Deeper (2 page)

Oh, now it makes sense. He’s the big dog and he wants to make sure I know he’s in charge. I was told we’d have another supervisor over guarding, plus two over swim lessons, and one over customer relations. This must be the other one over guarding. The manager warned me I was the youngest supervisor they’d ever had at 19, but I hadn’t extrapolated that to the other sups doubting me.

I bend to look for my stuff, not wanting to be left on the beach alone at night. He’s probably going to stomp off and leave me in the dark. I hear hisses from the embers as he kicks sand over the fire to kill it. Sure enough, he’ll leave. I should have brought a flashlight.

I shove everything into my beach bag and look up to see he’s waiting at the beach entrance with folded arms. He looks older now, angry and distant. I guess he’s safer that way. I follow him out to the parking lot and when we get to the point where we should split, he surprises me by walking me to my car. He scowls the whole way, and I have to wonder about a guy who’s so chivalrous but so bitter about it.

“What the hell? Rain just had to be—” He’s muttering under his breath and I don’t know if he’s hoping I can hear or not. He probably thinks he’s delivering a death blow with his obvious disdain, but he doesn’t realize he can’t hurt me by pulling away.

He’d have hurt me if he kept coming. Because I would have wanted him and he would have wanted me, and I would have had to turn him down eventually. And that would have hurt.

Hopefully once he gets over my position, we can be friends. I could use a new friend out here. The second I’m in my car, he turns and jogs away, shaking his head. Maybe not friends for a while then.

Needless to say, orientation the next day is a little awkward.

His name is Knight. Not night, but Knight. I almost laughed when he introduced himself to the staff. He has no right to say anything about my name. I managed not to laugh because everyone else was dead silent while he was talking.

They respect him, and it’s clear I have a lot to live up to. He leans on the table at the front of the room in the navy polo reserved for supervisors and dark denim jeans. All of his clothing seems made for him, like he’s a mannequin in a store window.

He’s even better looking in the daylight. He’s opening orientation, all business, his sharp face stern and commanding, and he’s just so hot. Tall and broad shouldered, with long powerful legs built on years of swimming.

“Oh, Knight,” Amy, says with a sigh. “Even for a gay girl he’s dreamy.” She’s my first new friend, a loud, pretty brunette with curves and a tan and winking brown eyes and a punk aesthetic. She attached herself to my side from the moment I entered, and though I disappointed her by being straight, she forgave me quickly.

“Really?” I whisper, trying not to draw Knight’s attention.

“Maybe I’m bi.” She shrugs and continues to watch Knight. Knight clears his throat in our direction, and I blush as the guards turn to me. So embarrassing to be chastised by your own coworker.

Dave waves me up when Knight finishes his intro. “This is Rain,” he announces.

Low muttering throughout the room tells me that even with another guard named Knight, they are going to have a hard time with my name. I make a note to ask Knight how he came by his.

My parents are from Texas, and they say I was as welcome as summer rain.

“She’s here all the way from Montana.” More murmuring, but Dave goes on. “We’re lucky to have her. She has water park experience, and since this season we’ve added slides and a play structure to our facility, she’s going to be able to give valuable guidance that we weren’t able to find in any other candidates.”

I suppose most of the people at water parks in So-Cal probably aren’t rushing to an obscure, inner city, indoor park. A random girl from Montana who killed someone on a waterslide will have to do.

“I’ll let her introduce herself.”

Then he leaves me at the front. So silent you can almost hear crickets chirping. My eyes find Knight and he smiles at me complacently. He folds his arms and tilts his head. He’s waiting for me to slip up, waiting for an excuse to get me fired. I’m good enough to molest in the water but not good enough to be his equal. His eyes are a light teal in the fluorescent indoor light, and they burn like blue flames from under his dark, long lashes. I swallow.

Dave clears his throat. Knight grins and I realize I’ve made a stellar impression by standing here like an idiot and drooling over my coworker in front of everyone. I lean against the table behind me, like Knight did, and cross my legs. The best way to feel calm is to act calm.

“Not much more to say. I’m Rain Williams and I’m just here for the summer. One thing about me, I’m all about the rules. Might as well know that up front. I’ll be writing the emergency plans and I’ll be ensuring that we all stay as safe as we want the patrons to be.”

The quiet muttering turns to complaining, but none of it loud enough to address. Knight’s smile broadens. He’s winning, and so far they aren’t happy with me.

“Does anyone have any questions for me?” I ask.

“How old are you?”

“None of your business. Next?”

Knight puts a hand over his mouth to hide what is probably a laugh, and his eyes crinkle in amusement. I look to Dave, but he is absentmindedly surfing on his phone and could care less how I am being received.

“Anything about my actual qualifications as your manager?”

“How many saves have you had?” a guy asks. He has a green fauxhauk and is standing in the back with a group of similarly styled teens.

“Nineteen,” I say quickly. I don’t have to think about it. Each save is an adrenaline rush you never forget, from the panicked face sinking beneath the water, to the way their arms try to grab you as you try to keep your tube between you and the victim, to the noise of the whistles as other guards come to help or to clear the water. Each save is a tally burned into the side of your skull. Almost as visceral as the rescue attempts that don’t end in saves.

“Why so many?” a gothic boy with long, dyed black hair and a nose ring asks.

“Mostly the wave pool. Often people can swim until the water is actually moving. The other main danger, and one that you’ll actually have to deal with, is the slide drop down pools. Often times people go down a slide thinking that even if they can’t swim, they can land on their feet. This isn’t the case. Often they panic when they hit the water. I’ve seen a six foot tall man drowning in three feet of water.”

I begin to hear the first low murmurs of approval from my crowd, so I go on. “Everything’s different with slides. I’ll be showing you how to do spinals in the moving water, how to backboard, and how to do different saves.”

They are nodding at me now, making eye contact. That’s good. I need them to know the seriousness of their job has just ramped up with the new additions. Many of them have probably never had a save. But that’s going to change this season.

Dave hefts himself from his chair, runs a hand through his thinning brown hair, and comes to the front with a clipboard. He pats my shoulder and I sit, feeling satisfied with my performance for the day. I’ve let them know my goals and what I’m going to do for them. I will be an asset at this job.

I meet Knight’s eyes, wanting to know if he understands me. He nods but doesn’t smile. Like he’s acknowledging me, but not going to be friendly about it. It’s fine. I don’t need to be liked to do a good job.

We start slide drills on the second day of training. So far, Dave has had us working separately with two different groups, the experienced guards and the new. This is my first time training with Knight, and we’re working on slides. My turf.

I hop in the slide pool while the guards assemble around us. I go to the end of both slides and feel the current gush around me. Not as strong as some of the slides back home but still enough to push a body out past you before you catch it. I dunk under and feel myself float forward so I have an idea of timing. When I come up, the guards are talking noisily amongst themselves, and Knight is staring down at me with narrowed eyes. I can never read him.

“Two lines,” I say.

“Why two?” Trent, one of our youngest, always has a mouth on him, always wants to know why.

“Just get in line,” Knight snaps, coming up behind him. Trent moves immediately, shaking his limp brown hair out of his face as he scrambles to comply. Knight’s voice is as commanding as his stance is. He towers over the younger guards in both height and width, in that way that men do when they move from their teens to their twenties and just seem hotter and stronger. His whistle hangs around his neck, down between large, defined pecs that show even under his shirt.

He grabs the bottom of his shirt and raises an eyebrow at me while nodding at the water. I nod, because I’ll need him to get in with me, even though I’m not sure how I’ll handle him shirtless. For the last day or so, I’ve barely been able to handle him fully clothed when we did paperwork.

He pulls off his shirt in one smooth motion, over his head in a way that flexes his chest and elongates his biceps, and tosses it to the side. Cue appreciative noises from the female guards and my mouth going dry. I’m trying just to see him as my capable coworker, who in the last day or so of training has proven to be a stellar guard. But I find myself appreciating his fantastic chest as much as I appreciate his extreme dedication to the job. I can’t stop thinking of his lips on mine at night in the ocean. I’m just going to have to focus on the guards. Besides, Knight might be helping direct the guards, and acting friendly, but I haven’t forgotten his angry diatribe in the parking lot.

“Why do we have two lines?” I say, pointing to each. “Because there are two slides. We’re going to be doing slide spinals and you’ll be running them with either Knight or myself. After we demonstrate, of course.”

I feel a little guilty for planning my first training around slide spinals, because I know how to do them and I’m sure Knight doesn’t. It’s not that I want him to look stupid, it’s just that I need to gain respect in my own way. If it puts him in his place and shows him not to mess with me, even better.

“I’ll show Knight how to do it first, then we can teach at the same time. Watch closely.” I wave to Amy. She goes around the back and up the slide tower. I am about to signal her when Knight taps me with his foot underwater. It trips a nerve in my leg that shoots right up to my hip. He couldn’t even unfold his stupid complacent arms long enough to tap me with a hand? I glare at him.

He shrugs and looks forward, giving me his sharp profile. “I can demonstrate it.”

“You’ve done slide spinals,” I say skeptically.

He nods. “I took a course when I knew we were getting slides.”

He’s not what I expected. Maybe it’s his tattoo, or the way he smiled and tried to seduce me in the ocean, but I was expecting him to be more of a slacker. “So you’ve seen the videos, and simulated it in a pool, but have you done one?”

“No, but I can.” He raises an eyebrow, a hint of a smirk on his face. “I’ll demonstrate right now if you want me to.”

I don’t want him to. If he does it wrong it’ll be humiliating for him, and if he does it right it’ll be humiliating for me. But he won’t do it right. No one does it right the first time.

He pushes me gently out of the way of Amy’s slide, and waves for her to go down. After a doubtful look at me that I return with a nod, she goes.

Midway down the slide she turns to be headfirst. It won’t be an easy spinal. The brace you make has to be perfect. I look over at Knight. He’s folding his arms and watching her progress. How can he look so relaxed?

Amy hits the water and Knight snaps into action, submerging and smoothly spinning under her, since she’s face down. He braces her perfectly before turning them both face up. He turns slowly and holds her in the slide current and calls for a backboard. The guards look at me and I nod for someone to go get it. I can’t believe it.

I take the backboard from the guards and move into position to help Knight. My face is burning, both from the embarrassment of being wrong about him as well as how hot I find it that he’s so damn good at this. I drop the backboard with a hard push and let it float smoothly up beneath her. He holds her head while I start the straps. Even though I’m not looking at him, I can feel him watching me. I can’t ignore the current between us. Like the air is charged whenever he’s near. I finish the last strap on the head piece and meet his eyes as I move to the end of the backboard. They’re so blue, but so intense. Like pool water with sun glinting off of it.

He places his hands on the edge of the pool and pulls himself up out of the water with one smooth motion. All glistening muscle with water falling off of him. I want to hit my head on the side of the pool so I can stop thinking this way.

My plan to look good has failed, and I should be bitter, but as he reaches for the top of the backboard while I grab the bottom, and we lock eyes, we can’t help momentarily grinning at one another. It’s just odd like that when you find someone else who is just as good as you are at what you are best at. It’s hard not to see them as a possible partner for more than just lifeguarding. Even now, my mind is going back to the night of the bonfire, and thinking of the other things we do well together.

I pull myself out of the water and kneel beside Amy, who’s smiling a bit too happily for a person with a spinal injury. Knight’s behind me and I can’t ignore the feel of him as I explain to the guards what to do next. I’m lucky CPR is like breathing to me, and even if I stutter a bit, the ideas are clear and easy to remember.

Even as I’m remembering his big, capable body as he pulled himself out of the pool to help me complete the perfect backboarding.

“Who wants to see Rain do one?” Knight folds his arms and looks at me.

He’s throwing down the gauntlet, almost as if he thinks I couldn’t possibly do it as well as he did, since he did it perfectly. He’s wrong, because I can. But there’s no point having two demonstrations.

“You’ve already seen it,” I say, knowing that some of them will just think I’m copping out. “Let’s all go through this once, and then I’ll do any rescue maneuver you want to see. Think of the hardest one you can think of, one that is really stumping you. One you’d like to see done really well.” I meet Knight’s eyes and he just raises his eyebrows and shrugs.