The lake looked like liquid glass under the afternoon sun. It was the last day of the team trip, and the energy in the cabin was peaking.
"Everyone in!" Coach Miller shouted from the porch, holding a whistle like it was a holy relic. "No spectators today! If you are at this lake, you are in the lake!"
Audrey stood in the middle of the master bedroom, staring at her open duffel bag as if it might spontaneously combust. She had spent the last hour trying to find a reason to stay inside. She had claimed she was sick, that she had a sudden, overwhelming urge to deep-clean the kitchen, and that she was allergic to sunlight.
None of it worked.
She reached into the side pocket of her bag and pulled out the offending item. It was shockingly, offensively pink. It was lacy. It was the most un-Audrey thing in existence.
"I am going to kill Chloe," she whispered to the empty room.
Her phone buzzed.
Chloe: Did you wear it yet?
Audrey typed back, her thumbs moving furiously.
Audrey: I hate you.
Chloe: That is not a no.
Audrey: I have no other option because you hid my spare shorts.
Chloe: You are welcome. ;)
Audrey let out a long, suffering groan. She changed quickly, barely glancing in the mirror, and pulled a towel tightly around her shoulders like a cape.
She walked toward the dock, keeping her eyes fixed on the wooden planks. The guys were already in the water, their shouts echoing across the quiet woods.
"Captain!" Leo yelled, splashing water everywhere. "Your girlfriend is finally joining us!"
Audrey, forgetting the script entirely in her attempt to escape the heat, shouted back without looking up. "I am not his girlfriend!"
Silence.
The kind of silence that usually preceded a natural disaster.
Every single football player froze. Leo stopped splashing. Jackson stopped mid-dive. The cabin porch, where Coach Miller was standing, went dead quiet.
Audrey finally looked up and realized exactly what she had said.
She felt the air leave her lungs. Oops.
Mason, who had been laughing at something Leo said, slowly turned his head. He looked at Audrey, then at the frozen team, then back at Audrey. His expression was impossible to read.
Before the panic could fully set in and ruin her entire weekend, Mason tipped his head back and let out a short, airy laugh.
"She’s shy," Mason said, his voice as casual as if he were talking about the weather. "And she is clearly still mad that I made her wake up at six a.m."
Leo barked a laugh, the tension snapping like a rubber band. "Captain’s girlfriend is just embarrassed! Do not worry, Audrey! We know you are obsessed!"
The team erupted back into noise. Audrey let out a breath she had not realized she was holding, her knees feeling like water. She let the towel drop to the dock and stepped toward the edge of the water.
She took a shaky step, misjudged the slick wood, and her foot skidded.
"Whoa!"
Before she could hit the water, a large hand clamped around her wrist.
Mason had lunged forward from the water, catching her with reflexes that were honestly unfair. He kept her steady, his grip firm and hot against her freezing skin. He was still talking to Leo about defensive formations, not even looking at her, just holding her wrist like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Audrey looked down at his hand on her arm.
Calloway.
He did not respond. He was still laughing at one of Leo’s jokes.
Calloway, she tried again, a bit louder.
"Hm?" He finally turned, looking at her hand, then up at her face. He blinked. "Oh."
He let go immediately, as if he had just touched a hot stove. "My bad. You were about to faceplant."
"Right," Audrey said, feeling a strange, hollow sensation where his grip had been. "Thanks."
Mason had already turned back toward Leo before Audrey found her voice. It was as though catching her had been as instinctive as catching a falling football.
Audrey stepped into the water.
The lake water was biting, a shock of ice against Audrey’s skin, but the heat in her chest was not going away. She kept swimming, trying to put distance between herself and the team.
"You are drifting toward the reeds," a voice rumbled right behind her.
Before she could turn, Mason surfaced inches away, his dark hair slicked back and dripping. He looked like he had been born in this lake.
"I can handle a canoe, Calloway. I can handle a swim," Audrey said, though her teeth were beginning to chatter.
"You are shivering," Mason said.
"I am fine."
"No, you aren’t."
A small wave pushed Audrey sideways. Before either of them thought about it, Mason caught her lightly around the waist, steadying her for a heartbeat before guiding her back toward the shallower water.
"I was not drowning." She snapped.
"I know."
"You are being dramatic."
"So are you."
He let go once they reached shallower water, but frowned when he noticed her shoulders trembling again.
"You are still freezing."
"I just have enthusiastic teeth."
A laugh escaped him before he could stop it.
"That is not how teeth work."
Audrey folded her arms. "I am choosing to believe otherwise."
Mason frowned slightly, as though trying to solve a problem only he could see.
"You are a very confusing person, Audrey Ellis."
"I told you," she replied. "Nothing about you makes sense either."
"Hm."
"What does that mean?"
"My observations aren’t finished."
Audrey rolled her eyes.
"I am not a science project."
"Debatable."
Before Audrey could argue, Jackson’s voice echoed across the lake.
"Hey! Captain! Are you joining the game today or opening a swimming school?"
Mason looked over his shoulder.
"I’ll be there."
He turned back to Audrey.
"Stay where people can actually see you."
"You sound like Coach."
"He gives good advice."
He swam away before she could think of another comeback.
Audrey watched him disappear beneath the water.
Nothing about Mason Calloway made sense.
A few minutes later everyone climbed back onto the dock.
Audrey reached for her towel, but Mason picked it up first.
Without a word, he dropped it over her head.
The thick towel swallowed her short Korean bob completely, covering her eyes.
"Calloway!"
"You looked cold."
She pulled the towel down until only her eyes peeked over the edge.
"What about you?"
"I’ll survive."
Leo immediately yelled from the lake.
"Captain! That’s your towel!"
Mason looked down.
"...It is."
Leo waited.
"So...?"
Mason blinked.
"I already gave it to her."
Jackson burst out laughing.
"He doesn’t even hear himself anymore."
Audrey sighed into the towel.
Inside the cabin, water dripped from the ends of her now damp bob as she walked across the hardwood floor.
Mason was already rummaging through the cooler for a bottle of water.
As Audrey passed, he absentmindedly flicked the end of one wet strand of her hair.
"You are still shivering."
"I blame the lake."
"I blame your survival instincts."
Audrey frowned.
"My survival instincts are excellent."
"You nearly introduced yourself to a swamp."
He twisted open the bottle.
"You just scored an own goal and nearly swam into a swamp."
Audrey stared at him.
"You are impossible."
"I hear that a lot."
He wandered back toward Leo, already arguing about football again.
"That was a foul."
"It built character."
"You tackled me!"
"Skill issue."
Audrey watched them for a moment before shaking her head.
Five minutes ago he had caught her without thinking, dragged her away from the reeds, and handed her his own towel...
Now he was arguing about imaginary fouls as though none of it had happened.
Nothing about Mason Calloway truly made sense.