This is a story from when I was younger and made a series of risky decisions, one after another. I've never been much of a gambler in my life - I like to play things safe - but looking back on it, I was really playing with house money when I decided to try to hook up with my caretaker's daughter.

I was 24 at the time, fresh off of finishing my bachelor's degree and working an entry level job. While in school, I had lived in a house with five other guys. It had been less than ideal, but not exactly unique for university students. I got along well with most of the guys in the house, but one of them - Jon - and I had really become best friends. We graduated at the same time and decided to celebrate our entrance into the working world by getting our own apartment. We ended up in a simple, but large building, several decades old and definitely showing it's age. Still, it was a nice enough place and a decent price.

One of the advantages of our building was the very responsive, live in caretaker - Jakub. He was incredibly handy and very friendly, even if it was a little difficult to decipher his thick Czech accent. Jakub and his family had immigrated from the Czech Republic over a decade previous, and while Jakub and his wife still sounded like they had just arrived, their daughter, Katja, was very Canadian. And not only that, Katja was absolutely gorgeous.

Katja was almost twenty, helping her parents out around the building and with tenants as she took some college courses. She was just as friendly as her father, quick with a joke or favouring me with one of her absolutely stunning smiles. She had long, dark brown hair, styled with a touch of natural curl and long, messy bangs, framing her cute face and deep brown eyes. Katja kept in good shape. She often hid her great figure under baggy shirts or hoodies, but had no such reservations about her long, toned legs, often dressing in yoga pants or tights around the building.

Katja's stunning looks seemed to be a constant frustration for Jakub. He hated her choice in clothing, her friendliness toward me, Jon or other young men, and never looked angrier than when he caught me checking her out. Jakub was one of the nicest men I had ever met, except when I showed any interest toward his daughter. Lucky for him, the building was mostly older tenants. He probably would have died of stress if the building had been full of potential suitors for Katja instead.

Jakub had an unlikely ally in my roommate Jon. "Don't fall for her," he would tell me. "This place is great for us. I can't have Jakub kicking us out."

"He's just the super, not the owner."

"Sure. Keep telling yourself that," Jon countered. "Just keep saying that until we're out on the street. Or worse, back in that house. I'm sure Katja would love visiting you there."

And so, after a lot of light flirting whenever I saw her, nothing had happened between Katja and myself.

Until that fateful day in Spring.

Our building had an outdoor pool. It was nothing impressive and an odd choice for an apartment building in Canada, but we had it nonetheless. I came home from a walk one Saturday afternoon to find the pool uncovered for the first time that year. Classic rock played over a speaker. I wandered through the fence to find Katja lazily cleaning the water of leaves with a long net.

It was a warm afternoon, but definitely not warm enough to use an outdoor pool. Katja was wearing a big grey hoodie, with her hair tied back, over a pair of black tights.

"Still a little cold for a swim, Kat," I said.

Katja jerked up, stumbling. She almost fell right into the pool, but caught herself and fell to a knee instead. "Eric! Damn, wear a bell or something."

"Ha ha, pay attention to your surroundings, maybe. You almost fell in."

She smirked at me. It was very endearing and incredibly alluring. She stood, leaning up against her long net. "I'm pretty surefooted. I never go anywhere I don't want to."

"And so you're on pool cleaning duty. Doesn't your dad cover the pool with that thick tarp during winter? Why are there so many leaves and stuff in water?"

"First of all, I cover it with the tarp and that job is not as easy as it looks. And second of all, the problem is my dad waits too long to put the tarp on."

"I sense a little anger there."

"He always waits too long," Katja gestured angrily to the sky. "And I always end up slipping while pulling that tarp over."

"I thought you were surefooted."

"It's different with the net. I'm unstoppable with this net," she said with a laugh. "Watch."

Katja bent over to scoop some leaves and debris from the water. She pulled it back to the side while stretching out one leg in to show off. She giggled at her own antics and proceeded to scoop more debris from the water, always along the side and always in the most unnecessary and sexy poses possible. It was hard to confuse her intent.

"You know, a real gentlemen would offer to help."

"You don't have a second net." I motioned to hers. "Let me use that one."

"I'm using it."

"Just use your hand. The only leaves you're grabbing are the ones right by the edge anyways."

She tossed her head and hair. "I reach any of them."

"Yeah? Then prove it. Grab that maple leaf. The big red one."

I pointed at the large leaf. It was floating just under a metre into the pool. Katja frowned at the leaf. "I can do."

"Really?"

"No problem," she looked back at me and smiled. "What are the stakes?"

"Uh"

"What do I get if - I mean, when - I reach it?"

"What do you want?"

"Coffee. I've been working real hard."

"Yeah, I can tell. Deal."

Katja took her net and moved to the edge of the pool closest. She judged the distance to the leaf. Readjusting her position a few times, she ended up down on one knee, holding onto the edge of the pool with her free hand. She balanced the long pool of the net along her other arm, holding it tight and reaching out toward the leaf. I held my breath, praying for her to fall in, not because I didn't want to buy her coffee, but I wanted to see this gorgeous girl soaking wet. In an odd realization, I became aware of Katja holding her own breath.

It worked, as Katja neatly scooped the leaf up in the net and pulled it in. She leaned back, away from the water and snatched the maple leaf from the water. She held it up to me with a triumphant grin. My own national symbol had betrayed me.

Katja swayed her hips back and forth as she sauntered up to me and handed me the leaf. "One coffee, please. Double double."

"What about double or nothing?"

"I don't need two coffees. What about coffee and a movie?"

"Loser pays?" I asked. The meaning was clear. I wanted to take her out regardless.

Katja's brown eyes twinkled. "Sure. I like really boring foreign films." She broke eye contact, much to my disappointment, and turned back to the water. "Pick your target."

I wasn't going to let her off easy. I pointed at a large elm leaf, with a piece of its twig still attached. It was also much farther into the pool.

Again, Katja's brow furrowed as she studied the problem. She approached the pool on the closest side, just stopping to point at me. "You stay there."

"You don't trust me?"

"I trust you to cause trouble," she returned.

In truth, Katja didn't have anything to worry about. I was too entranced by watching her to interfere.

Katja couldn't quite reach it at first. She kept standing up, retreating, tucking her ponytail back and trying a new position. She finally settled on a low pose, with one leg stretched out. I enjoyed the sight of her toned, lithe figure pressing up against the hoodie, as she stretched and reached. The net was almost there, as she tried to catch the twig and pull it closer.

"Careful!" I called out.

It was enough. Katja turned, looking up at me with annoyance and that was all it took for her to lose her precarious balance. Katja hung in the air for a long second, dropping the net and waving her hands frantically. And then she disappeared with a big splash.

I didn't dare look away or even blink. Katja emerged, dramatically splashing around. She gasped and screamed, quickly slicking back her brown bangs. "This is freezing!" she screeched, looking back at me as she treaded water. She did a little doggie style paddle toward the side.

"You forgot the net."

"Shit."

Katja took in a deep breath and dove under, giving me a brief glimpse of her slick wet tights snug on her toned ass. She reappeared a few seconds later right at the pool's edge, tossing the net out of the pool. Katja slicked her hair back again and then pulled herself out of the pool, giving me full view of a vision.

Her grey hoodie had turned darker in shade and her dark brown hair lay wet down the back of her neck. The hoodie draped heavy on her arms and shoulders, hugging the curves it had previously hid. Her tights had turned shiny and were now a second skin. Katja brushed down her wet bangs with a hand, then ran it down her soaking hoodie, sending water streaming off. She suddenly remembered I was there and looked up.

Katja smiled and gave a shiver. "Uh, I didn't get the leaf."

"I noticed."

"You noticed very intently," Katja said. She shook her arms, trying to throw off more water, then ran her hands over her sheen tights, before shivering and wrapping her arms around herself. "I owe you a coffee and movie, but maybe a raincheck? I feel like I need a warm shower right now."

"Of course."

Katja nodded, again and shrugged. "Thanks for this."

I watched her hurry into the building's nearest door. Maybe it was my imagination, but it looked like Katja swayed her hips a little more than necessary.

I groaned. Jon was going to be furious.