Page 31 of The Starfish Method


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I frown. “Ruined what?”

“I’ll never be able to pull a starfish again without thinking of you.” She blinks rapidly as more tears gather on her lashes. “I actually think you’ve ruined me for all other men.”

Satisfaction surges through me. “Good. That’s good. I don’t want another man to touch you ever again. You’re mine, Hannah. What do I need to do to show you I’m not going anywhere?”

She shrugs and sniffles. “Nothing. I don’t think there’s anything you can do to change my mind.”

“Fuck that,” I spit. Getting to my feet, I snatch my clothes and tug them on.

I pause at the door, turning to look at her one more time. “I’ll figure it out. So get ready for me, baby, because when I want something, nothing can stop me. I will do whatever it takes.”

* * *

The next weekpasses painfully slowly as I spend every waking minute trying to come up with a way to show Hannah that she can’t push me away like this. That as long as she still has feelings for me, I will fight for her.

“I’ve brought in reinforcements!” Tom announces, barging into my apartment.

Amy pokes her head out from behind Tom’s back and waves. “Hi, Sam.”

“Would you two go away? I’m trying to think,” I grumble, not in the mood for the lovey-dovey shit they’ve been throwing in my face all week.

Tom rolls his eyes and makes himself comfortable on one of the bar stools at my kitchen counter. “We gave you time to work this out on your own, and honestly, man, I thought you would have cracked it by now. But the stress is obviously causing your brain to misfire, so we came to spell it out for you.”

I shake my head. “What are you talking about?”

“Her sharks,” Amy pipes up. “You need to go swimming with her sharks.”

My heart stops dead in my chest.Anything but that.“Are you insane? How am I going to show her I love her if I’m dead?”

Amy’s eyes bug out. “You love her?”

Shit, I think I do. No, I know I do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be considering this asinine plan of theirs.

Sammore than blew my starfish out of the water; he blew it out of the stratosphere. And I still pushed him away. No other guy would turn it around on me like he did. He made the starfish something hot and amazing. Who knew that was even possible? I didn’t, and I’ve been doing it for years.

What is wrong with me?Oh, I know. Assholes—they’re what’s wrong with me. I was so sure I had it all figured out. The starfish weeded out all the assholes. It sent them packing with very little effort on my part. But Sam? I don’t think he’s one at all. And not just because he turned my escape plan on its head.

Not even spending time with my girls has helped my morose mood these past few days. I’m back on the dive platform, watching Tina do her sharky thing, and the joy it usually sparks is just not there today.

“Mind if I join you?”

Sam’s deep voice has my head whipping around so fast it spins. I must be more than dizzy, ’cause it looks like Sam is wearing a wetsuit. I blink a couple of times to clear my vision, but nope—he’s still in a wetsuit. “What are you doing here?” I ask.

His face pales as he gets closer to the edge of the tank where I’m sitting and peeks over into the water. “It’s hot out. Thought I’d, ah, go for a . . . umm.” He swallows hard and clears his throat. “A dip. I thought I’d go for a dip,” he says.

I snort. Always with the jokes, this guy. “Get serious.” I laugh. “What are you really doing here?”

He licks his lips, steps out onto the diving platform with me, takes another deep breath, and then sits beside me, legs in the water. “I’m not joking.” His voice cracks with the words.

Now that he’s next to me, the sheen of sweat covering his brow and gathering on his top lip is unmissable. He’s sweating up a storm and super white, too. “Sam, are you feeling okay?”

“Just dandy,” he says and sways to the side.

I reach out and grab him, holding him upright and steady. “I think you need to see a doctor. Something is definitely wrong with you.”

He shrugs me off. “I’m fine. I’m doing this, and you can’t stop me!”

“Umm, okay. What is it you’re trying to do? Kill yourself?”

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