Page 30 of Jump on Three
His hands stopped at my blurted question, then he laughed. “No, I did not. Even if I had wanted to, Rhys and Beckett would not have allowed it.”
I shook my head. “I wish you could have gotten one or two punches in.”
A slow curve turned into a sly grin on his lips. “I did not expect you to be so bloodthirsty.”
“If you had seen Bella in the aftermath of the things he said to her, you wouldn’t be surprised.”
He started rubbing my hand again, deliberate and smooth. “I understand. If he says anything else to her, I promise I won’t let him walk away uninjured.”
Heat spread across my cheeks and down my throat to my chest. Ivan promising to hurt Felix made my heart stutter and thighs clench. Maybe I was bloodthirsty.
“Thank you, Ivan. That’s very sweet of you.”
Oh, his laugh. I would never hear another bass drop without thinking of his laugh.
“Sweet? Ev, you are a twisted girl. I like that about you very much.”
His grin was sort of sparkly, catching the sunshine coming through the skylights. If I were a cat, I would have rolled around, basking in the brightness coming off him, then curled up in a ball and taken the best nap ever.
This warmth must have been what Delilah had felt when she and Ivan were becoming close. I now understood why she’d crushed on him before Rhys.
Ivan was unfailingly kind.
He stood between my friend and the boy who kept breaking her heart.
He jumped with me, and his hands felt like a campfire.
That was not to mention his physical attributes, which were plentiful. The tattoos, the shaggy hair, the Russian accent, his height and lean muscles…Ivan was a boy girls tripped over their own feet to be closer to.
Luckily for me, I had my sister’s experience to show me this was just who Ivan was. He was good at friendship—maybe too good for the sake of the trail of girls he left swooning in his wake.
He’d also hurt my sister because she’d misread his kindness for more. I wouldn’t make a mistake like that. He was already off-limits, and that would never change.
A shrill whistle split the air, pulling us apart. I tucked my hands behind me so I wouldn’t be tempted to give him one again.
“Practice time,” I mumbled, taking a few steps back.
His brow crinkled as I put distance between us. “All right. Have a good swim.”
I was already turning away from him. “You too.”
“Okay, bitches! Let’s jump to a winning season.”
Someone had given Layla a whistle, which she was abusing to the fullest extent. I flinched every time she blew it. Of course, she’d noticed and had ramped up her usage even more. My shoulders were permanently stuck beside my ears.
Practice over, she drill-sergeanted all the underclassmen to stand on the sides of the pool while the seniors lined up to dive off the platform. I dragged my feet and ended up last. Ivan was a few people in front of me. He attempted to catch my eye, but I had recently vowed to avoid him, so I made sure not to look his way.
My fingers pressed hard into my thighs. Nerves writhed in my belly. It was as if I hadn’t already conquered this jump. Moving my feet forward took the effort of sliding two concrete slabs. Dread weighed me down. I just hoped it wouldn’t sink me when I hit the water.
Splash after splash signaled my turn getting closer. I slowly climbed the ladder and inched forward on the platform. There were two people ahead of me. Then one. Layla was standing by the edge, patting everyone on the back before they jumped.
One more splash, then it was down to Layla and me.
“Come on, Creepelyn. It’s your turn,” she chided.
I hugged my middle, unconvinced I could actually do this—especially with her watching. “You can go first.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s not how this works. I’m the team captain. I’ll obviously be the grand finale. Now, get your creepy ass over here.”