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Drew stepped closer again, his voice raised, and Garrett stepped back. His mouth moved in a response, but none of the words reached where I crouched on my boulder. Things were clearly escalating though—Drew laughed loudly and darted forward, giving Garrett a shove. Not enough to knock the bigger man over, but enough to push him off balance.
What are you doing, Drew? I thought to myself. Do you really want him to hit you? Garrett always seemed to keep his emotions so tightly locked down, I wasn’t sure what would happen if he lost control. I began to wonder if he had his arms crossed, not for a show of nonchalance, but to keep himself in check.
Garrett regained his balance easily though, facing Drew again, and said something in a low voice that made Drew snarl, his shoulders tight as his hands clenched into fists. The blond boy lunged forward again and pushed Garrett square in the chest, hard enough to make him stumble another step backward, but when Garrett righted himself he still didn’t react, didn’t even bother to uncross his arms. The look on his face in the moonlight was pure contempt.
Part of me wanted Drew to push him far enough to make him snap, just so I could watch someone finally put Drew in his place. But Garrett’s self-control appeared endless.
Drew’s wasn’t, however. When Garrett spoke again in a mocking voice, Drew finally raised his arm and swung his fist at the dark-haired man’s face in a tight right hook. Garrett dodged the punch easily, but when he stepped back his shoe hit a patch of loose gravel and he slid.
I saw the second he realized he wouldn’t be able to catch his balance, his arms windmilling in the open air before he went over the edge and hit the water with a sickening splash.
For a long moment Drew stood there, staring motionless at the water, as if he couldn’t believe his own luck. Then he turned and fled, not even bothering to watch the other man surface.
But I did. I watched, with my breath held tight in my throat. They hadn’t been far from shore—at his height Garrett could probably stand with his feet on the bottom and simply walk out of the water. But nothing happened.
No. Not again.
My hands clenched into fists in my pockets, my phone bumping against one hand. I wrenched it out and pulled up my contacts with one quick tap of my thumb.
Garrett still hadn’t surfaced.
I pulled up Devan’s contact and hit the call button, but when he didn’t answer on the first two rings, there wasn’t anymore time to wait.
I dropped the phone on the rock and dove into the water.
20
If there was one thing I could do after eighteen years at the beach, it was swim. But the second I hit the water and the air fled my lungs like a punch to the gut, I realized the strong currents and rough waves of the California coastline had done nothing to prepare me for the icy temperatures of a lake in northern Maine in the fall.
My lungs seized as the frigid water closed around me like a fist, and I had to force down the wave of panic that threatened to engulf me. Instead, I focused my eyes like a laser on the spot where Garrett had gone in and swam for all I was worth.
My clothes were like lead weights attached to my body, dragging me down with every stroke I took. I thrashed at the water in an attempt to make headway—thank God I wasn’t wearing jeans—but my down coat and sneakers felt like they each weighed a ton. I needed the speed, and they sure as hell weren’t providing any warmth at this point, so I kicked off my sneakers and shrugged out of my coat, letting them drift away as I kicked harder toward the spot I’d last seen him.
Time seemed to stretch and bend, like in the few seconds I’d been in the water a year had already passed. The bottom of the lake was all rocks—had he hit his head when he’d fallen? Had he actually climbed out and I’d somehow missed it? My mind raced as the icy water beat at me, turning my limbs to jelly until the effort it took for each stroke was monumental. That wasn’t good. The water temperature couldn’t have been much below sixty, but I’d already been shivering with cold long before I’d even gone in.
But I was so close. Just up ahead, past those rocks, and…there! I saw his dark head bobbing at the surface, and I forced my legs to work, kicking hard, and then he was right there, his limbs slack as his waterlogged clothing dragged him down.
He may have been able to reach the bottom if he stood, but I couldn’t, so I grabbed him and pulled hard, using all my strength to tow him toward the shore. My arms were heavy and lethargic, my fingers numb where they locked around his torso, and I kicked out with my legs, reaching desperately until my feet finally met with the rocky bottom of the lake.
I readjusted my grip and yanked him forward, but my legs began to shake beneath me. I wasn’t sure I had the strength for this. Out of the water, with his clothing weighing him down, he was as immovable as a truckload of wet sand.
“Dammit, come on,” I hissed through chattering teeth, gripping him tight with numb fingers and using every last ounce of strength to drag him up onto the beach. “Don’t you dare fucking drown on me, you asshole,” I wheezed as I pulled. “If you let Drew win, I’ll kill you myself.”
My bare feet slipped on the rocky beach, but they were so numb I couldn’t feel the cuts and scrapes I knew must be there. I shook so violently, I could barely control my limbs.
I let out a guttural yell as I rallied the last vestiges of my strength, and with one last massive heave we were free of the water. Garrett gave a quiet moan next to me then began to cough, and I fell to my knees, sharp rocks cutting through the thin fabric of my soaked pajama pants.
Thank God, he wasn’t dead.
But the relief that flooded through me was short-lived. What the fuck was I supposed to do now? I couldn’t leave him here. Hell, I wasn’t even sure I could walk. My teeth chattered so hard they felt like they might shatter. Had I gone to all this trouble only to condemn myself alongside him?
I needed to get up, get help, do something, but my body had given out. I was so tired. I had to lie down for a second, just a second, then I would get up and get help. We weren’t far from the dorms here, maybe if I yelled someone would hear me.
I tried calling out in the darkness, but my yell came out more of a choked gasp. My eyelids were so heavy. I would rest for a second. Just a second.
Dimly I heard Garrett coughing next to me, pushing himself up. His voice was gravelly and hoarse, laced with panic. “Camilla? Fuck, Camilla, wake up—”
His hands came to my shoulders, trying to share warmth he didn’t have, and I wanted to tell him I was okay, but I couldn’t seem to open my eyes.
