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“Wait,” he whispered, pulling the letter from between our bodies. “We have to be careful with this.”
I took it reverently, black eyes sweeping over the words like they were water to a dehydrated man. I didn’t feel the tear roll over my cheek until Wes leaned up to brush it away.
I carried the letter over to my desk, laying it carefully on the flat surface before smoothing out the edges. “Thank you, Mom,” I whispered, pain and joy welling up within me to create a feeling I would never be able to explain. The words from a son to a mom who loved us so much she managed to reach out even from the grave.
When I moved over him, love and passion swelled like high tide, and when we finally crested, sweaty and spent, it was as if the tether always holding us together was stronger than ever before.
I always thought being one thing to Wes was better than being nothing at all.
But I couldn’t just be one thing to someone who was my everything. To someone who was my greatest wish.
And now?
We didn’t have to wish for each other because this wish… came true.
EPILOGUE
Wes
Muscles quivering,lungs burning, I gave one last push through the water before stretching my hand out to tap the wall. Head popping up, I filled my lungs with oxygen, fingers slapping on the edge of the pool as I glanced at Ryan sitting off to the side with a stopwatch in his hand.
His blue eyes flicked up, making anticipation shoot down to my toes.
“Two-tenths of a second faster than yesterday,” he declared, white teeth flashing.
A few hoots and hollers sounded off to the side as I sagged in relief, gliding beneath the clear, crisp surface of the water. Two-tenths of a second seemed nominal, but for a swimmer working his ass off to better his time, it was impressive. At least to me.
Since the car accident, I’d been working double time to make up what I’d lost. It would take a little more, but I was almost there.
Cutting my arms through the water, I broke the surface, blindly reaching out for the edge. My hand met skin, and I jerked back, eyes widening behind the goggles. When I saw who it was, I smiled and reached out again.
“Maxi,” I said, curling one hand around the calf dangling in the water while my other reached up toward his lap.
He gave a sour look at the nickname I would never stop using, but it was canceled out by the warmth in his eyes. “Good swimming, Nemo.”
Ducking my head, I pulled off the goggles to toss them beside him, and a red Gatorade appeared before me, the cap already twisted off. I accepted it and chugged some down, the drink rinsing away the pungent taste of chlorine.
“Thanks,” I said, handing him back the bottle so he could set it aside. I hung on to his legs, rubbing my palms over the wiry hair, enjoying the way it felt beneath my hands. His feet swished absentmindedly in the water as he grabbed the swim cap to tug it off my head.
The second it was gone, my hair flopped over my forehead, and I shook it back away from my face.
Max’s hands delved into the mess, massaging lightly against my scalp. “I missed these curls.”
Smiling to myself, I pressed closer, hugging his legs.
“If you keep swimming like this, you’ll just blow right past your previous best,” Ryan said from Max’s side.
“That’s the goal,” I said, tipping my head back to look up.
Jamie appeared on the other side of Ryan. “We’re all swimming better since the trash got taken out.”
Max made a rude sound. “Fucking Rinkin.”
I patted his knee. “Elite’s definitely more peaceful without him.”
“I feel bad for whoever has to deal with him at his next school,” Prism put in as he rubbed a towel over his head.
“Dickweed should be in jail,” Kruger muttered.
