and took off after Carly hoping for icy water, because damn…She had curves that could make a dead man weep and the last thing he needed was to be sporting wood around all those other people. They splashed through the cold water, laughing like old times. When they hit the deep end, he dove for her, taking her under with him, and guided her slippery body back up to the surface. She gasped, laughing as he swept her into his arms, holding her soft wet body against him and kicking to keep them both afloat.
“It’s so cold!” she said, pushing her hair from her eyes with one hand, her arm hooked around his neck.
“I can help with that.” He leaned in for a kiss, but she wiggled free and dove beneath the surface.
He took the hint—too much, too fast—but he still went after her. They splashed and laughed, swimming around the basin, careful to steer clear of the divers plunging around them. Carly went under, and he lost sight of her. He spun around just as she broke the surface, splashed him in the face, and swam away. He snagged her around the waist and lifted her into the air. She squealed, arms and feet flailing as he tossed her into the deeper water.
Carly shrieked, “Zevy Braden!” in midair and plunged beneath the surface.
She was the only person who called him Zevy, and he’d always loved the way she said it like he was all hers. Even as a kid she’d said it with authority and ownership. Other girls were silly, but Carly had always been different. She was funny and playful but so smart. Way smarter than him.
He swam underwater, snagging her around the waist again, sparking more giggles. She sounded just like she had years ago, bringing a flood of memories of swimming together as kids back home, and later as teenagers, when the sight of her in a bathing suit made him hard as stone and the feel of her slippery body squirming against his was too much to take. He remembered them mastering how to kiss underwater and sneaking away from their families at the beach to make out. Memories came one right after another just as they had when they were hiking up the hill to get there. He remembered their youthful treks, hobo stick in hand, cereal in their backpacks. Even then his pulse beat faster around her. He hadn’t realized until years later that those pulse-racing, secret-keeping moments were woven into the fabric of falling in love with her. He’d thought of her every damn day and missed her with every iota of his being, and still he hadn’t realized exactly how much until now, when she was finally within reach.
She put her arms around him, out of breath and smiling, and exclaimed, “This is so fun! I want to hear all about your adventures. Every single one of them.”
“Nah, come on. They weren’t that great.” He wanted to keep playing around, holding her, watching her walls come down one laugh at a time.
“Stop being humble. You live the life we dreamed of, and I want to hear about how wonderful it is.”
His gut twisted with regret. “Carls.”
“I’m not sad or begrudging you for all you’ve done, Zev.” She was beaming at him without an ounce of negativity. “We were put on separate paths, and you’ve heard all about mine. I want to hear about yours.”
Carly had never been one to hold a grudge, but he was surprised that it still held true when he’d set off to live a life without walls or boundaries. A life that he had hoped he could get so lost in, he might be able to forget the hurt he’d caused without forgetting anything about the love they’d shared, even if it hadn’t turned out that way.
She pushed out of his arms, swimming around him, and said, “The last time I did anything with archaeology was my second year of college. I interned for two semesters doing conservatory work and extracting items from concretions for a marine study. I’ve kept up my deep-sea diving skills, and I’ve gone on a couple of land-based archaeological getaways, but they weren’t anything like what we talked about.” Her expression turned sheepish. “I looked you up online after I saw you in Mexico, but I couldn’t find anything on you. I never looked again until Beau and Char hired me to cater their reception. For some reason, I still couldn’t find