Page 52 of Seeking Stars
"Come here," he said. She recognized the deep tone from some of her favorite movie scenes of his. "I'm going to teach you how to float."
"What?" Her lungs malfunctioned.
He pulled her closer to him. "Is it okay if I touch you?"
Her heart stopped. Her mouth opened to reply but nothing came out.
"I need to, to help you float," he said.
"Yes," she whispered. She hid a gulp.
He took a step closer to her, oh so slowly as if she might spook easily, and put his hands on her waist. He stood in front of her with his fingers clinging to the curve of her torso, eyes flickering over her face until her breathing picked up. With a firm touch, he turned her sideways and one of his arms wrapped around her back.
"Lift your legs," he instructed, his voice throaty yet commanding. "Put your feet on the side of the pool."
"Okay." Her movements were less graceful than she would have liked. Most of her weight, light as it was in the water, rested on his arm. Her lungs hadn't yet recovered from the force of his eyes on her.
"Nice." His other hand found a place low in her back. "Lift here."
"I'm trying." While her bewilderment might have had to do with how close they were and the novelty of the situation, his short, direct sentences made it seem like he was solely focused on leading her movements.
She stole a glance at him. He stared at her breasts, as if checking out the way they rose above the water, the surface tension line moving up and down the curve of them with each one of her breaths, nipples hard beneath the wet fabric.
He must have felt her eyes on him because he gazed at her then away, clearing his throat. He may have been somewhat affected as well, after all.
"You're breathing too fast," he indicated, his gaze back to her. "Too shallow. You need to hold air in your lungs, more than half-full."
She pushed her thoughts away and breathed in deeply— too deep. Her chest came up high, the tension in her neck and the angle of her back pushing her head down into near-submersion. The hand in her lower back stayed in place, but the other came to push her head above water.
"You're good," he said. "You're okay."
Flustered, she dropped her legs from the side of the pool. "This is tough."
"You're too tense." He let go of her. His lips were pressed together. "Is this the wrong thing? Should we try something else?"
"No, let's try again. Any other techniques?"
"Yeah, let's try this. Come close to the edge, here where the water reaches your chest, and put your feet against the wall. Try to get flush against it," he said, showing her what he meant; he looked like he planned to do a push up against the pool's side. "Then, keeping your feet in place, allow your chest to come away from the wall and let the water support you."
He modeled the strategy for her. As he released the push up position, his body moved away from the side of the pool as if an undercurrent pulled him towards its center. His chest and hips gained buoyancy by the second and, after a minute, his body leveled up to the surface. She studied his face, calm as if the water gave him instant peace. She came back to herself when he shifted and stood on the bottom of the pool again.
"Ready to try?" he asked. "I'll spot you."
"Okay, let's see."
She imitated what she'd seen him do; he stood close to her, paying attention to her movements. She did her best not to get self-conscious nor focus on his proximity— she failed.
"Keep your feet against the wall unless you're fully floating," he said. "Let the water hold you up."
"What if I sink?"
"I'll hold you up. Relax."
He pressed his hand on the space between her shoulder blades, fingers splayed on her skin. She shivered, but didn't think it had anything to do with the water's temperature.
"I'm here, you can let go," he insisted. Her body moved on its own like his body had, when he'd been showing her. "Yeah, like this. Just keep air in your lungs, that's essential."
Relax. Relax. Relax!
