Chapter 7: Heat
676 Words
The resort was humid. Bright. Alive with the sound of classmates laughing, splashing, gossiping. All of us away from school, away from uniforms and assigned seats and stiff classroom walls.
But I only noticed one thing.
Evren.
He was by the pool, shirt off, towel slung low on his hips, black swim trunks riding low. His skin was pale, smooth, marked with shadows where muscles curled under the surface. His chest was subtle but firm. His collarbones sharp. His neck long and clean.
I watched from the shade of the cabana, sunglasses hiding the way my eyes dragged over every part of him. He was sitting alone near the edge of the pool, legs in the water, headphones hanging around his neck again like always.
I’d never seen him like this before.
Exposed.
He looked… undone. A little sun-dazed. A little vulnerable. Like the silence he wore around himself at school didn’t know how to follow him into the heat.
I didn’t think. I moved.
The water was warm around my ankles when I slipped into the shallow end, floating slowly toward him like nothing about it was planned. Like I hadn’t waited for a moment like this since the trip started.
He glanced up when I stopped near him.
“Hey,” I said, wet hair clinging to my neck. I didn’t smile. I just looked at him.
“Hey,” he replied, soft.
I swam closer. He shifted to make room on the ledge. My thigh brushed against his knee as I sat beside him, half in the water, half out, chest rising and falling with subtle anticipation.
God, he was warm. Just being this close was enough to make my blood crawl under my skin.
“You didn’t swim?” I asked.
He shrugged, dripping water onto his lap. “Did earlier.”
“Too cool to splash around with the rest of us?” I teased, watching a drop roll down his chest. I imagined licking it off his skin, slow and deliberate.
He gave a ghost of a smile. “Just taking a break.”
Perfect. Still. Quiet. Just how I like him.
I let my foot bump gently against his under the water. Not enough to register as obvious. Just… there.
“Kind of weird seeing everyone like this,” I murmured, pretending to gaze out over the pool. “No uniforms. No rules.”
Evren didn’t say anything. But he didn’t move away either.
“But I like it,” I added. “Feels like we’re in a different world.”
He nodded once. Still not looking at me. Still so unaware.
So I tried it.
I stretched out one leg underwater, letting it drift until it rested lightly—deliberately—against his. The skin-on-skin contact sent a shock up my spine. I held perfectly still.
He stiffened slightly. Not a lot. Just enough.
But he didn’t move.
His fingers tapped the edge of the stone beside him, maybe nervous. Maybe thoughtful.
“What?” I asked softly, dipping my head just a bit to peek up at his face. “You look like you're thinking about something.”
“Just… tired,” he muttered.
Liar. But a beautiful one.
I leaned closer, elbows resting on the warm poolside. My wet arm brushed against his. I could feel every drop of water between us, and I wanted to kiss each one off his shoulder.
“You’re always tired,” I whispered, voice low. “Maybe you should let someone take care of you for once.”
He glanced at me then. Just a flicker. Eyes darting, unreadable.
But that was enough.
I smiled to myself, leaning back just as the others called from across the pool. Someone started playing music. The spell broke. Or seemed to.
But I didn’t care.
He didn’t pull away.
I pushed a little. And he stayed.
And next time, I’d push harder.
Because this wasn’t a game anymore.
It was a slow, innocent seduction. One only I understood. One I planned to win.
- Writer
