Page 26 of Ruthless Game

Fuck, what had I done?

“Emma!” I yelled. “Emma, I⁠—”

But then she surfaced, soaked and spluttering.

“You asshole!” she yelled. “You pushed me in the goddamn pool!”

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, please don’t be angry. The words rose in my throat but I stopped them, because apologizing right now would also be weak.

“I figured you’d want to show us how to swim, Angel,” I mocked, even though I felt sick to my stomach. “Besides, you look good wet.”

“Yeah she does,” said some redheaded douchebag.

No one talked to Emma like that but me, but he clearly hadn’t gotten the memo, because he continued, “If all instructors looked like you, I’d⁠—”

Glaring, I jerked my head, once.

He shut up.

“I can’t show you how to swim if you won’t get in the damn pool.” Emma was seething. “I was just trying to help you, and⁠—”

“I don’t need your help, Angel. It’s sweet you care though. You’ve always been such a cute little helper. Emma Schwartz, the world’s most sacrificial lamb,” I taunted.

“Better than being David Lawson, the world’s most willful coward,” she shot back.

“Um, y’all, maybe—” the other instructor, Maya, tried to interrupt us.

It didn’t matter who else was in the room, or the way our words echoed. Emma thought she’d win our battle of wills, and I had to prove to her that it didn’t matter if I was suited up on the rink or inches away from my greatest fear. I’d always come out the victor.

“In fact, you might want to be careful in general, Angel. You’re treading water right now.”

“Yeah?” Emma’s blue eyes flashed silver. “Then it’s good I know how to swim.”

“Clever,” I said. Because she was. This new Emma with a backbone was fun to fight with, because she actually put up a fight. “But as far as I know, you’re the only strong swimmer in your family. Are you willing to let the others drown to save yourself?”

There were whispers around us, but I knew I’d been vague enough to keep anyone from figuring out what I meant. Emma, for her part, made an effort to pace her breathing and calm herself down before she did something she regretted. I appreciated it. There was only room for one of us to fuck up huge in this room. I couldn’t stop imagining how much worse it could have gone. She could’ve hit her head on the edge of the pool, or twisted in the wrong way, and it would’ve been my fault.

Fuck.

God, who the hell was I? What had I done? What⁠—

Once again, I shut that voice down. Worrying was weakness. She was fine. Nothing bad had happened. I’d be more careful from now on.

“I can’t teach you, Lawson, unless you get in the pool,” she tried.

“A good teacher should be able to get over some small hurdles like that.” I glanced at the clock. “Oh, it looks like class is over. Great first day, Angel. I really learned a lot.”

I left the pool without looking back.

“Whoa, what did those weights ever do to you?”

I continued lifting the barbell, glaring at my reflection in the gym mirror—and at Asher, who stood behind me, eyebrows raised.

After leaving the pool, I’d immediately headed over to the gym. There was too much pent-up energy in me, a roiling sense of regret over what I’d done to Emma, even accidentally. That, coupled with the ice-cold fear brought on by a stranger touching me, and almost being dragged into the depths of the pool, had set my nervous system on edge. I’d narrowly sidestepped a panic attack, and the only intervention I had was exercise.

“What, not even a, ‘Hey man, sorry I didn’t tell you I was back from the UK?’” he continued. “You haven’t said a word to any of us since you got back. If anything, you’re more of a dick since you dragged that girl from⁠—”

“She’s not that girl,” I interrupted. “She’s …”