“Not all of it.” I glanced to the end of the abstractly shaped pool nearest to us. I knew it must be the deep end, because at that moment I happened to catch Bree doing a colossal cannonball off the diving board there. She almost landed on Vik who was treading water nearby. Everyone laughed and then they started a race to the far side of the pool.

“So what are you reading?” Travis inquired.

I lifted my book, just to show him the cover, but he took it right out of my hand and flipped idly through the pages. “Looks interesting.” He was clearly not in the least bit interested.

I shrugged, playing it cool. “I like it.” No way was I going to tell him that it struck chords in my heart that no other story ever had. A guy like Travis couldn’t possibly ever understand.

“Oh yeah?” His blonde eyebrows rose on his tan forehead and he stood up, taking the book with him.

I pushed myself up when I realized he was heading for the pool. “Hey!”

Travis laughed. “Then you probably wouldn’t like it if I accidentally dropped it in the water.” He pretended to teeter on the edge. “It sure is slippery over here!”

“Travis!” I snapped, leaving the safety of my chair to go after him.

“Whattaya say, Andi? I think one of you is gonna go swimming. You or your book.”

I felt my stomach drop. I’d owned that copy of Phantom since I was thirteen and read it more times than I could even remember. It was battered and dog-eared, sure, but it was a dear old friend to me.

I folded my arms tightly and glared at him. “You’re acting like a child.”

He grinned at me as he wagged the book over the water. “C’mon, just spill it. Why don’t you wanna swim? Afraid your hair will get frizzy?”

“I just don’t like it, okay?”

“How do you know unless you try it?”

“Just stop.”

“C’mon, Andicakes, do it for your precious book!”

I threw down my arms with a groan of frustration and stepped up, reaching around him to try to snatch the book back. I realized an instant too late what a grave mistake I’d made. I felt his thick arm lock around my waist and I gasped, jerking back on instinct. I don’t know if he actually slipped or if he did it intentionally, but either way, he was laughing as the ground disappeared beneath us.

The next thing I knew, we were slamming through the water, and then we were submerged. And I was instantly more terrified than I’d ever been in my life.