“You touched me first,” he practically pouted, but he let go of her all the same.
“Oh, no. Not for us. I just meant—” She reached for him and almost slipped into the water. The only thing that stopped her from getting drenched was him jumping and grabbing her to stop her before she fell all the way in.
They were so close again and he was holding her up and she couldn’t help but blush.
“You’ve got to stop falling in,” he chided.
“Well,” she started sheepishly. She had basically forgotten she had already had her legs in the water. There wasn’t that far to go from there. “You don’t have to worry. I’m a good swimmer. But thanks. It’s cool enough out that I would have had to go change.”
“I’d like to see you swim,” he said, almost eager like a child.
It made her smile and she put her arms around his neck once more as he lowered her back to the rock.
“Okay. Tomorrow then. Let’s swim together.”
CHAPTER 25
She was looking forward to it, more perhaps than she cared to admit. When she left him to wind the lighthouse gears once more, she told him she’d see him in the morning because she had to sleep. He seemed to understand, albeit reluctantly, but she imagined that was more because he looked like he wanted to kiss her again, rather than not understanding the need for sleep.
But now that she was actually lying down, sleep seemed so far she half debated going out again. But blasted reason told her it was better to at leasttry, that sleep would at some point claim her.
She could still practically feel his lips against hers, and she squealed in delight, kicking her legs into the air in unabated joy now that she was alone. Why did that kiss feel so good? No, why did it make her sohappy? She wasn’t sure she had ever been so happy in her life. It was like she was floating, like her soul was sailing high above the trees.
He liked her too. And not just like friends but like the stories she had read. Like happily ever afters. Maybe that made sense: a mermaid belonged in a fairy tale. But, by God, what luck that she was in one too.
She laughed. No, that wasn’t quite right. In fact, for a fairy tale, everything was reversed. He was as stunning as a lily while she had pants that had seen their better day, calluses that belonged on a man, and hair that she had long since given up on taming—though that, at least, was purely logical; no one could tame hair subjected to the wind on this island.
Meanwhile, his long, white hair always hung down to his back, as perfect and seemingly tangle free as the most beautiful of ladies intown. Yes, they were definitely not a fairy tale.
Which made this even better. This wasn’t a story. It was real! And tomorrow she would swim with a mermaid!
She squealed and kicked in delight again. Life could not get any better.
CHAPTER 26
She had forgotten how cold the water could be in the morning. Or maybe, how cold the morning could be with water? Either way, the last thing she wanted to do was hop in.
But given how eager he looked, she hardly felt like she could tell him no, even if it was a no that merely delayed it some hours.
Oh well, she would just get used to the temperature.
She knew after she had come of age Father had once mentioned that women should wear bathing gowns—some long wool thing that covered everything neck down—but the next words out of his mouth had been that they couldn’t afford such a thing and that since it was only the two of them, he was sure it would be fine. She remembered how sheepish he had sounded saying it, even going as far as to say he could leave to give her some privacy if she so wished! Her response had been that if she still was going in with clothes, why was any privacy needed at all? And besides, he was the one who had taught her how to swim and who had swam with her all her childhood. She didn’t understand why such restrictive garments were needed after some arbitrary age. In fact, she didn’t understand why they were needed ever.
And so now, she still wore her cotton shirt and pants, white and brown respectively. Considering Kallias wore nothing at all, she didn’t think he’d mind.
“Are you ready?” he asked as she set down a towel on her rock and tested the water with her hand.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. “It feels so cold.”
He laughed and it was as magical as ever.
“If I jump, will you catch me?”
“I thought you said you swim?”
She smiled deviously. “I do. Maybe I just wanted you to hold me.”
Now it was his turn to blush and he did so fast, turning from her with a smile budding on his lips. “Well, you can just say that.”
