38

~Darlina's POV~

"You in the mood to go swimming?" Emmett asked me the next day around noon, curiously cocking his head as he ate a sandwich while standing in the kitchen. I perked up at the mention of swimming, my eyes flicking over to him. "Right now?" I asked, excited.

He chuckled and nodded his head, taking another bite out of his sandwich. "Yeah, right now. Why else would I ask right this moment?" He responded playfully. I smiled, kicking my legs as I sat on the stool in front of the island bar. "Swimming sounds fun." I told him. He finished off the rest of his sandwich and I hopped down from my stool, following him out of the kitchen.

"Quit playing games and get dressed, A." Emmett said to Atlas as we entered the living room, who was sitting on the couch with his phone out. "We're all going swimming together." He stated, already heading down the hallway before Atlas could think to respond. Clearly, he wasn't making this a request.

I cast a glance at Atlas, who was already looking at me. "Are you going as well?" He asked, raising a dark eyebrow. I nodded, a smile forming on my face. "Yeah. I love to swim." I told him brightly, turning around to head down the hall to the room I was staying in. Behind me, I heard Atlas heave a sigh before his footsteps were heard, so I knew he was following after me to get changed as well.

After I found my bathing suit in the dresser, I made sure the bedroom door was locked before I changed, wiggling my way into it as I pulled it up over my chest. It was a strapless swimsuit, so I glanced in the mirror to make sure it fit me well, especially after what had happened last night with Atlas. The last thing I needed was a repeat, because if that happened in this swimsuit, it'd be more than a little bit of a slip of cleavage considering there weren't straps on it. This was my favorite swimsuit that I owned, though, with a bunch of little fruits on the white fabric.

Once I was content with the way that it fit me, I grabbed the cover up dress that I had brought and slipped it over my head, the loose crochet making it very comfortable. I left my hair down and exited my room, finding Emmett in the living room by himself. He looked up when I entered and threw an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side. "Let's go. Atlas is taking too long." He said with a chuckle, already tugging me in the direction of the sliding back door.

We went outside and I stood by the edge of the pool while Emmett was setting the towels he'd brought on the table, curiously dipping my toe into the water to test how cold the water was. "Wow, the water feels pretty nice." I said with slight surprise. "Em, come here. The w--" I glanced over my shoulder to look at Emmett and screamed as I felt a shove to my back, knocking me into the pool.

I hit the water and very quickly realized the water suddenly seemed much colder than it had a few moments ago, causing me to shiver as I popped up from beneath the surface again. The cover dress I had on floated around me and I huffed in annoyance as I looked up at Emmett, wet hair dripping into my face while he laughed loudly. "Why did you do that?" I complained, pulling off the now wet cover dress. He just kept on laughing, doubling over like it was the funniest thing in the world to him.

Balling up the very wet item of clothing in my hands, I aimed at him before I threw it, managing to hit him in the face. It fell to the ground with a wet plop and he flinched back, no longer laughing but instead scowling. "Ow!" He exclaimed, rubbing his nose.

The back door slid open as I took my chance to grin up at Emmett, giggling at the payback I'd managed to get. "That's what you get for pushing me in." I said with a shrug, pushing my hair out of my eyes. He huffed and glanced over his shoulder as Atlas approached, who raised an eyebrow at his scowling friend. "The fuck's wrong with you?" Atlas asked bluntly.

Emmett pointed at me. "She threw her shirt and it almost hit me in the face." He complained, hopping into the shallow end of the pool. Atlas glanced down at the dress that was laying on the ground and raised an eyebrow as he stared down at me from the edge of the pool, a heat creeping up my cheeks at his shirtless frame. I could see all his tattoos now and I couldn't help but to look, the barbells through his nipples glinting at the sunlight reflecting off them. Maybe it was the angle I was looking at him from, but he somehow looked even more built without his shirt on.

My eyes trailed down the tattoos covering his entire torso and to the swim shorts that hung low on his hips, displaying a defined v-line that disappeared beneath the shorts. I knew I was staring, but I didn't realize how much until I met his gaze and saw a sly, satisfied smirk on his face as he stared down at me.

While I was distracted by his best friend, Emmett suddenly appeared behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders before he pushed me beneath the surface of the water. I spluttered as I choked on water, shoving him away from me. "Emmett!" I huffed, pushing my hair back. "Stop that." I scolded him, swimming towards the deep end of the pool while he laughed. "But you're fun to tease." He said playfully, following me with swift movements.

Atlas finally got into the pool and snorted as he watched me splash water in the face of Emmett, trying to get him to leave me alone. "No wonder she threw her shirt at you." He said with a chuckle, that dimple poking into his cheek again. The sight of his smile made my heart hammer and I looked away, splashing Emmett in the face again when he reached for me. "See? Even Atlas is siding with me."

Em huffed and gave his friend a dirty look. "You're my friend. You're supposed to side with me, asshole." He said, splashing in his direction. Atlas narrowed his gaze and swooped an arm through the water, sending an entire wave of water through the air that hit not only Emmett but me as well.

I flinched, rubbing at my eyes when the water made my sight blurry. "Why the hell would I do that?" Atlas responded, scoffing. Scowling, Em splashed him back and then attempted to wrestle him into a headlock, which Atlas easily escaped. In return, he instead held Emmett in a headlock, glancing up at me as I just watched the two of them with a dumbfounded expression on my face. They were still like teenage boys and not men in their mid-twenties, but maybe that came from the fact that they'd known each other for a long time.

"You guys are such kids." I giggled, shaking my head. Emmett attempted to smack Atlas, struggling to break free with an annoyed look on his face, to no avail. Atlas simply held him there like it was nothing.

"Li, help me!" He complained, now trying to pull his head between Atlas' arm and side. I hesitated, glancing back and forth between Emmett and the large man holding him by the neck. "You want me to do something when you couldn't? What on earth am I supposed to do?" I asked, almost amused at the sheer idiocy of the idea. There was no way I'd be able to do anything against Atlas.

He paused, as if realizing that I had a good point, and then smiled innocently at me. "I'll leave you alone if you help me." He negotiated, causing me to narrow my eyes at him. "That's a cheap move." I grumbled, but reluctantly moved towards the two. I didn't exactly want Emmett to keep dunking me underwater, which I knew he would if I denied his deal.

My gaze flicked up to Atlas, who raised a brow at me challengingly, obviously not believing that I'd actually try to do anything. I truly couldn't blame him for that, either, because I considered backing off for a second. However, the fact that he didn't think I'd do anything made me want to prove him wrong.

I rounded behind him and began tugging at the arm around Emmett's neck, causing Atlas to laugh as he glanced at me over his shoulder. "Gonna have to try harder than that, smalls." He teased, mirth in his eyes. For a moment I pulled harder before I quickly realized that there was not a chance I'd be able to budge his arms, not with the size of his muscles, so I instead placed my hands on his shoulders.

Atlas frowned, a furrow forming between his brows, and grunted in surprise as I hoisted myself up onto his back. Emmett spluttered, as my actions caused his head to be dunked under the water for a split second. "I said help me, not try to drown me!" He exclaimed, to which I giggled. "Sorry." I said, not really feeling that bad.

Clinging to Atlas' shoulders, I wrapped my legs around him so I was hugging him like a koala, and felt his free hand grasp at the back of one of my thighs when I began to slip down. Surprised, my eyes widened and I felt a blush creep up my neck, not expecting him to touch me. I tightened my hands on his shoulders and leaned closer, embarrassed by what I was about to do. "I'm sorry for this." I told him in a whisper, causing his brows to furrow as he turned his head to look at me over his shoulder. "What are you talking about?" He asked, but it was too late.

Moving my hands from his shoulders, I reached around and squeezed my eyes shut as I pinched his nipples as hard as I possibly could and promptly twisted.

A surprised noise left him but he let go of Emmett pretty quickly, who immediately swam away with an elated laugh. I dropped from Atlas' back and went to swim away as well, but I barely got a few inches away before an arm wrapped around my waist, tugging me back against a firm chest.

His arms tightened around me and I gasped, attempting to peel his hands from my waist. "Let me go!" I exclaimed, blushing at the fact that he was touching me. This was the most skin-to-skin contact I had ever had with a man, and especially with Atlas. Emmett just watched, an amused look on his face as I kicked my legs and continued trying to peel his arms from around me. "Really, Lina? You twisted my nipples?" Atlas hissed into my ear, clearly not happy about the nipple twisting that I'd just done. "And you said Em played a cheap move."

I huffed as he turned and began carrying me towards the steps leading into the pool, my brows furrowing in confusion. "Wait, where are we going?" I asked nervously, craning my neck to look back at him. Goosebumps rose on my skin as he lifted me out of the water like it was nothing, chuckling.

It was when he approached the deep end of the pool that I began to understand his intentions. "Atlas? Put me down." I insisted, now a little bit nervous. "Oh? You want me to put you down?" He repeated, a scared squeal leaving me as he lifted me higher in the air. "Don't throw me." I told him firmly, trying to hide how scared I was. "Don't throw me, Atlas." I echoed, looking down at him, but he was just looking at me with an amused glint in his eye. "Don't worry, Lina. I'll put you down." He assured.

And then I was sent flying into the pool.