AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He taps the glass three times, and I walk over and stand next to him—and inhale sharply.
“Wow,” I breathe. “Ilya, this is…”
He flattens his palm to the glass. “Pretty.”
I smile. “Yes. Pretty.”
With all of the lights off, it feels like the ocean is stretching out directly from beneath our feet. No grass, no sand, no beach. Just the dark ocean waves lapping against our toes and stretching out into infinity like warped black glass.
One of my least favorite things about Los Angeles is how few stars are visible at night. But this close to the shoreline, a few pinpricks of light dot the sky.
The real showstopper tonight, however, is the full moon. Silvery light highlights the crests of each wave and sets the world in shades of black and white. The wave caps glow.
Ilya’s hand on my wrist is so unexpected that I jump. He draws back quickly, and I reach for him. “It’s fine. I’m sorry,” I say. “You surprised me.”
His brows crease together.
“You’ve never reached for me before. I wasn’t expecting it. But it’s okay.”
“Okay.” He nods, and I know he’s just confirming to himself that everything is okay. He grabs my wrist again and pulls me towards the door. “Swimming.”
“It’s too late for swimming tonight,” I tell him. “Besides, Kirill usually takes you, remember? We can ask him tomorrow.”
He shakes his head and pulls me to the door. “Now.”
The screen door up here is locked from the outside for Ilya’s safety, so I know he can’t open it. But I still don’t like how easily he can drag me towards the door. If he wanted to get outside, I couldn’t stop him.
“We can’t. It’s too dark,” I explain gently, trying to pull my hand out of his grip. “And cold. The water will be freezing.”
“Swimming,” he says more firmly. His jaw is clenched and his face is red. He isn’t asking anymore—he’s telling me.
I curl my hand around his, trying to subtly pry his fingers from around my wrist. “I’ll ask Kirill to take you tomorrow. Okay? It will be more fun in the sunshine. You’ll be able to see shells in the sand. Tonight, it will be dark and cold. We don’t want to go tonight.”
“I want to. I want to go. Now.” His other hand is scratching against his leg, picking at the material. I can see the anxiety building in him like a dark storm cloud rolling in.
“Let’s breathe together. We can take a deep breath and then—”
“Now!” he barks, dropping my hand and slamming his own flat against the glass.
I barely hold back a scream. I’m shocked the glass didn’t break.
My instinct is to back away and go get someone to help. But Ilya can’t be alone right now. He needs someone to draw closer and understand him, to listen. Even if he doesn’t know it.
Slowly, I move alongside him and look out the window. “It’s beautiful out there.”
“I want to go.”
“I do, too. I wish we could.”
He looks over at me. “Swimming?”
“Yeah, I wish we could swim,” I say. “I’d like to do that with you.”
He reaches for my hand again to pull me towards the door.
“I would be really cold, Ilya. Shivery.” I wrap my arms around myself and shiver, pretending to chatter my teeth. “I would freeze like an ice cube.”
Turning the refusal into a game always works with Lily and Brady. If I can get them laughing, we can avoid a meltdown. Ilya is clearly dubious, sensing I’m trying to distract him. But he can’t help but smile.
