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It’s only when another shout sounds behind me that I finally turn around to see what Cade wants. It’s not like him to push it when I’ve told him I need to be alone, but then, it’s not just Cade out on the jetty now. There’s someone else out there, walking toward him from the beach and gesturing wildly.
Dammit. Probably someone on the resort staff coming after us for being in a restricted area.
He reaches Cade and I’m about to turn away—I can’t deal with anything more right now—but Cade’s voice suddenly rises sharply, taking on an edge I don’t like that cuts through the fog of all my feelings and jolts me to my senses.
I know all Cade’s dreams and every one of his quirks. I know his favorite things and his little worries and what’s inside his heart. I know him so well. But what I’d let myself forget, in my admitted impetuousness, is that he’s deathly afraid of the water. Not bathtubs. Not friendly, contained swimming pools. But bigger water? Lakes and rivers make him nervous, and the ocean is something he can only handle under very controlled circumstances.
In the dark, with the tide coming in? Of course it’s terrifying for him.
I run down the jetty toward him as the other man—and I can see that it is a man now—talks to him in a hushed voice, holding him close. I can’t make out what he’s saying, but as the wind whips my dress around my bare legs, I’m so grateful he’s there with Cade, since I can already see that Cade’s going into a full panic attack. His eyes are bulging and his hands are clasped over his heart, where he’s trying to pull in air, and it’s my fault. God, this is all my fault.
“Shit, Cade.” I know that’s not the first thing I should say when I wrap my arms around him from behind, sandwiching him between me and the other man, but it’s all I can think of. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you out here. Please take little breaths and don’t freak out. I’m sorry. Oh, God. Please don’t panic.”
“We… can’t…” Cade gasps, gesturing up and down the jetty. It’s covered with water now, but still visible. Still solid under our feet.
“Sorry, sorry… oh, fuck,” I gasp, because honestly it looks a little freaky even to me. That doesn’t matter, though. Cade matters. “What are you supposed to do?” I ask frantically, trying to remember. “It’s take slow breaths, right? Or… or is it little ones? Shit, Cade. I can’t remember!”
He hasn’t had a panic attack in so long, and now I’m panicking. I’m wracked with guilt and I can’t think straight, and it takes me a moment to realize that the other man with us is actually Hot Henry, a vision in the silvery light of the full moon who’s probably the last person I want to see us while Cade is breaking down. Especially because it feels like I’m about to follow him.
“Yasmin!” Henry’s voice lashes out like a whip. “Be quiet.”
My mouth slams shut, something about the sharp sting of his words—not delivered with malice but with a firm urgency that breaks through my own panic—settling me down inside.
Henry turns his attention to my boyfriend. “Cade, sweetheart?” His words are soft now. “Can you hear me? I want you to put your hand on my chest and breath with me. Can you do that?”
Cade’s fingers are trembling, but he raises one hand to press to Henry’s chest and Henry covers it with his own, sliding them both beneath his linen suit jacket.
It must be warm under there. Protected. Comforting.
For a moment, I’m jealous that it’s Cade’s hand resting against Henry’s instead of mine.
Which is selfish and terrible. Cade’s having a panic attack, and all I can think about is how I wish Henry was treating me to all that warm control? Maybe it really is best that we broke up. I don’t deserve him.
“There we go,” Henry says, his attention riveted on Cade as he my heart breaks a little more. “Breathe in… and out. Good boy. Just like that. And in again…”
I look back toward the little hut at the end of the darkened jetty, blinking back tears… or at what’s still visible of it. The wooden slats are almost entirely under water now. In the dark, I can’t tell whether the ocean has risen a few inches or a few feet, but it’s enough for even me to get scared as I realize just how thoughtlessly I led us all out here, and that there might be very real consequences to that now.
I put my hand on Henry’s arm, my fingers trembling as he continues to breathe with Cade. “Are we going to drown?”
My voice comes out smaller than I want it to, and he gives me a quelling look when Cade lets out a little sob.
But then his expression softens. “We’re not going to drown, sweetheart. We’re just going to have our own private island for a few hours.” He pauses, his lips quirking up in the moonlight. “Well, our own hut, at least.”
“Oh,” is all I can say. I’m still touching his sleeve, clinging to it, really.
“I’ve got you,” Henry says, in that same, soothing voice. I’m not sure if he’s talking to Cade or me, but I hope he’s including me, too. He did just call me sweetheart, didn’t he?
Maybe I imagined it, but he’s definitely our anchor out here, the calm force keeping us tethered in the storm.
“Just keep breathing. You’ve got this, sweetheart. There you are.”
Okay, I didn’t imagine it, even though I know that he’s talking to Cade now. Even with the moonlight washing out color, I can tell that Cade’s got some back in his cheeks now. His breaths are finally becoming deep and even, and he’s gazing up at Henry’s face like he’s met his own personal god.
Which is when I burst into tears.
A strong arm wraps around me, and I know instantly that it’s Henry. Even from that one touch, there’s a confidence that Cade’s never had, and when Cade takes a step back to make room for me, Henry pulls me against his side.
I collapse against him, breathing in his deliciously complex cologne while I’m smushed up against Cade, my poor, sweet Cade, on the other side.
