Page 27 of Stroked Long
But dogs make it look so easy . . .
“Come on, Ruby. Get the doughnut, it’s waiting for you.”
Lauren is literally going to be crucified when this is over. She is dead to me. Where did she even find a doughnut to entice me? Hell, I will eat the shit out of the doughy roundness when I get it, but where did it come from?
How did I get to this point? I mean, really? We were all having fun in the pool a few moments ago, twirling in a circle and learning how to blow bubbles under water. We were a harmonious little group and then little Jimmy shark-trunks goes and opens his mouth about swimming across the pool without taking a break and the competition was on thanks to Bodi saying it’s hard.
“You got this, Ruby!” girl with clear goggles chants for me, her tiny fist raised in the air.
If not for the doughnut, then I must do this for girl with clear goggles.
My end is near. My limbs are on fire, my lungs are expanded to full capacity trying to suck in as much air as possible.
It’s hot in here!
Too many kids, parents, spectators, and a heated pool. This girl is about to pass out. But not before the doughnut rests securely in my mouth.
“Just a few more feet,” Lauren chants. “You can do it, Ruby.”
If she didn’t have a shit-eating grin on her face, I would actually think she was being sincere, but I’ve known her long enough to know this is all a joke to her. Her nipple will be twisted off later.
Water slashes around me, my feet propel me forward, my arms barely doing anything. I can feel Bodi’s heavy stare. Kind of wish he wasn’t here right about now.
“Almost there . . .”
Like a drowned rat seeking land refuge, my claw-shaped hand performs a Stretch Armstrong move and grips the edge of the pool as little cheers from around the deck shout into the air, reverberating off the cinderblock walls of the enclosed pool area.
Gripping the wall for dear life, I breathe heavily and look up at a grinning Lauren. “I . . . did . . . it.”
Out of breath and entirely too tired to care what I possibly look like, I hold out my hand and wait for Lauren to place the doughnut in my grasp.
“Sorry, sweet cheeks. No eating in the pool,” Lauren says, motioning to the ladder for me to get out.
“You’re the devil.” I heave, dragging my carcass along the pool’s edge until I get to the ladder. I hoist myself out, apparently too tired to lift my legs properly because they scrape along the edge.
From a distance, I hear Bodi wrap up class, his deep voice reminding me why I came to the class in the first place. My brain is telling me to stop flopping around on the pool deck, but my muscles have other ideas, instead forcing me to twitch like a freshly tasered criminal.
“Are you going to be okay?” Lauren asks, squatting down next to me. Terrycloth appears as she holds a towel out to me, her eyes full of mirth.
“Give me my doughnut.”
“You sure you want to eat it here?”
“Lauren, I just swam fifty meters without touching the bottom in front of a bunch of chicken-nugget fiends and the hottest Olympic swimmer—”
“Ah, admitting your sexual feelings now?”
Sitting up, I point my finger at her. “Don’t interrupt me. Just give me my damn doughnut and let me rest in peace.”
Shaking her head, a smile still on her face, she hands me my well-deserved bakery delight and walks away. I don’t bother to watch her retreat, instead, I lie flat on the pool deck, the towel from Lauren carelessly draped over my exposed stomach, and eyes trained on the treat in front of me. Lying like a starfish fresh out of the water, I consume my reward, reveling in each chocolate morsel.
Some might say I’m out of shape due to my embarrassing effort as I swam the length of a pool, but that’s not true. I very much enjoy a Zumba class, but swimming, yeah, I don’t do that. Pools are for playing Marco Polo, peeing in, and sunbathing.
“Are you staying for water aerobics?”
I don’t have to open my eyes to know Bodi is standing over me, probably questioning my sanity at the current moment.
With one eye open, a grimace crossing my face from how I must look, I answer, “Didn’t plan on it. Are you?”
