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My chin tucked to my chest as I shook my head and smiled, thinking about him and about how he’d find my current situation hilarious. Henry, more so, considering he all but wished this shit on me a few months ago when I gave him hell for a one-night stand with a girl almost the same age as the one sitting next to me a couple of years ago.
It had to be Karma.
“So, you like the beach?” I asked.
She giggled, walking forward. “Who doesn’t like the beach?” I didn’t. Why would anyone want sand in every crack and the smell of seaweed and fish everywhere? But I didn’t say that. “Fresh, salty air. The sound of waves crashing against the shore. It’s heaven.”
“Being bottom of the food chain?”
She looked over her shoulder, eyes wide with excitement. “That’s the best part. Being a part of something so vast, so uncontrollable, to remind you how insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things.”
“Most people don’t want reminders they’re inconsequential.”
“That’s because people want to believe they are more important than they are, but every day, someone dies, and the world keeps turning. I have this inflated sense of importance.” She shook her head and scrunched her nose. “This reminds me my only importance is to those that love me. Everything else is superficial.”
“I can’t decide if you’re very insightful, jaded, or morbid.”
“None. All. Doesn’t matter. But if you think you’re king, the last thing you want to do is step into a kingdom bigger than yours. A place that makes you a speck instead of a ruler. In the ocean, we are all a speck, and that is what makes you feel alive.”
She wasn’t insightful or morbid. She was fucking insane, and the proof was the coy look she gave me as she reached for the zipper on her dress. “What are you doing?” My hand dragged over my mouth to hide my panic.
“Reminding myself I’m insignificant and alive.” The satin fabric slapped me in the face. “What about you, Liam? Are you alive?”
By the time I removed the dress from my face, she was in the water.
“That’s far enough,” I called out. Much farther, and she’d be swallowed by darkness. I really didn’t want to go out there.
I didn’t know if she didn’t hear me or ignored me, but she disappeared. My fingers linked behind my head as I stared, waiting for her to reappear. Anxiety crawled up my throat as I counted the seconds. I made it to fifteen before I started removing my clothes, cursing the water, the darkness, and whoever blessed the fiery little flower with her insanity.
“Angel will fire me if I let his sister drown,” I muttered to myself as I headed toward the abyss. “It’s my dad-tuition. The right thing to do.” All bullshit, I kept telling myself, knowing none of it was why I was about to step into my worst fucking nightmare.
I hated the ocean and water for no other reason than all the ones that made her love it. Feeling like a speck—dealing in unknowns—was not my idea of fun.
My dick and balls shriveled as soon as I hit the frigid water. “Jesus fucking Christ,” I hissed. “You better be fucking drowning,” I yelled as the water hit my chest.
I called out her name but got no response. Only the sounds of the wind and water echoed in my ears. My heart thundered in my chest as I looked for her, but the moonlight provided little help. “Fuck,” I hissed again, then dove under the water, knowing it was too dark to see, but I didn’t know what else to do. I searched aimlessly, desperation clawing at my throat. I wasn’t even sure where she went once she was out of sight.
I came to the surface, brushing my hair out of my fair. “Lily!” My lungs burned as I rasped out her name again and again.
I needed to get help, but I couldn’t leave.
“Lily!” Another desperate plea escaped, followed by a yelp that made me sound like a little bitch when something brushed against my leg.
Great! She’s become shark food, and I’m about to join her.
Just when I resigned myself to a painful, bloody death, the water bubbled, then shimmering eyes and a bright smile shone at me, glowing under the moonlight.
My heart felt like it would explode from fear, relief, and… fuck, I didn’t even know what. I grabbed her face between my palms, fear morphing to anger. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Do you feel it?”
“Feel what? Like I’m having a goddamn stroke?”
She placed her hand over my thundering heart, and her grin stretched wider. “You’re alive.”
My eyes darted between hers, seeing only vibrance and excitement. A wildness I’d never experienced. “You really are fucking crazy.”
“Or maybe it’s everyone else who’s crazy.”
