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“I’m not sure I’m meant to do this.”
“But you’re also not sure that you’re not.”
She glanced away. But not before he spotted, once again, the tiniest flicker of excitement in her big blue eyes. They were a compelling sort of blue. The kind that drew secrets even when they weren’t trained right on you. It was the only explanation Luke had for why he continued on in a quiet tone.
“Trust me, there are far more dangerous predators in this world than anything that might be below us right now.” His gaze flickered soberly to shore. “And they all walk on two feet.”
He looked back to find he had her undivided attention. “My dad used to beat my mom.”
She gasped softly. “I… I’d thought it must be something like that.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry I snapped at you before. It’s just… it got pretty bad when I was a kid.”
“He hit you and Mary too?”
“Sometimes. Probably me more than Mary because I use to wet the bed so often, and it drove him nuts. Mom shielded us from his temper whenever she could. But one night, Dad flew into a rage because I scratched his car. Clocked me pretty good. Next thing I know, Mom’s flying at him with a knife, and he’s on the floor, bleeding from the neck. He died right in front of us.”
“How old were you?”
“Eight. Mary was twelve.”
“Jesus.” Andy was quiet for several seconds, throat working as she digested the ugly tale he’d just laid on her.
Then, finally, she unglued from her board.
This time when she came at him, it wasn’t a flying leap. It was a graceful slip into sparkling waters she’d only seconds ago been petrified of.
Chapter fourteen
Andywouldneverunderstandhow any parent could hit their child. Her mother and father hadn’t so much as spanked her growing up. That Luke had been subjected to something far worse at such a tender age was heartbreaking. All she could think to say in response to his confession was, “I’m sorry.”
With her arms circling his neck and her head falling to the sun-kissed warmth of his wet shoulder, she said it again. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“It happened a long time ago,” he murmured as she clung to him.
“Sometimes the past has a way of sticking with us.”
“Let me guess.” His voice was husky-thick as his long legs kicked steadily beneath hers. “You read that in some self-help book.”
“No. My mother’s a therapist.”
He snorted as she continued to hug him. Several more heartbeats passed before Luke awkwardly lifted an elbow onto his board. That’s when she realized she was about to drown the man.
In the freaking ocean.
“Shit,” she cried, gaze darting about, “I’m in the freaking ocean.”
“Guess telling my shitty story had a silver lining, huh?”
Eyes narrowing, she shot him a look. “Too soon, buddy.Waytoo soon.”
He tossed his head back, laughing.
She pushed away with a giggle.
Her limbs free of his, she floated on her own, probably twenty feet above the floor of the Pacific, tethered only to a piece of foam. “Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“How’s it feel?”
