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She sighed deeply, quickly giving in. She could never say no to me.
“Fine, but you have to promise that you won’t let go of me once we hit the water.”
In a sincere tone, I swore, “I promise.”
ChapterTwo
Ethan
In one swift movement,I shifted her body to my back. “Now hang on, and whatever you do, don’t let go of me,” I ordered.
She took another deep breath and nodded. I grabbed the rope, looking back at her for a second before she squeezed her eyes shut and bit her bottom lip.
“Don’t bite your lip. You ready?”
She hesitated. “Nooo…”
“I’ll jump on the count of three—one, two, three,” I exclaimed, pushing our bodies into the air as she locked her ankles around my stomach and squeezed the shit out of my neck with her arms.
We hit the river in a hard splash, causing her to release me instantly. I paddled up to the surface as fast as I could, but I was too late. My heart lodged itself in my throat as I looked all around me. My adrenaline kicked into overdrive, replacing all my emotions except for the urgency to find her. Until finally, I did. I didn’t have time to catch my breath before I was kicking my feet in her direction.
Her head was suddenly above water as she coughed, “Ethan! Help!”
A few feet in front of me, she was towed by the strong current.
I immediately felt horrible, pissed at myself for not listening to her in the first place. Trying to shake off the guilt, I swam faster to her. Hurrying over, I grabbed her foot while the current continued to drag her, and I didn’t falter for one second, yanking her toward me with such force that it knocked me back too.
She started to panic, trying to climb me to keep her head above water.
“Livvy.” I spit out water, holding us both up. “Relax, or you’ll drown us both.”
She did, and I was able to flip her over onto her back to keep her face up so she could breathe as I pulled her toward the bank. I didn’t expect the current to feel this strong as I towed her body to where she could step. The stream felt completely different when I swam alone.
“Livvy, kick your feet!” I shouted.
Once she started to, I was able to get us to the shoreline much faster and easier. I was still out of breath by the time I felt the ground beneath me. Livvy stepped down shortly after I did, and we locked eyes. Both of us panted as our chests heaved and our stares widened. I could see the tears forming in her eyes, only making me feel worse.
Livvy didn’t cry.
Ever.
“I told you!” she yelled, immediately ripping into me. “I told you I didn’t want to go out there! Why would you do that to me?”
“Livvy, calm down,” I reasoned, grabbing her arms to help her in. Tugging her toward me, I held her tighter against me. “You’re okay. I’m so sorry, but you’re okay.”
She thrashed in my arms. “Ethan Carter, let go of me!”
“Don’t be like this.”
“Don’t be like what? I could have drowned!”
“You were never going to drown.”
“How do you know? You think you know everything!”
“Livvy…”
“Don’t Livvy me in that tone! Now let go!”
