𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 ✓

30

"We have an idea," Faye says to me while I sit on the floor with my bag, digging through it to find a bathing suit. I look up. "We want to see if you can make Maddox jealous." I open my mouth to stop her but she continues. "I know it sounds stupid but hear me out. Maddox has never gotten jealous over a girl before, not even his hook-ups. Everyone is temporary for him, so if he gets jealous over you, you may mean more to him than we think." I think about it for a moment, pondering the idea.

"No. I won't do that. He may be protective of me, but his actions speak for him. He doesn't fancy me." The girls look at each other and sigh.

"Okay. No pressure." Kiki smiles and I nod, rifling through my bag when I realize that I didn't bring a bathing suit. "Here." Kiki tosses me two pieces of fabric and I move to change into them in the bathroom. The bikini is pink with a white diamond check pattern. The top ties in the middle and the bottoms are cheeky, high-waisted, and fit perfectly, but I'm worried about the top coming off or suffering a wardrobe malfunction in front of all those people at the pool.

When I step out from the bathroom holding my arms around my exposed stomach, the girls won't have it. Kiki tears my arms away and checks me out. "This is perfect," she says and Faye nods, agreeing.

"It's too much!" I exclaim.

"It's fine. You'll be great." I huff when Faye says this nonchalantly, knowing that I won't win this fight and I wait patiently for them to change into their swimsuits. They don't bother putting on clothes as we aren't leaving the hotel, but I feel more comfortable covering up so I pull on one of Chase's hoodies and we walk to the elevators, taking them down to the ground floor where the pool is located. We walk through the lobby and receive many stares but we ignore them and keep walking. At the entrance to the pool there is a towel station and we each grab one, opening the door to enter.

Warm air and the smell of chlorine hits me like a wall and I try not to grimace. I immediately hear the sound of laughter and splashing, most likely coming from our group. My assumption is proven correct when we round the corner and see the large blue pool, filled with familiar faces. My eyes are immediately drawn to Maddox's contrasting skin and tattoos, his back facing me as he stretches his large arms across the ledge of the hot tub.

Many more males than females take up the space of the pool area, none of them complete strangers. We place our towels on a table and Faye drags me to the hot tub by my hand. She and Kiki climb up the steps, sinking into the hot water and I stand awkwardly beside it, hesitating to join them. Maddox still hasn't seen me yet as I'm standing beside him, but a pair of arms around my hoodie covered waist steal my attention from his chiseled back and arms.

"Can't handle the heat?" I tense when I hear Theo's voice from behind me. This draws Maddox's attention and he turns around, immediately glaring at Theo's arms around my waist. I relax under his watch.

"I'm going," I say quietly, pulling away and climbing up the steps to the hot tub. I sit on the first step, putting my legs in the hot water, not wanting to go any further so that I don't have to remove the hoodie. Theo follows me in and sits on the bench in the tub, while I sit on the ledge.

He draws me into the conversation and I appease him, trying to be polite but I grow uncomfortable with his eyes lingering on my legs. After a few minutes, I notice the girl beside Maddox gives up trying to steal his attention and climbs out.

Theo starts touching my legs lightly, and I try to subtly cross my legs and shuffle to the side. He moves with me, talking all the while. "Take a hint, Theo, she doesn't fucking like it." Maddox laughs at Theo and he immediately removes his hand, apologizing to me. I nod and look back at Maddox who is already looking at me. I mouth a "thank you" and get out of the hot tub to escape the awkward silence, looking for a bottle of water.

Chase comes up to me as I sit on the side of the pool, lowering himself to join me. "How's it goin' Ror?" He asks, turning his head to the side to face me and I do the same, leaning into his shoulder.

"I'm good." I nod and smile, not really believing myself but Chase doesn't notice. I don't usually have fun in these types of situations with many people, especially when I feel completely exposed even if it is only my legs on display at the moment. Because of what happened with Theo, I feel more uncomfortable than usual.

Chase jumps the rest of the way in, saying goodbye and swimming over to the opposite end of the pool to play a game with some other people.

I decide to take off the hoodie, tossing it to the side and not worrying over whether it gets wet or not. Just as I do, a pair of hands grip my waist and before I can react, I'm lifted high in the air and tossed into the deep end of the pool. If I had ever learned how to swim, this wouldn't have been a problem.

Immediately after breaking the surface, I gasp from surprise and inhale a mouthful of water because my head is submerged. I start choking. My vision turns blurry. The cold water surrounds me. My lungs burn from the chlorinated water and I sink to the bottom. The longer I'm under, the more water enters my lungs. My eyes close.

Warm hands grip my waist. I'm pulled against a hard body as I lose consciousness. I imagine a knight in shining armor, saving me from the clutches of the water, but my version of a knight is covered in tattoos instead of armor.