke. 

"okay, i'm ready." i finally say, positioning myself to face the water. 

"okay, let's start with arm movement. i'm gonna hold your stomach as you swim across. do what feels natural." luke looks at me straight in the eyes and i silently judge his teaching. 

do what feels natural? well it feels natural to drown myself in the water but something tells me that's not what i should do. 

"that's the best you've got?" i ask. 

luke forehead creases as if he was talking to a little child. 

"you have to trust me. your body's natural response will be to keep itself afloat. you're gonna do just that by moving your arms in the water and pedaling your feet."

"you make it sound so easy," i mutter, as he puts one hand against my stomach and another on my back. i try to ignore the searing feeling of his hands on me but it wasn't working very well. 

"ready?" luke's eyes were on mine again and even though i wanted to very deeply say no, my head nodded up and down. 

"okay then, let's go." and next thing i knew, luke was teaching me how to swim.