Page 35 of Anchored To You

"Is it okay that I'm touching you?"

"Of course it is. I don't mind when people touch my fins. Even though there haven't been many opportunities for someone to do that," I admit, realizing how little I've actually shared this part of myself with others. Of course, friends have seen me in my shifted state, but not someone I was dating.

Fuck.

No.

Not dating.

Hooking up.

Beck and I are only hooking up. There's no dating or anything similar to dating between us. He reaches out, swimming closer to me so he can wrap his arm around my body, pulling me tight against him. My heart beats wildly, loving being this close to him. We stare at one another, a magnetic force pulling us close until our lips touch. I lose myself in his kiss, moaning into his mouth. One of his hands finds my hair, tugging lightly, while his other rubs his thumb against my hip and moves to rub my ass. I love having his hands on me. Especially in my shifted form. It feels so much more erotic to be kissing him this way.

Beck pulls away, panting heavily. "Have you had enough swimming yet?"

"Maybe," I purr, swimming away from him. "Are you trying to tell me you want to go back to our room? You sure you don't want to keep swimming?"

Beck swims toward me, trying to chase me, but I'm too fast for him. "No fair," he whines when he can't catch up. "I don't have fins, so I can't swim as fast as you."

"Let me help you."

Grabbing his hand, I interlock our fingers, squeezing it tightly before locking our arms together. Keeping hold of him, I swim, flapping my fins quickly as we fly down the river. Beck whoops and hollers, his mouth filling with water as he screams excitedly. Once we reach the end of the river, I quickly do a u-turn taking us back down to where we first entered.

"Fuck, it felt like we were flying," Beck breathes, trying to catch his breath. "That was incredible. Is it always like that for you?"

"Sometimes," I tell him. "But it was more fun with you."

And it really was. This was the first time I've ever done something like that. Yeah, I've gone swimming with other people before, but I never actually took anyone swimming with me. At first, I thought it would be hard; me having to carry him while I'm swimming, but it wasn't hard at all. We flew through the water with our bodies fused, while my fins propelled us as fast as I could.

"I would love to do it again sometime. But I would also really like to get my hands on you right now."

"I think we can make that happen. You ready to go back to our room?"

"I've been ready," he says, swimming past me and walking me out of the river.

Hannah, Wyatt and I are sitting at the table playing our second game of Mahjong. This game is confusing as hell, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. There are so many students sitting around the main room in the hall, with tons of different games going on. I've only been able to come to a couple of these meetups, but after this morning I really needed to get out.

Last night after Beck and I got back to our dorm, he fucked me so damn good; I passed out right away. Which meant I spent another night wrapped up in his arms. And I didn't hate it. Nope, if I'm being honest, I loved it a little too much. Which was why when I woke up with a huge ass smile on my face as I looked at a sleepy Beck, I knew I had to get out of there. And so here I am, crashing Hannah and Wyatt's Mahjong semi-wannabe-date.

"So, tell us again how much you loved sleeping with Beck," Hannah hums, smiling at me sweetly.

"I didn't say that at all."

"But isn't it, what did you say?" Wyatt adds on, hyping Hannah up. "You said you woke up in his arms and bolted. Why else would you bolt except for the fact that you liked it? Probably even lovvvved it," he taunts.

"I didn't say that either," I mumble, looking down at my Mahjong pieces.

"So, what are you going to do, Tal?" Hannah asks, once I finally glance back up. Both she and Wyatt are staring at me with sympathy in their eyes. They both know what I realized this morning: I'm having feelings for Beck. Strong feelings. Feelings that go deeper than just a hookup.

"I don't know," I tell them both honestly. "Probably stop hooking up with him. That's how I got myself into this mess in the first place."

Wyatt cuts in before Hannah can get a word in. "You don't want to tell him how you feel? What if he feels the same way?"

"Trust me, he doesn't. He made it clear he's only focused on baseball, school, and work. He doesn't have the time for a relationship. And I told him from the beginning, I didn't want a relationship either. I'm not going to go up to him saying I changed my mind, when I know he didn't change his."

"But you don't know if he hasn't changed his mind," Hannah replies, placing her hand over mine. "You were so dead set on only hooking up, and now look at you. What if he's the same? What if he's been fighting his feelings the same way you have?"

I laugh loudly, wincing when the people next to me tell me to shush. "Sorry," I whisper, glancing around the room. Looking back at Hannah and Wyatt, I sigh loudly, "The only reason he was okay with us hooking up is because I made it seem like its something I do all the time."