Page 96 of Teach Me Your Ways

He nodded and followed me toward the green blur. At the hole in the boat, Grady stopped me and gestured toward my dive line. I unspooled the strong cord and handed the end to him.

Grady’s eyes locked onto mine. He was staying calm and cool but I could see the concern in his eyes. Lina was in danger, simply by being in there alone. He took the end and tied it securely to his belt. With that done, he gave me a quick nod, a silent promise that he’d be careful, and then he was gone, disappearing into the murky green haze of the shipwreck.

Felix approached. At first he looked confused. When he realized what was happening, the always calm, slightly goofy Felix was clearly pissed. It was the kind of anger that came from being afraid. Like when a kid darted into the street to grab a ball. No matter how many times you told the kid not to do it, they did it and put their life in danger.

And now Lina’s stupid, selfish choices were putting Grady’s life in danger, too. That straight up pissed me off. When he pulled her out of there, and I knew he would, I was going to kick her ass.

How dare she do something so selfish and ignorant? She was a grown woman. I hoped like hell Grady kicked her off his TA service. She didn’t deserve a second chance. Although that would definitely cause problems for him because of who her mother was. Still, her behavior could not go unchecked. It wasn’t fair to Grady.

I hovered outside the gaping hole in the hull. I kept my breathing regulated, but I could feel my heartbeat in my ears as I fed the line out inch by inch. The silt cloud was thicker now, swirling around me like a storm. My flashlight beam cut through it, but it was useless to see into the wreckage. I couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead.

Every second felt like an eternity. My mind raced with worst-case scenarios: Lina trapped under debris, her air running out, her regulator knocked loose. I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to stay calm. Panicking wouldn’t help anyone. If Lina panicked, she could hurt Grady. It was a known fact people that were in deadly situations often killed their would-be rescuers because they were freaking out.

The line went taut in my hand, and I stopped unspooling. Grady had reached the end. I waited, my pulse thundering in my ears. The seconds dragged on. Too long. Way too long. My fingers tightened around the line as I fought the urge to yank it, to signal him to come back. But I couldn’t risk startling him or making things worse.

Grady wasn’t my boyfriend, but dammit, I was going to be super pissed if I never got the chance to flirt with him again. Or kiss him.

Get it together, Cece. The man’s life is in danger and I’m thinking about riding his dick. I needed help. Lina’s reckless need to prove herself could end up killing the man I was falling for. The man who’d told her explicitly not to enter the wreck. The man who was now risking his life because she couldn’t follow simple fucking rules.

Then I felt it. It was a sharp tug on the line. Relief flooded through me for half a second before dread took its place. Something was wrong. I started reeling in the line as fast as I could, my muscles straining against the resistance of the water. Felix reached out to help, both of us pulling slow and steady to avoid stirring up any more silt and putting all of us in danger. The silt cloud shifted, and suddenly Grady emerged, his arms wrapped around Lina’s limp form.

My stomach dropped. Her mask was askew, her regulator dangling from her mouth. Her eyes were closed, her body slack in Grady’s grip. He kicked hard toward me, his movements urgent but controlled. He gestured upward with one hand. I got the message. Surface now. No decompression stop. This was an emergency.

I nodded and followed him as he shot toward the surface, Lina cradled against his chest. My mind raced with questions—what had happened? Was she breathing? Was she even alive? The water grew lighter as we ascended, but my fear only deepened.

Worse than the immediate danger of being trapped, the bends could be an issue. The wreck was just deep enough to warrant a stop about halfway up to the surface, just for a few minutes. Moving to the surface too fast was dangerous. Nitrogen bubbles could form in her bloodstream. The thought made my stomach clench. I’d seen divers with decompression sickness before. The agony as nitrogen bubbles literally boiled in their joints and organs. The way they writhed in pain, begging for relief that could only come from a hyperbaric chamber. And we were miles from the nearest hospital with that kind of equipment.

If Grady was willing to risk that, it had to be bad. He was choosing the lesser of two evils.

I pressed my lips together, tasting the bitter rubber of my regulator. We broke the surface with a splash, and Grady immediately ripped off his mask.

“Lina!” he barked, shaking her shoulders. “Lina, wake up!”

Her head lolled to the side, her lips blue-tinged and parted slightly.

Shit.