My tongue went dry. I wanted to say:The past. The scars nobody sees. The way obsession feels like a noose, even when you crave it.
Instead, I just said, “The water’s pretty.”
He smiled, slow and soft. “It’s beautiful. But not as beautiful as you.”
Corny. But I let myself enjoy it. I let him lean closer, his hands moving down my arms, fingertips grazing my skin in a way that made me shiver. Not just from the cold.
He leaned in, and I didn’t stop him.
But even with his mouth so close, even with my body pressed to his, my mind was somewhere else.
On the shore. Back with Caiden.
His stare was inescapable. I wondered if he’d do something. Snap, break the moment, drag me back to him the way he always did.
But he stayed where he was.
For now.
Alex touched my face, thumb stroking my jaw. “Let’s head back?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m freezing.”
Together, we walked back up the beach, sand scouring our ankles, sea air biting at our cheeks. The others were already heading for the stairs, Sabrina’s voice floating above the wind.
I didn’t look over my shoulder. But I felt him. Always, always, I felt him.
The ache didn’t stop. It never would.
8
CAIDEN
She was circling my mind.Her taste, her face, her eyes. I couldn’t fucking think straight.
So, I set my focus on Sydney. Harmless flirting and fantasizing with her was better than yearning for a woman who would both ruin me and complete me.
We were gathered in the living area of the beach house, settling down for a movie. There was a long leather couch that made an ‘L’ shape, as well as a love seat and a few scattered chairs.
Amelia sat on one end, Alex next to her, while Sabrina and Shane sat on the love seat couch. I snagged a spot next to Sydney, sitting close enough to allow my knees to touch her.
I think she was into it too, because she leaned closer to me, and it should have been a turn-on, but it wasn’t. All I could fucking think about was Amelia.
Alex put his arm around her, pulling her closer, as they shared a bowl of popcorn. Amelia’s gaze was set on the television as a sappy romantic comedy began to play, but all I could focus on was her face.
Those mesmerizing sea-green eyes, faint freckles across her perfectly shaped nose, and soft fucking hair.
I know what I said to her on the ferry, but I was fucking pissed off, and I still was. Still, though, I craved her. It was torture.
Amelia giggled as Alex said something, and it lit a fire that was rising by the second.
She’s mine.The thought invaded my head, out of nowhere, and I shook it away. She wasn’t mine. She would never be.
I want it, though.A small voice chimed in, echoing in the far back of my mind.
Shuffling closer to Sydney, I laid my arms across the back of the couch, subtly brushing against her shoulder. She shivered in a way that told me she enjoyed it, and so I kept my arm there.
When I glanced at Amelia again, her gaze burned into me, a fiery sting in her emerald eyes. Her eyes shifted to my arm, which was still lying behind Sydney as we sat on the couch, and the fire blazed harder. She looked away and laid her head on Alex’s shoulder.
