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SENNA

The sky stretchesabove us with no clouds all the way to the horizon. Draped in light, the ocean glimmers, looking like a mirror of the sky.

“Anna... Anna.”

Taking tiny, rushed steps, Emma closes the gap between us. I stretch my arms to catch her.

She dives into me before I pick her up.

A scarlet dress with tiny ladybugs hugs her little body.

“It’s Senna... not Anna,” Jaden suggests, sinking into a lounge chair next to me.

“Anna,” she says, unfazed, curling her lips into a playful smile.

Jaden’s gaze shifts to me while I watch her, mesmerized.

“Anna it is,” he says when he locks my eyes.

We stay like that for a few more seconds with Emma’s arms wrapped around my neck and her face pressed against mine.

Slowly, I lean back into my chair with her, my cheeks warm with a blush.

“I love Anna...” Emma says, making me soft inside.

Jaden’s lips flash a knowing smile.

Trailing my collarbones with her tiny fingers, Emma tilts her head up to get a glimpse of my face.

She studies me the same way he does, her eyes becoming gray like his.

I put on a brave smile as Jaden winks at me.

“You’re a natural,” he says, amused.

“Am I?”

Emma’s hands migrate from my neck to my face and my lips.

“Emma wants to play,” she says.

“Who do you want to play with?” I ask.

“Anna,” she murmurs, her fingers threading through my hair.

I glance at Jaden.

Grinning, he shrugs.

“It’s her call.”

“Okay,” I say.

I push out of my seat, put her down on the sand, and kneel in front of her. She picks up her tools, and I begin to organize them before we start building a sand castle.

Jaden’s eyes burn holes into my face.

I glance in his direction.