On Thin Ice

12

Back on my old team, I could remember the fun of away games and tournaments. Sure, the actual games were fun, but what we did at the hotel was better. Hanging out in each other's rooms and ordering room service at ungodly hours of the night were always highlights of the trips.

Walking to the indoor pool with Josh and Fox brought back fond memories of my old team. Most of the team was already at the pool when we got there and everyone was laughing and having a good time while a game of chicken was going on in the middle of the pool.

I followed Josh and Fox over to a set of chairs where they each put their towels and tore off their shirts. I tried not to let my eyes linger on Fox's defined torso, but he made it hard. I hated him for being so hot. My shirt was off along with their's a few seconds later and I wished I could have said that Fox was looking at me, but instead, he was looking down at his phone.

"Come on," Josh said, nodding his head toward the pool.

"Do we really have to go in?" I whined.

"That's the whole point," Josh argued.

Instead of joining in on our conversation, Fox went ahead of us and wordlessly jumped into the pool, splashing everyone around him, including the two of us. While I was slightly annoyed at the action, everyone else cheered and hollered, grabbing onto Fox's shoulders and shaking him as he surfaced.

Fox turned to look at me, pushing his soaking wet hair back on his head. He nodded toward the pool, motioning for me to come in.

I shook my head.

"At least put your feet in," Fox encouraged, swimming over to the edge of the pool closest to me.

I let out a sigh before giving Fox an amused look and humoring him by walking toward the edge of the pool. As I was about to sit down, Fox's hand wrapped around my ankle and he pulled, causing me to tumble into the water on top of him.

Fox grabbed onto my arm and pulled me above the water and I began to uncontrollably cough once I surfaced. The guys around us were cheering and Fox smacked his hand onto my bare back, trying to help subside my coughs. Eventually, I got my breathing to be even and that was when I notice how close I was to Fox. For the first time, I noticed a small scar above his eyebrow which was the only blemish on his otherwise clear face.

"Sorry, dude," Fox apologized, "we had to get you in here somehow."

Before I could reply, Josh jumped into the pool and resurfaced beside me, wildly shaking his head and splashing me in the face with the water that came from his hair. I shoved Josh away from me in annoyance and glared at him before turning back to Fox.

"Or, you could have just let me stay out of the pool," I responded to Fox's earlier statement to which he shook his head.

"If you're going to be my friend, then I'm going to treat you how I treat my friends," Fox reasoned with a shrug. I couldn't help but let a smile creep up on my face.

"So you made up your mind?" I asked him in a happy tone.

Fox rolled his eyes and leaned back to float on his back in the water.

"I guess you could say that," he said.

I lowered myself into the water to hide the smile on my face from Fox. He didn't know his friendship could change the trajectory of how my life here was going, but I knew that being able to connect with him was going to make it easier.

"Ellis!" Ian exclaimed, causing me to stand and push my soaking wet hair out of my face. "Get on my shoulders."

"What?"