“Yes.”
We stared at each other, then he lifted his brows, flicking his eyes impatiently toward our boats.
Well. Okay, then.Ass.
I turned on my heel, leading him to the water’s edge.
Kye walked like he was on fire, his feet slow and careful with each step, and I stopped to watch his movements with a sharp eye, ready to catch him if his knees suddenly buckled. I supposed I’d be an ass as well, had I been covered in burns. But that didn’t stop the twinge of annoyance from settling between my shoulders as I stopped to grasp myva'a, hauling it up the beach where the tide wouldn’t reach it. I’d wasted an afternoon of work and wouldn’t see my Naiad friends again until afterMihauna,three days from now, just to save some ungrateful idiot from the sea.
Naiads kept strict traditions during the height of the month, and they’d never once broken custom in the fourteen years I’d known them. Three days doesn’t seem like a lot of time to go without friends, but it was for me.
“What are you doing?” he asked, watching as I stowed my canoe.
“I’ll come back for it tomorrow.”
He waited, hovering over his rowboat, his foot positioned behind the only set of oarlocks. When I returned, he stretched a hand, inviting me to sit on the bench along the prow.
He looked ridiculous—half-dead and burnt to a crisp, unable to stand without wavering.
I didn’t even try to stifle my laugh. “You can’t row.”
Pressing a palm into his thigh, he leaned forward and cocked his head, looking up through his lashes at me. In the sudden sunlight, his eyes sparkled, golden-brown and dangerous. “Excuse me?”
“You won’t make it past the reef.”
He squinted at me and quickly dropped his eyes, as if the sun behind me was too powerful for him to stare against.
“I can’t let you row us,” he snapped. “You’re a…” He gestured at me, waving his open hand in a vague circle.
“A woman?” I finished for him, raising my brows.
“Well, I’m not alout.” His sunburn flared a deeper red up his neck, and his brows knit closer than the roots of two trees planted together, angry at having to compete for space.
I tilted my head. That’s what he was worried about? Not pride, not that Icouldn’trow, but that it would be unchivalrous to let me?
“You’renota lout,” I conceded, waiting for him to vacate the seat. But he didn’t. He remained standing like a gigantic red oaf, waiting for me to sit first.
A bark of laughter sprouted from my chest as impatience roiled through me. “All right. Your hands haven’t stopped shaking, but sure. Row the boat.Mihaunaalive,” I muttered the last words under my breath as I sat down, though by the way his eyes darted to me, I was sure he’d heard them.
He placed his hands at the stern, straightened his arms, and pushed us out of the sand. I watched him climb back in, panting softly, his fingers quivering so hard he lost his grip on the oars.
We were going to die.
AnAalto-born idiot who I’d fished out of the water less than an hour before was going to kill me.
Mihaunain the stars, if it happened, let it at least be fast.
“What?” he demanded, catching the look on my sour face as he stroked, shoulders shaking and jaw clenched.
“Nothing.” I crossed my bare legs in front of me, leaning my back against the corner of the prow. “Just enjoying the view.”Of you struggling.
He must have understood my meaning, because he ducked his head into his chest, intent on the fascinating image of his own kneecaps through his saltwater-stained pants. I hid my snicker in my knuckles.
The quiet swish of water rippled out from us, and every few minutes, fish plunkedin the water as they jumped for insects and slapped back to the surface.
Our progress only slowed as the undertow fought with the mightier waves of the channel, and even though the tide was low and calm, I did begin to feel sorry for him. He grunted softly with each thrust, the veins in his arms bulging as his muscles contracted, until he pulled his oars across his thighs and drooped over his own lap.
The rowboat rocked as a wave gently lashed at us from the side. I leaned in, my mouth hovering just beyond the shell of his ear. “Ready to switch?”
