Trust Me

It didn’t take us long to find a water source this time. The rock pool we stumbled upon was much smaller than the last one – maybe only about 10 feet in diameter – but as long was we had a place to drink and refill our canteens, it didn’t matter how large the pool was.

Adri dunked a canteen in the water, taking his time to fill it up. I sat back on the edge of the water, waiting for him to finish filling the canteens up so I could take a drink. Without warning he suddenly whirled around and poured the contents of the full canteen on my head, drenching me with cool water.

I leapt to my feet with a loud shriek, startled by the cold water. “Are you insane?” I demanded.

Adri got to his feet. “You refused to take a bath, so I thought an impromptu shower might be just as helpful, but it’s not enough. The blood’s too dry; you’d have to soak either way.”

I scoffed. “Bastard,” I grumbled as I tried to wring my hair dry.

“Language, 4.” He said with a smirk. “Now, I think we should discuss you taking a bath.”

“There is nothing to discuss! I am not taking a bath. If I’ve decided not to do it, then there’s nothing you can do to make me.” I stuck my chin out indignantly and crossed my arms over my chest.

“Oh, please. Do you want to bet?” Adri challenged, raising an eyebrow. He scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder.

“Wait, no! Put me down!” I screeched, flailing my arms and legs as I tried to wriggle out of his arms.

He took a step forward and stretched his arms out, dangling me above the water. He looked at me with a smirk on his face, obviously amused by my terror-stricken expression. “Are you ready for a civilized discussion yet?”

I cleared my throat. “Erm, yes. I’ve given it some thought and decided that I’m open to a conversation on this matter.” I said, my voice cracking and squeaking as I tried to regain some composure.

He set me back down on the my feet next to him. “I knew you’d see things my way.” He said with a victorious smirk.

I grimaced and quickly reached out, placing my hands on his chest and with a great heave I pushed him into the pool. “If you get to play dirty, then so do I!” I hissed, just before he hit the surface of the water with a great splash.

He slowly resurfaced, and his arms instantly shot out around him, waving wildly through the water. He tried to stick his face out of the water, but he could barely manage to keep himself afloat. “Please, Winnie, help! I can’t swim!” He pleaded, his voice desperate as he gasped and sputtered for air.

My stomach sank. I instantly dropped to my knees and stuck my hand out, trying to grab his hand in mine. His hand spun wildly around, trying to grab onto me, and I finally managed to get a grip on his hand. He squeezed my hand tightly in his, and I started to pull him to the edge. He stopped suddenly, no longer gasping or flailing, and grinned up at me.

“What are you—” I started, but my sentence was cut short as he suddenly yanked his arm towards him without letting go of my hand, pulling me into the water with him. I shrieked as I landed almost right on top of him, the cold water choking me as I continued my attempt to scream even after I was underwater. He still hadn’t let go of my hand, and he pulled me back up to the surface, smirking at me as my I opened my eyes and tried to cough out all the water from my lungs.

“I didn’t know you wanted to play hardball. If I’d known, I would have just dropped you in rather than offered you a second chance.” He said.

“You tricked me!” I accused. “You said you couldn’t swim!”

“You tricked me, too. You said you wanted to discuss the matter.” He pointed out, ruffling my hair with a laugh.

I grimaced and swatted his hand away. “Fine, then. We’re too similar to get away with playing these kind of games on each other.”

“And yet, you keep trying.” He said. He stopped suddenly and took my face in his hands, staring at me for a moment. I felt my stomach start to flutter nervously as I found myself staring into his eyes, afraid to even breathe as I was once again captivated by him. Don’t let him get you all wound up with his mind games. You can’t think about him like this, I scolded myself.

He lifted his thumb and gently stroked it across my cheekbone a few times. “You had some blood there,” He said softly, one corner of his lip lifting in a half-smile.

I felt my cheeks flush pink. “I’ve got blood everywhere, in case you haven’t noticed.”

“Do you want me to wipe it off your whole body for you, then?” He challenged, giving me a mischievous grin and a suggestive eyebrow raise.

My cheeks warmed even more, and I was willing to bet that they were the same color as a ripe tomato. I swatted his hand away, giving his shoulder a satisfyingly hard smack. “Get out!” I hissed.

He laughed. “Touchy, touchy.” He said, swimming over to the edge and hoisting himself out of the water.

I sucked in a deep breath and pulled myself under the water, wishing I could drown myself as the humiliation started to set in.