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“I thought–”
His gaze snaps up through his lashes, and he arches a brow. “Thought what? I saved you from drowning, and now we’re besties for life. Didn’t realize saving your life came with stipulations.”
My teeth snap together.Is he for real?
“Fuck you,” I growl, stepping forward, jabbing him in the chest.
He stares down at me, and I can’t help but notice there’s a light missing from his eyes. Like he’s closed himself off from me.
“I thought maybe…maybe we could be friends,” I mumble pathetically. “We…we went through something together—”
He reaches down for his shoes. “Pretty sure they call that trauma bonding.”
“It’s more than that!” I all but shout.
He stills, fingers paused around the scuffed boots.
My mouth fumbles, cheeks heating. That itchy, crawly feeling returns, surging forward like it never left. “I mean, I–” My breathing picks up, sounding funny even to my own ears. I can feel myself trembling, and I look around the beach wildly, searching for something…something, I don’t know what.
I whirl around, and it’s just me and the ocean.
There.
“What are you doing?” Nolan calls out behind me as I kick off my flip-flops.
Ignoring him, I stride purposefully into the water—fully clothed—waves splashing around me where they crash along the surf.
“Skyler!”
Once I get chest-deep, I dive in.
Water rushes around me, and everything is silent and whooshy.
Only then, do I finally let myself scream.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
NOLAN
“Seriously?”I growl through my teeth.
Cursing under my breath, I stalk after Skyler, water and sea-foam kicking up around me.
“Goddamnit, Skyler, come back here!”
He ignores me, clearly dead-set on making a repeat of last weekend.
You’d think after what happened on our hike, he’d stay clear of the ocean. But no, no, let’s try our luck for round two.
I mean, sure, the waters are calm today—a stark contrast to what we experienced last weekend—but in my head, all I see is the pale, limp body I had to drag across the beach and breathe back to life.
Fuck this.
I pounce on him just as throws his arms above his head and dives in head-first.
Grabbing him with an arm braced around his middle, I hoist him out of the water. He breaks through the surface mid-guttural scream. Water cascading down his head, gurgling from his open mouth.
“What the fuck?” I shout, carrying him back toward the beach. He’s kicking and coughing, and squirming like hell, so I drop him on his feet once we’re closer to shore.
