“Nope. You’re right. Was talking about Keith.”
“Hades? You said he was odd.”
“He—intrigues me.”
“Like a shiny new jigsaw puzzle?”
I furrowed my brow at her spot-on analogy. “Something like that.”
Keith slapped his hands together. “You ladies ready to win this thing? It’s us four and a group from Michigan.”
Sara scrunched her nose. “Michigan? Please tell me one of them isn’t sporting Green Bay gear.”
“Is one of them that guy?” I pointed at a man in a Green Bay trucker hat wearing a tank top and floral red board shorts.
“That’d be the one,” Guy said.
I playfully pinched Sara on the arm. “Play nice.”
“I will, I will. We’re on vacation. I can see past it this one time.” Sara pretended to gag.
Sara and her dad had been devout Chicago sports fans since she was a kid. Her hatred for their rival, Green Bay, covered anything related to Michigan.
Sara cupped a hand over her mouth and yelled, “Bear down.”
Two of the Michiganites snapped their heads in our direction, glaring.
I gave Sara a playful shove and laughed. “How is that playing nice?”
“You know I can’t help myself.”
“Alright, everyone! We’re going to start. If everyone could get into the pool, we’ll explain the rules,” the man with the clipboard announced.
The resort kept every pool at the perfect temperature. Not too cold, but still cool enough to be refreshing, given the sweltering heat. A dance-y, head bobbing worthy song started to play over the loudspeaker, and I swayed my arms through the water in time.
They explained the rules of pool volleyball, but I was only half-listening, spotting Hades walking to his usual spot at the bar. He still wore the same funeral-like all-black attire, only this time, he had a tank top on, revealing his tattoo in its entirety. His arms were toned and muscular, but from this distance, the tattoo looked like a black smudge.
I pressed my forearms against the edge of the pool. “Hades!” Shouting the name of a Greek god across a resort in Greece didn’t seem strange until several pairs of bewildered eyes landed on me.
“Stephanie, we’re about to start,” Keith said, his voice gruff.
I waved him off. “I’ll be over in a minute.”
Hades ran a hand through his semi-long locks and held a finger up at the bartender. He strolled over, slipping his hands into his pockets. He glowered down at me. “Yes?”
I kicked my legs behind me, splashing water like I’d done when I was little. “Why don’t you join the game?”
“Is this your way of gettin’ my shirt off?” Still no smile.
“No! I mean—you can leave all of your clothes on if you wanted to. Not to say you’d look bad or I wouldn’t—,” I cut myself off, blowing out a breath, and sunk in the water until my chin rested on the edge of the pool.
He shook his head, making his hair fall over his eyes. “Water’s not really my thing. I hate it. It’s more my brother’s deal.”
“How can water not be your thing? More than half of the human body is comprised of water.”
He bent forward. “I’m not human.” His eyes darkened.
He was close enough to make out his tattoo. A three-headed canine creature with swirling smoke, fog, and symbols I didn’t recognize.
I stared up at him. “Most days, I don’t feel like it either, but I still have to drink water.”
He stood straight, jutting his head at the game. “I’m gonna have a drink. A real drink. You have fun beatin’ a ball back and forth over a net.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing!”
He tipped his head over his shoulder. “I’ll try not to weep over it.”
This guy was about as hard to crack as a walnut. I pushed away from the wall, swimming over to Sara, my gaze glued on Hades. The volleyball collided into the side of my face, followed by Keith bashing into me. I was completely submerged underwater for several seconds before pushing to the surface, sputtering and fumbling for my sunglasses, which had gotten knocked off.
Keith gripped my shoulder. “Holy hell! Sorry. I didn’t see you. You alright?”
“I don’t know. How red is my face?” I laughed. My hair was in a disarray of dark tendrils over my arms and eyes.
He snickered, moving my hair away with his fingertips. “Only slightly. Red is a good color on you, though.”
I tensed and looked over at Hades as if he heard Keith—or cared.
My sunglasses couldn’t get back on my face quick enough, and I gave his bicep an awkward pat. Usually, I’d take the time to appreciate a shirtless man in front of me, but for some reason, Keith’s nipples saluting right near my face made me uneasy. A voice, like a fainted whisper, passed over my ear. Hades stared at me from his seat at the bar, sipping from his glass. I turned my attention back to the game before I got another ball to the face, making both cheeks match.
Between Keith and Guy, they had the game under control. One would set it up, and the other would spike. Rinse and repeat. It shouldn’t have surprised me they’d try to steal the show. Not that I was complaining, considering I was about as coordinated as a toddler.
“Stephanie heads up! I’m going to set it for you,” Keith said.
I shook my head so frantically my bangs fell over my sunglasses.
“It’ll be fine. Just jump up and hit it as hard as you can,” Guy added.
The ball flew over the net, Keith pushed it with both of his hands, and I shimmied forward, smacking it with my hand. I’d swatted mosquitos with more force. The ball hit the net on our side.
Keith’s jaw tightened. “No big deal. It’s only one point.”
“Why did you sign us up for this again?” I tossed a glare at Sara.
She brought her drink into the water, holding it with one hand. “Figured it’d be fun. Didn’t think we’d end up with two jocks on our team who can’t stand losing.”
The other side launched the ball, but not over the net. It zoomed off to the side, out of the pool, and rolled toward Hades’ feet. He paused, drinking from his tumbler long enough to give it a sneer.
“Hey, man! You mind giving the ball a toss?” Keith yelled.
Hades didn’t budge. He didn’t even look in our direction, turning his body further away. Keith groaned and lifted himself out of the pool.
“The view is certainly worth it, I’d say,” Sara said, smiling with her straw between her teeth.
Keith’s wet feet slapped against the concrete, dripping a water trail, board shorts clinging to his—legs. “Thanks for helping out,” he said to Hades, scooping the ball up.
Hades tipped an imaginary hat on his head. “You look like you handled it fine, kid.”
“You weren’t joking. That man is one big bundle of doom and gloom,” Sara said, momentarily resting her chin on my shoulder.
“He has a good reason. His wife left him.”
“While it does suck, excuses for behavior are distractions from facing reality. Remember what I told you my training officer always said?” She beamed at me with those pretty brown eyes.
“Results. Not excuses.” I sighed, watching Hades continue to ignore everyone around him.