Frowning, he gave me an awkward smile and hesitantly asked, “You coming?”

Humiliation had me in its jaws, and I wished there was a way to slip under the water’s surface and swim back to my condo in darkness.

He crossed the deck, feet slapping on the wet tile to loom on the other side of the hot tub. “Are you feeling okay? You’re really red.” I nodded, but his frown deepened. “Are you dizzy? That can happen if you spend too long in the water and overheat.”

I shook my head. “Go on without me.”

He sighed. “Seriously? Look, I’m sorry I said that. I know we have to keep competition separate from this. Don’t be mad, okay?”

“Just go,” I rasped.

“You sound weird. I’m not going to leave you here. What’s—” He crouched low, scanning me, and his eyes popped comically wide. “Oh! Are you—” He bit his lip, trying not to laugh. His smile grew quizzical. Then hopeful.

His face was so expressive that I could see the progression of his thoughts to the inevitable eyebrow-raising conclusion that my erection was a reaction to him. Perhaps drowning myself was the best option, because surely I was going to die of embarrassment.

Yet his surprised laughter wasn’t cruel. Thinking back now to that horrifying moment in the shower room in Croatia when I’d been similarly aroused by him… Perhaps his laughter then hadn’t been cruel either. Only teasing. We’d both been young, after all. He likely didn’t even remember that fleeting moment that had haunted me far too long.

But here I was making a fool of myself again.

“Oh!” He ducked his head, smiling shyly in a way that made my heart skip a beat. “Hold on.” He returned with my towel, thrusting it out.

All I could do was leap up to grab it and wrap it tightly around my waist to hide my shame. I practically ran to the changing room, flip-flops slapping as I bypassed the shower, chlorine be damned. I grabbed my T-shirt and keys and escaped.

“Henry!”

I jabbed the elevator button repeatedly with my thumb, dripping all over the floor. It was very inconsiderate to the cleaning staff, but I had to get away.

The ding finally sounded, but of course Theodore barreled onto the elevator after me, shirtless too with his towel around his hips and a cloth tote bag in his hand.

“Don’t you think we should talk about this?”

I stared at him in mute horror as the elevator rose. This had to be some kind of cruel nightmare. It was bad enough how pathetic I was, and now Theodore was trying to be nice about it, which was so much worse.

When we reached my floor, I lunged past him. And he followed, because naturally he did. Still talking, because naturally he was.

“It’s okay.” We reached my door, and he grinned cockily. “I’m tough to resist. You’re only human.”

I glared at him as I jammed the key in my door and shoved it open. I tried my best to close it in his face, but he was halfway in and I might really hurt him, the wood thick and heavy. He was trespassing, and I shouldn’t have cared about hurting him. Frustration surged.