Page 130 of Alec’s Dream

“Next week, sweetheart.”

Chasin disconnected and tossed his phone in the cup holder.

Ten minutes later, he was paddling down the Chester River. The air temperature had started to warm but the water still felt chilly.

Silence.

This was what he needed.

Chasin Murry knew himself well enough to know he hated change. He liked steady, uniformed, controlled. It had been part of why he’d been a good SEAL.

Even when he and his team had to improvise and adapt, they did it with great care—controlled. Outcomes weighed.

Life was a chess game. He liked to understand his opponent’s next three moves before he made his.

But over the last year, so much had changed. Nix found McKenna. The unbelievable happened and Jameson had fallen in love. Weston and Silver got together and now they had Dylan. Alec found his family. Even Holden had changed.

And there Chasin was, looking in from the outside, living in the big farmhouse all by himself, watching his friends live their lives.

It wasn’t jealousy or loneliness that ate away at his insides—it was more than that. It felt like loss. Something was missing. His chest ached with it.

Goddamn, I’m a pansy-assed idiot.

Chasin was deep in thought, deliberating the direction of his life, when he heard the scream.

His head snapped to the right just in time to see a woman fall off a dock and splash into the chilly water.

Without thought he abandoned his kayak, dove in, and quickly made his way to the splashing woman. He wrapped his arm around her waist as he treaded water and he heard her gasp in surprise. Her unusual golden eyes widened in…fear.

“Can you swim?” he asked.

“W-what?” the woman sputtered.

“Swim? Do you know how?”

“Yeah.”

Chasin released his hold and immediately felt the loss.

What the fuck?

“Did you hurt yourself?”

“Um…just my pride.”

Chasin smiled at her quip and allowed himself to take in her features. Even with her brown hair wet and in disarray, she was stunning. And those golden eyes had him hypnotized.

“I was trying to rearrange the furniture on the dock. I got too close to the edge and fell in,” she explained.

Chasin glanced over at the dock. The planks were only a foot or two above the water.

“High tide.”

“Huh?”

“It’s high tide, you didn’t have far to fall.”

“Oh. Well, thanks for coming to my rescue…”