KEISHA’S POV
Nadia proposed races and nobody agreed but she held them anyway.
She made up the rules as she went, disqualified Callum twice for reasons she couldn’t fully articulate, declared herself the winner of a race she hadn’t participated in and argued her case with the confidence of a lawyer who knew she was losing but wasn’t going to admit it.
"You can’t win a race you didn’t swim." Callum glared at her when she did the sa thing the second ti.
"I tid it." She smirked. "Timing is a contribution."
"That’s not how races work." He stared at her in confusion.
"In my races it is." She stuck a tongue out and turned to . "Back up."
"I’m staying completely out of this." I looked away.
"Coward." She rolled her eyes pleasantly.
Dane surfaced at the far end and looked at all of us. "What’s happening?"
"Your Alpha is attacking my race thodology." Nadia pointed a finger at her father.
"Your race thodology is indefensible." Dane agreed.
"Et tu." She said flatly.
I pressed my hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh.
"She’s laughing." Nadia pointed at . "Everyone notice. My thodology is producing results."
"Your thodology is organised chaos." Callum scowled at her.
"Chaos with outcos." She wagged a finger at him. "Completely different."
Dane pulled himself up to sit on the pool edge for a mont, water running off him, and Nadia turned to at full volu and said— "He really does have a very good body."
Oh god.
I inhaled pool water. "Nadia." I said, coughing.
"What." She shrugged. "I’m observing. It’s a neutral observation."
"He’s right there." I hissed.
What was wrong with her?
"I know." She looked quite neutral about it. "Dane." She raised her voice. "You have a very good body."
"Thank you." He said, completely unbothered, still sitting on the edge.
"You’re welco." She smiled and turned back to like she had just comnted on the weather. "See. Normal."
I looked at the water.
"You were staring too." She said to , her voice lower this ti and more conspiratorial.
"I wasn’t." I imdiately denied.
"You were." She accused . "Before he sat up. When he was swimming back. You watched the entire lap."
"I was watching the water." I looked away.
"The water he was in." She smirked.
"Can we not—"
"I’m just saying." She said. "Nothing wrong with looking. He’s objectively—"
Dane slid back into the pool and I looked at the far wall.
"You just did it again." Nadia said in my ear.
"I’m looking at the tiles." I hissed.
"The tiles on the wall he just swam past." She stifled a laugh.
Oh god.
"Goodbye." I said as I pushed off the wall and swam away from her.
She laughed behind .
I swam a proper lap, focused, trying to reset my brain, and ca back to the centre of the pool where I stood and pushed my hair back.
I found Callum had moved closer while I was doing that. Not obvious enough for Nadia to notice. Just— closer.
The water was suddenly warm between us.
I looked at the far end of the pool.
"Okay." Nadia said, appearing beside . "Real race. Keisha and Dane. Far end and back."
"I’m not racing." I raised a brow.
"You absolutely are." She said.
"Nadia—"
"Dane." She called. "She says she’s not scared of losing."
I turned imdiately. "I didn’t say that."
Dane was already there. Right there. Treading water with a patient waiting expression.
"Scared?" He asked.
"Of losing to you in your elent?" I said. "Obviously not scared. Just aware that it’s not a fair contest."
"I’ll give you a head start." He smirked.
"How many seconds?"
"Five." He said.
"Genuinely five?" I asked skeptically.
"Genuinely." He nodded.
I looked at him for a mont.
"Fine." I said and I pushed off the wall.
He caught up behind at approximately two seconds after which I clocked imdiately and swam harder anyway because I had committed and stopping would be embarrassing.
I hit the far wall, turned, and he was right there when I surfaced. We ca up at the sa ti, both breathing hard, faces close, water everywhere.
"You said five seconds." I scowled.
"I gave you four." He laughed.
"You gave two." I shrieked.
"My count." He laughed harder. "Four."
I looked at him. "Your count is wrong."
He was looking at with water running down his face and an expression that clearly told he wasn’t just thinking about the pool. He was thinking about sothing else. Sothing I knew.
"Rematch." Nadia called. "With proper seconds this ti. I’m timing."
"Your timing can’t be trusted either." Callum said from where he was watching.
"My timing is impeccable." She said. "Unlike my softcare apparently." She stopped and looked down at herself before she made a sound. "Oh no."
I looked at her.
"My softcare." She said. "Has completely let down." She let out a long groan. "I need to go change."
She was already moving toward the pool steps and she climbed out and wrapped a towel around herself before she then looked back at with a soft expression.
"Hey." She whispered to get my attention.
I looked at her.
"My dad hasn’t laughed like that in months." She said quietly. "Thank you for being here."
I opened my mouth but she was already gone, footsteps wet on the tiles and the door swinging behind her.
The pool room went quiet.
I stood in the water and looked at anywhere but the two n who were blatantly staring at .
They weren’t even trying to hide it.
Callum swam over slowly and stopped a few feet from .
"We could keep having fun." He suggested, his voice low and sultry.
I looked at him and he held my gaze.
I understood exactly what kind of fun he ant.
The water shifted from the other side.
Dane.
I was between them and the pool was genuinely cool and the light was low and Nadia’s footsteps had long since disappeared.
Surely, no one would co here, right?
Callum’s hand found my waist under the water and I stopped thinking.
Dane’s lips found the side of my neck and I felt my eyes close, my head tilting back on its own, as Callum’s mouth found mine slow and certain and I kissed him back with everything I had been sitting on all evening.
Dane’s hands were at my hips, pulling back against him as Callum’s fingers pressed into my waist and I had both hands in his hair as the water moved around all of us, all quiet.
We should have stopped. Because I knew where this was going to. It was building, properly building, toward sothing that was going to be a problem in terms of location very soon when—
Footsteps on the pool deck made us freeze.
That... wasn’t Nadia.
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