Chapter Seventeen

Finding a swimsuit in England in January was impossible, so I ended up borrowing one.

Thirteen suggested I start practicing holding my breath underwater in the bath tub, but even that was terrifying. I feared my father had scarred me for life.

The Agency didn’t have a pool in the facility, so Thirteen found a gym in the city with one. When we walked out on the deck, he peeled off his t-shirt and walked into the pool by the steps. Oh, gosh…I hadn’t thought about…man, he was pretty. Sinewy muscle head to toe with a nice tan from the recent trip south.

Heat bloomed in my face and I averted my eyes.

“Come on, Seven.”

My feet were rooted to the cement.

“Didn’t you ever think swimming could be fun?” He did a somersault underwater just to show off.

“No.”

“You didn’t look at all the other kids and wish that could be you?”

Don’t look at the hot agent… “You’re a lousy teacher.”

“Aren’t you a little old to pout?” he teased.

“Can you not phrase everything as a question?”

He floated backward toward the deep end. “Fine. Never learn. Maybe you’re suited to be an analyst or one of the secretaries.”

Wait a minute…

“I won’t be an agent if I can’t swim?”

“It’s a liability. You’ll be benched until you get over your fear. Ask the Big Boss if you don’t believe me.”

Uh, no. He already wasn’t impressed with me to begin with after I dared to put my mother over “my calling”.

I’d be sent home with no salary for sure, and I couldn’t do that to Mama.

I was learning I’d do a heck of a lot for her.

“Fine. But be nice. No dunking me.”

“Cross my heart and hope to die.” Thirteen swam over to me. Didn’t take him long. “Do you trust me?”

“What kind of question is that?”

He eye-rolled. “Do you trust me to teach you or not?”

“When did you learn to swim?”

“Mommy and Me class when I was six months old. I grew up in Malibu—swimming, surfing, and soccer were what you did. You’re going to learn to float and hold your breath underwater today.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Stretch out on your back and I’ll support you.”

“You’ll hold me up?”

“Are we going to talk all day or swim?”

“Fine…”

I started down the steps, wary of what he might do. Like touch me. No young man had ever touched me that wasn’t a relation getting a hug and the thought made my belly cramp. His hands would be under my back if I was floating face up like I was laid out for display.

Why couldn’t Amelia teach me?

“Does Amelia know how to swim?”

He blinked. “How should I know? Why?”

“Curious.”

“Seven.”

“It’s enough I’m in here up to my waist, okay? Don’t rush me.”

“You can sit on the steps ‘til you find your backbone or start overcoming your fear already. This pool is only private for an hour.”

“Don’t have to be mean.”

“Then start trying!”

“Be patient.”

He put his face in my face. “You seem to be under the impression this is a conversation, Recruit. It is not. Number One gave us orders. Shut up and do it.”

He’d never pulled rank on me before.

It was embarrassing and pissed me off. “Yes, sir,” I gritted out. Glaring at him, I turned around so he could help me lay back, and tensed as soon as he touched me.

“Relax, Seven.”

“This is relaxed.”

“Maybe I should make Thornhill do this if you’re going to be a pain in the ass.”

“Language.”

“Shut up and float.”

This was so awkward. “I would if you’d tell me how.”

“Really?” Standing me up, he said, “This isn’t working,” and waded to the steps.

Was he leaving? I watched him walk around the deck in his clingy shorts to a cabinet. Various implements were inside. He picked up a foam rectangle, tossed it in the water, and dove in after it.

“This is a kickboard. Name is its function. Hold on to float and start kicking.”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t make you swim laps yet and I’m hoping you’ll get too tired to bitch. Start kicking. All the way across.”

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“I don’t know how.” That earned me an are you stupid? look. “I’m not trying to be difficult. I don’t know how to do any of this.”

He sighed. “Seven, you’re overcomplicating it. Swimming is pretty natural if you get your head out of the way.”

“I’m not ready. This pool is too big.”

“Come on, you have the stamina to do a lap, kid.”

Energy wasn’t my problem. “Not like that.”

“Fine. Let’s go home.” Shaking his head, he climbed out of the pool and kept walking toward the dressing rooms.

Wow. I never thought he’d give up.

Is this what I wanted?

Amelia would assign someone else to teach me or train me herself. She wouldn’t let me give up again. The cause was too important to her. And I really doubted the Director would let me put this off or pass without learning, even if I had staked a few vampires.

Standing in the pool, swimming didn’t make me nearly as nervous as Thirteen did. I mean, the thought of being underwater scared me to death, but my resistance was defensive.

I liked him, it was forbidden, and I didn’t know how to handle it. Crazy as it sounds for a seventeen year-old, I’d never had a crush before. Not really.

Not in the his-smile-makes-me-dizzy kind of way like now.

Why couldn’t he at least be my age?

The next day, Thirteen was still in street clothes when I walked out of the dressing room.

“You’re going in, in jeans?”

“You swim. I’ll watch.”

Now he’s just gone crazy. “What if—?”

“I won’t let you drown, Seven. Just do it.” Okay, Mr. Nike.

Seriously, this didn’t seem safe. I didn’t know how to swim. I could drown.

It only took inches of water for that.

“Seven, trust me. Hold your breath and go, or I’ll push you in.”

“I liked you a lot better two years ago.”

The water was cold when I started down the steps. Better to get the adjustment over with, I pushed forward to wade in up to my collarbone. At three feet deep, that put me in a crouch. It was all about moving your arms back and forth, right? Wading.

Could I float or would my body sink right away? I didn’t have the nerve to find out, yet, so I kept wading a bit deeper, until I was standing straight to have the water below my chin.

“Nothing to be afraid of, kid. You can see the bottom the whole time.”

Better than the ponds at home.

Maybe that was part of my fear. The unknown black depths.

Even so, the white bottom wasn’t making me less nervous about feeling the water over my shoulders. If I lifted my feet up, I’d go under.

“Try paddling back to the edge without putting your feet down.”

“Not yet.”

“Seven, we’ll be here forever with ‘not yet’. You can swim without putting your head under. It’s just more awkward.” He sat on a deck chair picking his nails. Jerk. “Want the kickboard to lean on? Don’t think they make floaties in your size.”

“Bite me.”

He laughed.

Except for the safety factor, I wished he’d go away. Having an audience wasn’t helping.

“Throw the girl in the jungle and she takes charge, but a little clean, sparkly pool and oh no, scary!” For that, I splashed him. Surprised, he let out a good yelp and scrambled out of the chair. “These are new boots.”

“Now who’s running?”

“You’re only getting away with that now ‘cause you can’t swim, Seven. Retribution is coming.”

Eye. Roll. “I’m not lookin’ to start a prank war. Don’t antagonize me.” I walked back to the shallow end and climbed out. “This isn’t working. I’ll talk to Amelia.”

He caught my arm. “I was only playing. I’m sorry. We’ve always bantered words.”

My skin heated under his touch, a blush emanating from it.

If he looked down right now, he’d notice— “Yeah, but it doesn’t give you license to be a jerk. I’m not going to learn if we keep butting heads.” This swimsuit was a competitor’s suit and a little too small in the chest. I grabbed my towel. The room was cold, too, and I didn’t feel decent. “Are you mad you’re saddled with me instead of somewhere else?”

He blinked in surprise. “That’s stupid.”

“I’m serious. It’s been like this since St. George, so—”

A released breath, and his arms hung loose. “I’m not mad. I blamed Amelia, but I’m annoyed with myself for not thinking to ask when I trained you. We both let it slip by as teachers and The Agency can’t afford oversights. Someone could die.”

“That’s a lot of pressure.”

He met my eyes. “That’s the job. Still want it?”

“Do I have a choice?”

He blinked. “Of course. Free will is the only thing a hundred-percent ours. Seven…”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Many years. Six years as an Agent.”

“Is it worth it?”

“Yes. But that’s for me. You have to decide about you.”

I sighed. “No easy answers.”

He smiled. “Hardly ever. Let’s go before you catch cold.”

“No. I want to try again.” I dropped the towel on a chair.

“You sure?”

“No, but these lessons can’t go on forever. You have places to be.”

“Okay.”

He stripped down to swim trunks and took my hand.

“I’m glad you’re willing to try overcoming your fear.” We stepped into the water.

“As long as you take a gentle approach this time.”

“Scout’s honor.”

And I could trust his word.

He started with holding onto my hands and having me follow him around the shallow half of the pool. My being in the water this long was an ultimate show of trust and I think he got that now.

“Will you try floating on your back?”

“If you don’t let go.”

We’d done trust exercises as recruits before, putting our backs to someone and letting them catch us, and this was similar—only I’d go underwater instead of falling on the ground.

“Lean back with your limbs straight.” His hands supported me under my shoulder blades as I did. “Relax. You’re too tense.”

I sighed. “I’m trying. This is hard. Don’t let the water go over my ears.”

He chuckled. “Stop worrying about it. The only important part is breathing, and as long as you can breathe, you’re good. Once you get past this, you’ll find the backstroke is really easy for a beginner.”

“Really.”

“Just lay back and kick while alternating arm strokes. Don’t even have to be a good floater.”

It was weird looking up at his face like this. “If you say so.”

“You’re a natural athlete, remember?”

A grimace skewed my mouth. “I wouldn’t call it ‘natural’.”

“You know what I mean. Do you argue this much with your parents?”

“It’s only my mom, remember, and no, because she doesn’t ask me to do crazy things.”

He grinned. “Seven, you’ve been floating for five minutes while you wouldn’t shut up.”

“What?” My feet struck bottom.

“Had been, yes.”

“Oh.”

“Will you try again?”

“Do we have time?”

He glanced at his waterproof watch. “Yep.”

More ready to trust now, I leaned into his hands again.

“Stretch out your arms, relax…relax your neck. That’s it. Breathe.”

Breathe.

And don’t think about my nipples poking through this stupid suit. “How long are we doing this?”

“The rest of the session.”

“Okay.” I put my trust in him and focused on making friends with the water.

Letting my body get used to its temperature, the way it lapped around my limbs.

The hair in my ponytail floating, which was nice.

Before I knew it, Thirteen was standing me up and telling me it was time to go. “Same time tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir.”

At least these lessons got me outside, even if it was in the cold. He usually wore a dark gray peacoat and always carried an umbrella.

The following day, he put a lifejacket on me he found somewhere. Thank goodness this wasn’t a public pool.

“There’s no way you can drown with that on,” he said. “So with your fear out of the way we can work on your strokes. Roll onto your back and imitate what I do.”

Fear of the water was a deep-set phobia in me, so learning to swim wasn’t a quick process—I guess, as I had no one’s experience to compare it to—but the buoyancy of the lifejacket helped tame my fear enough to follow his instructions. He’d rather I be willing to put my head underwater, but once I started doing what he wanted, he went back to the usual jovial guy I’d come to know.

Baby steps.

I felt more modest in the vest, too, and that helped.

After a week, my ordered swimsuit came to the P.O Box we used to get family mail. The more modest style made me more confident about dropping my towel.

Thirteen noticed the change right away. “Deep green. Good color on you.”

“I know, a little cliché for a redhead.”

“Seven, that was a genuine compliment.”

“Oh.” My cheeks warmed.

And because the Alpha ordered him to review all my training, we weren’t just in the pool.

We shot every firearm in the range, he watched my sessions with Sensei, gave me pop quizzes on the books, and booked me time with experts.

Swimming lessons in the mornings, then he kicked my butt in the gym in the afternoons. I should’ve been exhausted. Instead, I looked forward to spending time with him every day.

Surprisingly, for someone seven years older than me, I think he enjoyed it, too.

Maybe the teaching aspect, not this odd sort-of friendship we’d developed, but still.

Of course, it couldn’t last.

In March, Thirteen was gone again.

He told Amelia he was confident I wouldn’t drown within five minutes and she could continue my training in the water if she wished. But I didn’t get a goodbye in person. That hurt a bit. I liked routines, and for six weeks, he consumed my days.

And, ashamedly, occasionally my dreams.

Amelia wasn’t nearly as fun to learn from.