A loud whistle pierced the bustling sounds of shouting, laughter, and splashing that came from a large pool.
Lily let out a sigh before shouting loudly towards a small group of children. "No running!" The group slowed down and she nodded to them while taking in a deep breath threw her nose which relaxed her. Having been swimming in pools all her life the smell of chlorine had eventually become pleasant.
All in all, Lily liked her job.
The pool at the rec-center where she worked wasn't too busy aside from weekends and it was located on her college campus. At the same time, the hours were flexible and the pay was pretty good. She liked being around the water, it came with a free membership to the center, and the people were all pretty nice.
It was the perfect job for a busy pre-law student in her second year of undergraduate school.
After scanning the lap lanes her mind began to wander to an assignment she had for her psychology class. It was at this point she was Jared back to reality by a mellow voice, "That was the fifth tweet, your turn to sit in the seat."
She turned to confront her coworker and happily observed his athletic build and perfectly tan skin. Although lifeguards could wear t-shirts if they wanted Jay never elected to, which Lily was silently pleased with. He had a swimmer's body, great abs, curly brown hair, and sea green eyes. All in all, he was very much her type, and frankly being able to take glances at him was one of the favorite parts of her shift.
Lily quickly met his gaze making sure to not let her gaze linger on his muscles. The movements of her eyes and head were well practiced and seamless enough to not give away her inner thoughts. This was all thanks to the fact that he was half a head taller than her which was another attractive trait. She smiled and responded, "I thought it was only four."
Jay shrugged and responded, "You tweeted twice when those kids were fighting."
He had a relaxed but happy expression. Having grown up by the ocean he loved the water and even if he was just working at an indoor pool being around water always relaxed him. At the same time, he had a hot co-worker. Will tilting his head down to address her he also got a pretty good view of her bosom compressed by her swimsuit. Sadly it was a one-piece and not a bikini but she still looked great in it.
Her expression became pleased as she remarked, "How curious of you."
Jay smiled and shrugged, "You looked bored, at least up there you can listen to music."
Lily smiled at this, she always liked how Jay tried to spoil her, giving him a playful look she responded, "You're such a gentleman."
Jay smiled and looked away a bit embarrassed though couldn't help but glance at her swimsuit-clad body. He had always found Lily to be pretty and even had a bit of a crush on her. He lowered her midnight hair which was cut short and her playful face. She had a swimmer's build and well-developed curves that caused a number of boys to flirt with her though they were mostly ignored. Getting to steal glances at her definitely was an upside to the boring routine of being a lifeguard though he had to be careful to not let his mind wander too much.
Lily was like an angel when they first met and lucky their shifts had lighted up after that and they got to get to know each other better. In time he learned she might be an angel on the outside but she was brilliant and scheming on the inside. She would tease him all the time like a devil though he couldn't help coming back from more. He might have been an engineering major but he had a soft spot for English so he could keep up with her most of the time.
Lily personally relished in Jay's innocent kindness. Despite being a naturally born lawyer she valued honesty and good character. She didn't like the guys that constantly approached her who were only interested in her because she was cute. In contrast, she preferred guys like Jay who hardly even knew when a girl was flirting with him and even if he did would get incredibly flustered spontaneously.
Typically at this point, her coworker would apologize and try but today he broke their usual script and with an earnest, hopeful, and slightly nervous expression responded, "No problem, always happy to help a girl as pretty as you."
was stunned by his words having believed Jay was incapable of flirting. They had known each other for more than three months and she had tried to make some moves on him but most had just gone over his head. Seeing him actually instigate something had caught her completely off guard. While she was still processing he grabbed his whistle and blew it before calling, "Walk don't run." Looking back to he added, "That's one tweet for me, you better take the chair while you still can."
His heart was currently racing but he had promised himself he'd make a move before the end of the week. He was a slow and generally clueless boy when it came to relationships but after being on good terms for a few months now he felt it was appropriate to try and take things to the next level.
Being an engineer Jay wasn't entirely sure if Lily would reciprocate his feelings. At times he felt she might be flirting with him and at others, he thought it was just her teasing him. Regardless in the worst case, she would just shoot him down while in the best they might start something entirely new and exciting.
Lily closed her mouth which had fallen open and looked at Jay who was now glancing at her curiously. Her mind raced till her expression turned intrigued, teasing, and a bit hungry, like a predator eyeing prey, "Well thank you, I'll be sure to show you my appreciation later."
His expression grew a bit confused causing her to giggle as she walked over to the high chair that sat by the lazy river.
There was still an hour in the shift which gave Lily time to think.
Jay was a very logical person at heart. He wouldn't just make comments like that if he wasn't trying to take a shot at her. At the same time, his face told her that he was both nervous but also excited which further confirmed his intentions.
Having psychoanalyzed the situation thoroughly Lily now had to consider what she was going to do about it.
They had been friends for a while now and recently he had even started to help tutor her in calculus which she needed as an elective. At the same time, he was very kind and loyal to his friends. Although shy around relationships in general he was outgoing and confident. His hotness was another big perk. On the whole, he could be considered a great catch.
He was also not nearly as good at concealing his glances towards her body as she was towards his. Jay had always been kind and respectful so she didn't mind. On the indiscernible, it was actually kind of nice to have a hot boy stealing looks at her, and now that those looks had finally evolved into an advance it was kind of exciting. Case in point, he was interested in her body which represented at least some level of libido.
