His Flower (Rewritten)

Chapter 44

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Chapter 44

       You know, in retrospect, swimming at the end of November, in the northern part of Massachusetts, wasn't necessarily the best idea we ever had. But it wasn't the worst. The water was still slightly warm from the summer months, and even though there was a chill in the air, it was bearable. Besides, winter in New England never really started until January.

       Anyways, Fun Fact: Much like hospitals, Rex did not like water. Deep water at least.

       The lake was beautiful, and stretching farther than my eye could see. I wanted to swim out to the middle and dive straight for the bottom. See if I could hold my breath as long as it took to reach the murky depths, but Rex was not having it.

       I felt like a toddler at the beach with their overprotective parent not letting them splash in a puddle. He stood uneasily ankle deep just off the shore, those dark eyes never wavering from the twins and I as we swam further out. None of us could touch the bottom, and Rex kept barking at me to swim back to the shallow end. I did at first, but after a while I 'couldn't hear him'.

       I was upset that Jax couldn't make it, something about decorating or whatever, but he promised to hang out soon so I let it slide. A part of me was thankful actually, with how uneasy and stressed Rex seemed to be, I didn't think throwing Jax into the mix would have helped anything.

       "Don't be a big baby, Rex!" Denton hollered at the grumpy looking dinosaur whose strong arms were crossed tightly over his chest. "Come swim with us! You're leaving poor Rose all vulnerable to the scary lake monsters!"

       I don't know why Denton taunted him like that, it never ended well. No matter how funny it was. "If I go out there, I'm drowning you. Fuck head." Rex's voice carried easily across the water and sounded very serious to my ears—and apparently to Denton's too since his mouth snapped shut and he turned slightly pale.

       "I was just teasing." The goofy twin mumbled before backstroking in a circle around Brett and I.

       "Can he swim?" I asked Brett softly so Rex—who was still glaring at me—wouldn't hear.

       Rex had changed into a pair of basketball shorts and a loose black t-shirt before we drove to the lake, but had only bothered taking his shoes off to stand in the water. He barely moved since. Maybe if Trey was swimming Rex would have been more encouraged to walk further in, but the mountain man/boy was busy setting up all the food the twins had stuffed into their pickup truck.

       "Yeah, he just doesn't like to." Brett answered at my side, his athletic legs kicking the water beneath mine.

       "That's sad." I mumbled around the water trying to splash against my face. "I love swimming."

       Brett shrugged and cast those bright blue eyes at Rex. "It's just something he can't control. And you know how Rex gets when it comes to control." His smile was light and teasing, and I felt that tension that still strummed between us slightly ease.

       "Yeah that, and someone tried to drown him as a kid."

       "What?!" The complete horror stricken look I turned on Denton was nothing compared to the murderous glare his twin shot him.