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Just as I’m about to return to the kitchen, a movement in the water catches my eye. A guy in red swim trunks tumbles in the breakers, hit in two directions by intersecting wave sets. It’s dragging him further out, his hands clawing the water to keep his head above the surface. He’s caught in a rip.
I curse and take off running through the restaurant. I hit the swinging kitchen doors at full speed and they snap back against the wall. Zaden glances up from the grill, his eyes narrowing in concern as I fly out the back door and down the deck to the beach. I kick off my shoes and leap into the ocean as a crowd starts to form on the beach. An older man starts to wade out intothe surf, and I shout at him to stay. I don’t need two people to save.
The swimmer is farther off the beach now, struggling in the water. He looks about my age, maybe a little younger. I duck beneath a wave, keep my breathing even, and my eyes on the man. A large wave breaks on top of him, and I watch for him to come back up.
He doesn’t.
Fuck. I swim harder until I reach the last place I saw him, then dive. The waves push me around, and I dive beneath the action, eyes open, searching the hazy sea for the red swim trunks he has on. I surface, scan the top of the water to see if he came back up. Nothing. I fill my lungs, and dive again.
I follow the flow of the current, scanning the sea floor. Then I see him lying in the sand, drifting with the push and pull of the waves, unmoving. I wrap my arms around him, and pull him to the surface. I gasp for air, bringing his head above the water. He’s not breathing.
“Get on,” I hear a voice demand, and glance over to see Zaden paddling toward us on a surfboard. In a single quick motion, he slides into the water and wraps an arm around the man, hauling him up onto the board. He lies him flat on his back, with his feet forward. My gaze jerks to the next wave barreling toward us.
“Zaden!” I cry. “Go, get him out of here!”
“I’m not leaving you,” he replies as the solid vice of his arms wrap around me and pull me onto the board in front of him. As Zaden paddles behind us, I straddle the board and start working on him. I check his pulse, then start CPR. The wave crashes on our keel in an avalanche of whitewater, propelling us forward asit rolls around us. When we finally pull out of the rip, the chaotic chop smoothes out, and we ride the swells toward the shore.
After a steady rhythm of compressions and breaths, the man starts coughing up water. I breathe a sigh of relief and lean him on his side, glancing back at Zaden. Even as he continues to drive us forward with every determined plunge of his arms into the sea, I see his features begin to relax.
The crowd meets us at the shore, and Zaden slides into the water to support the man as he walks in. I watch his face and monitor his breathing. His mother runs up with tears streaming down her face, and throws her arms around him. I realize he’s younger than I thought. Maybe sixteen or seventeen.
“He’s breathing, but you may want to get him checked out,” I tell her, and she nods furiously. Her gaze moves between Zaden and I.
“I don’t know how to thank you both,” she sobs.
Zaden runs a hand through his hair, and glances over at me. “I’m just glad we got there in time.”
“I called 911,” the elderly gentleman says, pointing down the beach. “I think they’re coming.”
I follow his direction and see a paramedic with a bag running our way. Beside him, I see another figure. A man I recognize, and the only man on this beach in a suit.
The Detective.
I curse, my gaze volleying between the faces in the crowd, the nearly drowned boy, and Zaden. If I stay, the Detective will recognize me, and everything I’ve done up until this point will be for nothing.
“I have to go,” I tell Zaden softly, backing away from the crowd.
“What?” He asks in confusion, shaking his head. “Hold on, I’m coming with you.”
I can’t wait to see if he follows me or not. I turn and jog up the beach, grabbing my boots out of the sand as I retrace my frantic steps to the Sandbar and Grill. When I reach the deck, I glance back to see the paramedic and the Detective kneeling beside the boy, checking him out as he explains what happened. I feel a weight lifting from my chest. He’s going to be okay.
I slip back into the restaurant, barefoot and dripping wet, and walk quickly into the employee locker room. I lean back against the lockers, dropping my boots on the floor, my heart pounding as I catch my breath. Zaden follows a minute later, water running down his face and dripping onto the tile. His eyes reflect a mixture of frustration and concern, hardened with a tinge of anger.
“What you just did was completely fucking reckless,” he says, striding over to me and stopping with his body only inches from mine. He’s breathing hard, and I watch a muscle tick in his jaw as he searches my eyes. “But also really brave. You saved that kid’s life.”
“We did,” I clarify. I lick the salt from my lips, my gaze drifting down the wet contours of his body, his black Sandbar shirt glued to his chest like a second skin.
“When you didn’t come back up with him, I thought…” His voice trails off as he shakes his head. He reaches out and tucks a long tendril of purple hair behind my ear, his fingers lingering to trace the curve of my cheek. I can feel my skin heat, my pulse rising again.
“Thank you,” I tell him. “For coming after me.”
He nods. “I’m not letting you go that easy.” His eyes lock with mine. “When I saw you on the beach last night, I left a surfboard on the back deck. I grabbed it when I followed you out today. It’s almost like… I don’t even know what to call it. Luck?” His thumb traces the line of my lower lip. “Fate?”
“I have horrible luck,” I admit. I feel him moving closer to me, his eyes dropping to focus on my mouth.
“Ivy?” My name echoes down the hallway and into the room, where he has me nearly pinned against the lockers. I pull in an unsteady breath and turn my head toward the summons. “Ivy?”
It’s Evan. I shut my eyes tight, curse a thousand times in my mind, then dip out beneath Zaden’s arm and cross to the opposite side of the room. Zaden drops his hands to his sides, his eyes following me as Evan enters the room.
