39

~Darlina's POV~

I popped above the surface of the water, staring up at Atlas as he lowered himself into the deep end of the pool with a smirk on his face that was directed towards me. His eyes were locked on mine and I huffed, turning away from him.

Emmett chuckled, patting me on top of my wet hair. "You good, Li?" He grinned, just seeming to find the situation funny. I gave him a scowl, not very happy that he had just stayed in the pool and done nothing. "That was your fault. I can't believe you didn't even try to help me." I said to him sulkily, only earning yet another chuckle.

Atlas swam up beside us, his arm brushing against mine as he did. I looked up at him and he chuckled at the look on my face, amused. "You're the one who twisted his nipples. I didn't say to do that." Em responded defensively, holding his hands up beside his head. He only got a flat look from me, incredibly unamused with his excuse.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I began to swim laps around the edges of the pool while Emmett and Atlas were horsing around in the middle of the pool, as playful with one another as ever. My eyes lingered on the two of them, a smile forming on my lips as I watched them. Despite how often the two of them bickered and messed around, it was clear to me how much they cared about one another, and how close they were.

While I was swimming laps around the pool, I felt a hand suddenly hook around my ankle, a scared yelp leaving me as I was tugged backwards through the water. I spluttered on the water, looking up through watery eyes to see who had grabbed me after their grip was finally released. Not to my surprise, it was Emmett, grinning at me with a mischievous sparkle in his brown eyes. "You promised you'd leave me alone!" I said, feeling tricked.

I kicked my feet to stay afloat and jerked at the feeling of a hand brushing across my lower back from behind me, and Atlas casually pulled me towards the more shallow area that Emmett was. "Actually, that was my idea. Seems he really doesn't like being put in a headlock." He said with a smirk, to which Em flipped him the middle finger.

"Why would you do that?" I grumbled, shying away from him. He just chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "Thought you looked a little bit lonely swimming around by yourself." He answered simply.

And even though I knew he was just messing with me again, I still couldn't stop myself from blushing. It almost sounded like he cared if I felt left out.

It was when Emmett began to hoist himself out of the pool that my attention was pulled from Atlas, a furrow forming between my brows. "Where are you going?" I asked him, shielding my eyes from the sun to look up at him. He grabbed a towel from the table and began to dry off with it. "I've gotta piss, and then I'm going to look online for some restaurants around us we can go to for dinner." He answered, heading inside.

That left Atlas and I alone in the pool, my eyes flicking up to him with a frown on my lips. He cocked up an eyebrow and hid an amused smirk when I gave him a look of distrust, beginning to swim towards the steps. "Aw, you leaving me already, Lina?" He asked, tilting his head to the side when I glanced at him over my shoulder.

Coming to a stop at the steps, I sat down on the second one, my top half above the water. "After you've thrown me into the water and almost dragged me under, how do I know you won't do it again?" I challenged, keeping my eyes on him. He waded towards me through the water, his torso becoming more visible as he entered the more shallow waters. The fact that he could stand so easily on his feet, even towards the deeper end of the pool, reminded me just how tall he was.

My guard went up the closer he got, and he smiled with amusement as he noticed, closing in on me. I placed a hand on his arm and pushed lightly, barely able to nudge him back as I peered up at him.

"You know, I'm starting to see Emmett was right. Teasing you is fun." He hummed, grabbing my wrist as I attempted to push him away again. I lifted my other hand to push at him, huffing at the fact that now Atlas seemed to think teasing me was entertaining as well. This was definitely going to be added to the list of things I blamed Emmett for.

He grabbed my other hand as well, pulling me off the steps so suddenly that I fell against his chest, the water sloshing around us. "It's not fun for me." I responded in a grumble, knowing that my face was likely a bright red from how close we were.

I could feel the warmth of his breath on my cheeks, a strong arm that slid around my waist to pull me up. His blue eyes were lit with mirth when I looked up at him, clutching to his bicep. "Are your feet not able to touch the floor?" He asked with amusement, embarrassing me further. My lips formed an annoyed pout. "I-It's because you're holding me." I stammered for an excuse, knowing that wasn't the reason why.

This end of the pool, which was the most shallow, was probably at least five feet, which was only two inches away from my height. Whenever I tried to stand flat on my feet, like him, I had to stretch my neck to keep my head above the water. So really, I couldn't touch the floor of the pool without getting water up my nose or in my mouth.

As if to prove me wrong, Atlas released me suddenly, not letting me know beforehand. I sank a little and had to kick my legs, huffing in annoyance as he just watched with a sly smirk on his lips, now knowing that he was right. "Hey!" I exclaimed with a huff, clutching tighter at his arm as I glared at him.

Atlas chuckled, dimple poking into his cheek again, and I couldn't help but to eye it. His dimple made him look cute, the opposite of how I thought he usually looked.

Not thinking about it, I reached up and poked his dimple, causing his smile to fall as he pulled his head back in surprise. He blinked, taken aback, and I nervously smiled when I realized what I had just done. "Sorry." I apologized sheepishly. "I just like your dimple. It makes you look cute." I told him, watching his lips part. "Cute?" He echoed, frowning. "But you said before I'm not the cute type." He muttered.

"Not usually..." I trailed, biting on my bottom lip slightly. "You're always so...you know, the opposite." I said weakly, unable to say it so directly to him. He lifted an eyebrow. "And what is the opposite, hm?" He asked, glancing down at my mouth and allowing his gaze to linger there for perhaps a little too long.

I struggled to find the appropriate words, my heart racing in my chest as I stared at him, his eyes still focused on my mouth. My fingernails dug into the tattooed flesh of his arm and his body seemed to drift closer to mine, closing the distance again. "Well, I just mean you're usually so..." I struggled for words again, this time because of the soft touches as his hand skimmed across my waist. "Alluring." I decided upon, my voice shaking slightly.

He smirked a little, his tongue poking out to swipe across his bottom lip. I could see his tongue piercing more up close now, and I stared at it intently. "You find me alluring, Darlina?" He responded, fingers tracing the curve of my waist.

The touch was light, but I couldn't help the goosebumps that it gave me and I couldn't deny the fact that I liked it. "M-Maybe a little." I whispered, no longer able to look him in the face. Instead, I cast my eyes down towards his chest, studying the tattoos marking his tan skin.

Tightening his grip around my waist, he hummed at my confession, the weight of his gaze heavy on my features. I could feel my heart racing and subconsciously leaned into his touch, flustered to the point that my entire body felt like putty. It suddenly felt hot and I cleared my throat, sneaking a glance up at him. "Only a little?" He asked in a murmur, his voice coming out low and husky. It was something that made me feel even warmer, that odd stirring in my belly now feeling like a liquid heat.

My mind felt hazy and I was flicking my gaze between his lips and his eyes, thinking a little too much about what it would be like to kiss him. We were so close, though. How was I meant not to think about that, especially when he was looking at me this way? Although I had next to no experience with men, I knew the way he was looking at me now was far different from a way you'd look at someone you were only friendly with. The tension was palpable in the air, and I hoped it wasn't just me.

"Atlas..." I said quietly, gasping as he pulled me up against him until my chest pressed firmly into his. My heart pounded harder, audible in my ears, and he hummed questioningly in response, ducking his head closer to mine. And I was sure it was going to happen, he was so close I could feel his breath against my lips and not a single part of me wanted him to stop.

But then the back door slid open, the sound causing us to jolt apart as if burned by one another.

Emmett stepped out, changed into dry clothes. "Are you two going to stay in the pool for the rest of the night or do you plan on coming in? I need input on where you wanna go for dinner." He called to the two of us rather impatiently, none the wiser to how close we'd just been to kissing, and perhaps that was a good thing to be honest.

"Yeah," I said, swimming towards the steps. "We're coming in." I assured him, already stepping my way out of the pool. I glanced over my shoulder at Atlas after Emmett had returned inside, wrapping a towel around myself. He was still in the pool, staring up at me with a look in his eyes that told me he wasn't very happy about the interruption from his best friend.

Still flustered, I pointed behind me with my thumb. "I'm gonna go in." I told him softly, sparing him a lingering glance before I turned and headed into the cabin.