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  IN TOO

  DEEP

  A Lesbian Romance

  By

  Cassandra Cole

  Copyright © 2015 Digital Hearts Publishing.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. While, as in all fiction, the literary perceptions and insights are based on life experiences and conclusions drawn from research, all names, characters, places and specific instances are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. No actual reference to any real person, living or dead, is intended or inferred.

  WARNING!!

  This book contains explicit content and

  is intended for mature audiences only.

  ** TABLE OF CONTENTS **

  This collection includes:

  The work of Cassandra Cole

  In Too Deep

  Cutie Pie

  Dancer

  IN TOO

  DEEP

  A First Time Lesbian Romance

  By

  Cassandra Cole

  CHAPTER ONE

  Showoff, I thought, rolling my eyes before pulling down my goggles and jumping into the water.

  As always, the water felt wonderful. and I felt wonderful in it, feeling as if I had turned into a mermaid as I propelled myself forward with practiced strokes.

  People often said I was born to swim and that I was probably already doing butterflies inside my mother’s womb and I believed it.

  In the water, I felt light and at ease.

  It was my best friend, my safe haven. It was a comforting embrace, cooling my head, and caressing my skin as it washed all my worries away.

  When I was in the water nothing bothered me. My cares and worries were left in my wake.

  And I was fast. So fast that no one could hope to compete with me… except for maybe Christina Mallory.

  She was like a whirlwind, a raging storm.

  As the coach said, Christina joined the swim team with a splash and was still causing ripples.

  Everyone couldn’t stop talking about her, about what a good swimmer she was even though some of her strokes were sloppy, in my opinion.

  And they went on and on about how pretty she was.

  Pretty?

  Just because she had deep dimples and bright blue eyes didn’t mean she was pretty.

  And it definitely didn’t make her the hottest girl on the team.

  All modesty aside, I had much longer legs and a much slimmer waist. I had a broader back and bigger shoulders.

  Granted, she had bigger boobs, but that didn’t make her a better swimmer. I mean, didn’t they just weigh her down?

  The worst part was that Christina had everyone fooled.

  All the other girls admired her and all the guys stared at her with gaping jaws and wide eyes, and no doubt, if they were wearing Speedos, they’d have tents pitched in them, too.

  I was the only one who saw her for what she really was – a showoff, a desperate attention hog, a second rate swimmer, Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes, Ms. Congeniality, a phony…I had a lot more names for her in mind.

  I tried to tell the others but they wouldn’t believe me.

  They thought I was just jealous or intimidated by her.

  Me? Jealous?

  Intimidated by the likes of her?

  No way. I couldn’t stand her and that was it.

  How could I when I knew she was just using swimming to get attention, to get everyone eating out of her hand?

  I could stand know-it-alls and snobs and flirts but not phonies.

  Each time I saw that fake smile on her face, I wanted to throw her into the pool.

  I couldn’t stand Christina.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Why did she have to join the swim team?

  Couldn’t she have just tried track?

  And why did she have to transfer to this university, of all places?

  Why did she have to come here?

  What trick of fate was this?

  My thoughts came to an abrupt halt as I felt a stab of pain on the back of one of my legs.

  Cramps.

  Shit.

  And what a bad time to have them.

  One moment, I was swimming like a fish and the next, I was cramping, sinking, drowning.

  And I couldn’t do anything, my body was numb and my mind suddenly blank.

  My leg muscles were twisting in knots. I couldn’t kick to get to the surface. I actually though I was going to die…

  I could just see the headlines now.

  Nationally-ranked, collegiate swimmer dies of leg cramps in university swimming pool.

  How ironic.

  How pathetic.

  And yet if I was going to die, I wouldn’t choose any other way.

  I closed my eyes, allowing the water to embrace me tighter, to take me deeper, ignoring the pain in my chest.

  Just when everything had gone silent, I felt air rush into my lungs as arms pulled me out of the water.

  For the next few minutes, I coughed as I waited for my arms and legs to come back to life.

  Then I lay still, taking a deep breath before opening my eyes. As my vision cleared, I saw a pair of blue eyes looking down on me.

  “Hey, Janet! Are you alright?”

  Christina was looming over me, dripping water on my face.

  She had beautiful blue eyes, all right, blue like the turquoise earrings my Mom gave me for my last birthday. It was the shade of blue that evoked hope and faith in infinite possibilities.

  Too bad they belonged to her.

  “I’m fine.” I sat up coughing. I ran my hands through my drenched hair. “You don’t have to make such a fuss.”

  “We thought you were dead,” Nicole Merriman said, standing behind Christina with a towel to her chin.

  “Like I’d drown,” I scoffed, getting up on my feet, although my head was still swimming (pun intended). “Don’t you guys have something better to do than crowd around me? Go practice! You all need it.”

  Coach Banks came over and put a hand on my shoulder. She was short and had to look up to meet my eyes. “Sure you’re all right, Anderson?”

  I nodded.

  “Take a break, rub those muscles,” she ordered before walking away.

  I headed towards the bench and grabbed my towel, using it to wipe my face before draping it around my shoulders.

  Great. Now, I’d made a fool of myself.

  And it was all Christina’s fault.

  She wasn’t just phony.

  She was also deadly.

  She nearly became the death of me.

  “She saved your life, you idiot,” a little voice in my head said.

  Yeah, right.

  There was no way I was going to consider myself indebted to her.

  I would have been just fine.

  I thought about diving back into the pool to prove the point, but my aching calves said that wasn’t a very good idea.

  I draped the towel over my head and sulked towards the showers, with Christina’s blue eyes burning into my brain.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Do you want to come with us afterwards?” Christina came up to me with that silly smile on her face like we were besties now. “There’s a new Mexican restaurant nearby and they offer unlimited burritos from six till eight. I’m sure you could eat at least five after all that swimming.”

  Did she just say I had a big appetite?

  “No, thanks,” I told her. “I’m not
hungry.”

  Well, I was hungry, starving actually, but I wasn’t about to have dinner with her. There was nothing I could do about the fact that we were team mates, but I could refuse her phony friendship and I fully intended to.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, looking a little disappointed.

  I nodded, not the least bit fazed. “Positive. I have a date.”

  I did have a date. Just not with a guy.

  And it wasn’t really a date date.

  I was meeting Stacey, one of the dolphin trainers at the marine park where my Dad worked as the manager.

  The park closed at six and Stacey fed the dolphins before she went home at seven. She knew I was studying to be a marine biologist, like her, so she usually waited for me so that we could feed the dolphins together.

  I didn’t know what it was about dolphins that fascinated me so. Maybe it was their gentleness, their playfulness, their intelligence… or the simple fact that they could swim with such grace, but I had loved them since I was five, when my parents took me to see my first ever dolphin show. I even wanted to have a pet dolphin, but had to settle for a plushie and a goldfish.

  When my Dad became the manager of the marine park, I felt as if I was meant to be around dolphins.

  I didn’t just want to watch them.

  I wanted to swim with them, which was why I took swimming seriously.

  I decided I’d become a marine biologist and now that I was in college, I had already taken the first step.

  In a few years, my dream would come true.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  As usual, I found Stacey waiting for me at the dolphin enclosure.

  “Hey, you,” I said, genuinely happy to see her friendly face.

  “Hey back!” She looked up and smiled. “How was practice?”

  “Good,” I lied.

  Then again, it wasn’t exactly a lie. It was good in spite of Christina’s presence, and up until the point that I almost drowned.

  “I’m actually in a rush today,” Stacey said. “I’m meeting my boyfriend’s parents for the first time.”

  “Oh, right. You did mention that.” I knelt down beside her. “I can take over if you want.”

  “Really? You’re an angel.” She gave my shoulder a squeeze and pushed the bucket of raw fix parts my way.

  “Gee thanks,” I called after her, dipping my hand in the bucket and tossing a few fish into the water. Flipper, Dipper, and Ripper, three beautiful dolphins, broke the surface and gobbled up the fish. They seemed to be smiling at me.

  “It’s just me and you guys this evening, huh? Well, don’t take it against Stacey. She loves you guys. She just… has her own life to live, too.”

  They looked at me as if they could understand me.

  “So, how were you guys today? Did you put on a good show?”

  They seemed to nod.

  “Then you certainly deserve a reward.”

  One by one, I took the fish out of the bucket and tossed it to the dolphins, who caught them all and devoured them happily.

  “You guys sure have a large appetite,” I said, setting down the empty bucket. “I can’t blame you. Swimming is hard work. Actually, I’m starting to feel hungry, too.”

  “Why don’t you go to dinner?” a voice joined in.

  I looked around and saw my Dad standing a few feet away. He was almost in his fifties now, but he still looked like he was in his thirties.

  He was tall and fit and I didn’t mind saying he was good-looking. In fact, I was sure many women thought so, which was why I often wondered why he never married again. Then again, I knew the answer.

  “What do you why don’t I go to dinner?” I asked. “Aren’t you coming home with me?”

  “I still have stuff to do,” he said, stepping closer. “Gonna be here awhile. Sorry.”

  I shook my head. “I understand. You have a great job. Of course, I’d want you to keep it even if it means spending less time with me.”

  He pinched my cheek lightly. “You’re the best daughter in the world, you know.”

  I smiled. “I know.”

  “And here, I thought you’d start rebelling now that you’re in college.”

  “If I was going to rebel, I would have done it already,” I told him. “And I would have chosen to attend a university across the country, not the one closest to you.”

  “So it’s not the dolphins you wanted to stay close to but me? Wow.” He placed his hand on his chest and poked out his bottom lip in jest. “That’s a revelation.”

  “Stop it, Dad.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t get all mushy.” He dried a fake tear.

  “Dad…”

  “Seriously, your Mom would be proud of you. I know I am.”

  I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Now, you’re making me feel mushy.”

  “The best part?” he went on, ignoring me. “You’re not even trying to make me or anyone proud. You’re just chasing after your dreams. That’s why no matter what, I’ll be proud of you and I’ll support you.”

  I looked at him. “Thanks, Dad.”

  Just then, my stomach started to growl.

  “Now, that’s one way to ruin a perfect moment,” he teased.

  I frowned. “I can’t help it if I’m hungry.”

  “Neither can I, so go eat. I’ll be home in a while.”

  “Okay.” I got up.

  “Oh, by the way,” he said. “There’s a new scientist here at the park doing research on the dolphins for the university.”

  “A marine biologist?” My eyes grew wide. Marine biologists were like rock stars to me.

  “Yep. I haven’t really talked to him yet, haven’t told him about you, but I’m sure he could probably use an assistant while he’s here.”

  “That would be awesome.”

  “And from what I heard, he’s got a daughter your age. She might be attending the same university as you.”

  I shrugged. I could care less if he had a daughter. I just wanted to work with him, to learn. “It’s a possibility.”

  “Who knows, maybe you’ll make a new friend.”

  “I have friends,” I said defensively.

  Dad looked at me as if I had no friends at all. “You can never have too many friends, Jan.”

  I rolled my eyes and said, “Whatever.”

  I didn’t exactly think that was true, but I knew my Dad was just saying that because most of my friends had left to go to college in other states, and he was worried about me being lonely.

  He didn’t have to worry.

  I was perfectly fine being all by myself.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “I’ll have Shrimp Lo Mein, Kung Pao Chicken, egg rolls and fried rice.” I rattled off my order to the small Chinese woman behind the take-out counter. She jotted my order on a pad using what looked like hieroglyphics.

  “Hungry girl,” she said, smiling as she punched my order into an old-timey cash register.

  “You gonna eat all that by yourself?” someone asked from behind me. I turned to find Rob Adams, a guy I’d gone to high school with.

  “I am going to eat it all myself,” I said, forcing a smile. “How you doing, Rob?”

  “I’m awesome,” he said, flashing a perfect smile that should have been used in an orthodontics commercial.

  Other girls would have had their breaths taken away or their hearts pounding with that smile but not me.

  I’d fallen for a guy before, right at the start of high school, and after getting what he wanted from me, he vanished.

  Basically, he ruined all faith I had in men. I seriously doubted Rob could restore that faith.

  I looked at Rob’s uniform and the delivery bag he was holding. “So, you’re working here?”

  “I am,” he said, a little embarrassed at the question. “What did you get? The Kung Pao Chicken is pretty good.”

  “I know. That’s what I ordered.”

  “Good.” He paused, awkwardly and gave me a dopey smile. He rocked b
ack and forth on the balls of his tennis shoes. I got the feeling he was trying to gather his courage.

  “So,” he finally said. “You’re enrolled at the university?”

  “I am.”

  “Still swimming?”

  “I am.”

  “What’s your major?”

  “Marine biology,” I answered. “You?”

  He seemed to shrink a little. He looked away and shrugged. “I don’t think college is for me.”

  “Interesting.” I didn’t mean to sound condescending, but I’m pretty sure he took it that way. Who am I kidding… It came out exactly as I intended it to. Rob was an egotistical prick in high school. I got some deranged sense of satisfaction knowing that he was a delivery boy for a Chinese takeout place.

  My remark didn’t put him off.

  He was a guy, and guys think with their dicks.

  Boy, was he barking up the wrong tree.

  He cleared his throat and tried again. The big smile came back. He said, “You look great. Not that you didn’t look good in high school. I mean, you looked good then, but you look great now.”

  “Thanks. I think.” It was all I could do to keep my eyes from rolling.

  I turned to look toward the kitchen. What the heck was taking them so long?

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and puffed out his chest. He reminded me of a peacock with no tail feathers.

  He said, “If you’re not too busy, we could, you know, go out sometime.”

  Was that his was of asking me out on a date? Pretty lame, even for an ex-jock who know delivered rice and noodles for a living.

  “I’m usually super busy,” I said, head nodding. “What with swimming and studying and looking great and all. But thanks.”

  He was about to say something, but the woman behind the counter shoved a huge paper sack of food across the counter and ordered him to hit the streets.

  He managed a week “see ya” and picked up the sack and huffed out the front door. What a loser…