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My brow arches significantly more. I gesture at him. “You tweakin’? Withdrawing? You know—” And like the prick I am, I bring a finger to my nose and sniff. “—looking for a little fix. That why you out here, kid? ’cause newsflash, you ain’t gonna find it. Not here.”
Though I’m sure some have found a way to sneak in contraband.
But I don’t tell him that.
His brows slam down over his eyes and he gives a stilted, but firm shake of his head. Fingers curling into fists. “What? No, no I’m not— That’s not—”
Scoffing, I wave him off. “Yeah, okay, sure, and I’m only here ’cause I wanted to work on my tan.”
Again I go to turn away when he stops me.
“I’m not an addict.”
There’s something in his voice that gives me pause.
“Sorry,” I mutter. I peer over at him, giving him a quick once-over. “Forgot there’s other reasons to be here.”
He frowns, his lips forming a little pout that makes him look even younger. More innocent. Less stuck-up and more just…out of place.
Again, I find my gaze shifting past him to where the rocky cliffs loom over the beach, dark and ominous. It’s still fairly cloudy, but the sun hits them just right, bathing the jagged edges in shadows.
A walk. A swim.
He wanted to go for a swim.
But…the ocean’s right there, lapping at the sand mere feet away.
As if he senses the direction of my thoughts, he stiffens. “I—”
His breath hitches, stealing whatever it is he wanted to say.
Our gazes collide, snapping together, and something heavy and knowing passes through us. He searches my eyes like he’s looking for something, or maybe trying to explain himself. Silently and desperately.
He looks lost.
Defeated.
And it tugs on something inside of me I’d much rather ignore. Something that has me searching right back, seeking…something out, something I can’t put a name to.
In this moment, brief and fleeting as it is, he’s not just some kid, not some stranger.
And I’m not some jaded alcoholic, fourteen years his senior, pissed off at the goddamn world.
We’re just two lost souls, trapped in this hell masquerading as paradise, banished from the outside world, looking for a way out.
He sees me, and I see him, and it’s…
It’s—
I whirl around, storm away, hands white-knuckling my shoes, sand kicking up at my feet.
All I can hear is the whoosh of waves clashing with the blood roaring in my ears.
I feel him staring after me.
This time, he doesn’t stop me.
