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My eyes wander the blue horizon, and I see a few other surfers nearby paddling toward a cresting wave closer to shore.
“This is insane,” I say, grasping onto the edge of the board and willing myself not to think about what lurks beneath. “I can see why you like this. Sort of.”
“Yeah. It’s fun. I’ve always been into extreme sports. Surfing just made sense.”
I glance over my shoulder at him, and he cocks his head as he watches me. Our lips are much too close, and I have to look away. Much too risky to do that.
“You look good in the water,” I say, needing to compliment him. “Like you belong here.”
“Feels like I do too.”
“Kind of like Aquaman.”
“You think he’s sexy?”
“Pfft. Duh.”
We sit in silence for a moment before he asks, “Want to bodyboard in now?”
“God, do we have to? I think I’ve changed my mind.”
Sem’s fingers flex against my hips, and he says softly. “I’ve gotchu. Don’t worry.”
I shudder slightly at how those words sink into me and then nod. “Fine. Okay. But if I die, I will haunt your sorry ass.”
Sem lets go of me and points to the front of the board. “Nah. I’ll keep you safe. Now, lie down. I’ll paddle us up there, and we’ll ride in.”
I do as he says, and then, once again, his face is hovering over my ass. I am slightly disappointed he doesn’t bite it again, which is ridiculous. Because I really don’t want him to do that.
But my thoughts are interrupted when Sem says, “Hold on,” and suddenly, a wave rises up beneath us. My eyes widen, and I let out a little shriek as we’re propelled forward.
“Holy shit!” I squeal and hear Sem laughing behind me as he places his hands farther up the board near my waist, almost as if to shield me from tumbling off.
We ride that wave all the way to the shore. When the board stops, I don’t even move, just turn and glance at Sem, who meets my gaze.
A smile splits my face. “Fuck that was fun. Can we do it again?”
“Sure thing, Maggie,” he says, and that flutter in my chest happens again. I’ll have to go to the doctor and see if I have some kind of heart condition. Might be genetic.
* * *
“Okay. You can come in. But only because you saved my life today. There are ground rules, though,” I say, pushing the door open to my apartment and slinging my sandy beach bag onto the floor.
Sem had indeed saved my life earlier. While riding our fifth wave, I managed to somehow roll off the board and into the water. For a moment, I really thought it was the end of my life because I was upside down, and no matter how hard I’d kicked, I couldn’t find my bearings. I’d inhaled a lungful of water and was basically regretting my life decisions until Sem reached down and pulled me back onto the board. He did it so effortlessly as if he could lift ten of me. And then he was on top of me, those strong arms paddling us to the shore with some kind of inhuman strength. The entire time he paddled, I just laid there coughing up a lungful of saltwater and listening to Sem swear.
When we made it to shore, I was immediately lifted off the ground, Sem’s surfboard discarded on the wet sand. He’d carried me to my towel and fussed over me like I was a child. His hands ran over my face, abdomen, and even my legs until he was satisfied that I wasn’t hurt.
The entire thing was mortifying, but I let him do it because he looked so concerned. A few people were staring at us, pointing and texting on their phones. Probably because it’s not every day that you see a behemoth of a man cradling another man in his arms like a princess. It also didn’t help that Whit was eyeing us with an amused expression, and Caleb was snickering.
Assholes.
Standing in my living room, I hold up a finger. “Ground rule number one. We arenothaving sex again.”
Sem shrugs and flops down on the couch, spreading his thighs out. He’s still wearing his swimsuit but had pulled on a loose tank top on our way home. I can see his nipples if he moves just the right way, not that I’m looking.
“All good. Don’t want to do that anyway.”
The casual way he says it makes me stiffen slightly, but then I remember I don’t want to have sex with him again either.
