Chapter 7 #2
“You’re shivering,” he said, concern softening his voice.
I shrugged. “It’s not that bad.”
He moved closer, his hand at my waist, fingers resting just above my hip. “We could head back up if you want—”
But I shook my head, stubborn. “I’m fine.”
Always fine.
Even with the way the past gnawed at the edges of the present. Even with every dart of Caiden’s eyes, the violence of his focus, the promise of what he’d do if I so much as slipped.
The group laughed and shouted around us, the air raw with energy. I forced myself to breathe, to live in it. Not just survive, but actually exist.
Caiden and Shane stood on the shore, watching. Shane was already texting Sabrina, rolling his eyes as she made faces at him from the water.
But Caiden’s gaze was trapped on me. Caged. Like he didn’t trust himself to move any closer. Like if he did, he might break something.
Maybe me. Maybe himself.
I tried not to care. I tried to let the cold and the salt and the weight of Alex’s hand ground me.
But the ache was still there.
The wanting.
The terror and the hope.
Every moment, I wondered when the calm would snap. When the storm would break. When one of us would finally stop pretending.
But for now, I laughed too loud at Alex’s joke. I let him keep his arm pressed to my spine. I turned my back on the shore, on the relentless eyes tracking my every move.
Let him watch.
Let him suffer for once.
But even as I thought it, I knew the truth.
I was still his. No matter how many times I tried to swim away.
If I closed my eyes, I could almost see the cage again. Could almost feel Blake’s hand at my throat, or the beat of Caiden’s heart as he tried to keep me alive.
But I was here. I was still here.
On the shore, Caiden and Shane had barely moved.
Alex splashed water at my knees, bright and silly. “Bet you can’t hit me,” he said, all challenge.
I smirked, bent, and threw a fistful of cold water into his chest. The droplets splattered up his shirt, making him hiss.
“That’s how it is?” he grinned, and before I knew it, I was tackled, spinning, his arms around my waist as he lifted me half off my feet. Water everywhere, my breath torn from my lungs, the laughter raw and real for a second.
The world went dizzy, sunlight flashing off the surface, the taste of salt and adrenaline in my mouth.
He set me down, steadied me when my legs nearly gave out. Our faces close, breath mixing, his eyes so blue it hurt to look.
He wanted to kiss me. I saw the thought, bright and quick, but he hesitated. “You okay?” he whispered. “You look—”
“Fine,” I cut in, too fast. My heart stuttered, panic and want tangled tight.
He didn’t push. Just let his hands linger, not quite letting go.
But in the space between us, I could feel Caiden’s hunger like a storm barreling down the sand. I didn’t have to check, I could feel it in my bones. Possessive. Ache so strong it bordered on violence.
Sydney screamed again, and the moment snapped.
Sabrina waved us over. “Come help! He’s too strong—” Shane had Sydney in a half-dunk, both of them howling, Sabrina futilely splashing water at his legs.
Alex loosened his grip on me and offered a hand. “Should we rescue the damsels in distress?”
I barked out a laugh. “They’ll probably drown us first.”
Another wave crashed at my knees, cold all the way to my spine. But the panic was duller now. My body, for all its alarms, wasn’t running.
We waded over, joining the chaos. Alex was useless. Sydney dunked him so hard he coughed up salty water. For a heartbeat, the thrill of being part of something—of not being the broken one, the haunted one—nearly made me float.
Alex grabbed me around the waist, pulling me back into the tumbling surf. His hands were warm, the curve of his fingers familiar and safe.
I leaned into it. Into him.
Let myself be held. Let myself pretend.
For a second, I didn’t even care about the past. Or what waited on the sand, watching.
But then I looked up, and there he was.
Feet planted at the water’s edge, arms crossed over his chest. Eyes fixed to my face, unblinking.
And behind all the noise, I was shattering again.
Alex spun me, reckless, both of us half-falling. My knees scraped wet sand, hair clinging to my cheek. He steadied me, mouth so close to mine I could taste his breath.
I almost let him kiss me. Hell, maybe I wanted it.
Maybe I wanted Caiden to see.
But I held back. The ache in my chest was too dangerous.
“Amelia,” Alex said, voice a low, sweet thing. “You with me?”
I blinked, forced my body to hold still. “Yeah. Sorry.”
He smiled, brushing wet hair from my face. “Don’t be. Thought I lost you there for a second.”
Not lost. Just drowning.
I glanced up the beach. Caiden was still there, jaw working, eyes locked on me like he could set me on fire from thirty feet away.
I wanted to hate him. Sometimes, I did.
But the pull between us was a force of nature. Like the tide, always returning, always taking something with it when it leaves.
The sun slid lower, the light turning blue, then gray. Shadows grew long across the sand.
Alex moved in closer, his arm curled tight around my waist. “Let’s walk a bit?” he asked, his words soft just for me.
I nodded, though the idea of being alone with him, with the burn of Caiden’s focus, made my skin prickle.
He led me a few yards down the shoreline, the group’s voices fading behind us.
The world was quieter here. The only sound was the hiss of the waves gnawing at the sand, and our breathing. Mine rapid, his steady.
Alex was easy, steady, hands gentle on my shoulders.
He told a story about his childhood, something about falling off a jet ski. I tried to listen, tried to laugh in the right places, but every few seconds my body remembered the glass, the blood, the taste of fear that never washed away.
He didn’t seem to notice.
“You’re quiet,” he said, eventually, concern flickering in his blue eyes.
I shrugged. “Just thinking.”
“About what?”
My tongue went dry. I wanted to say: The past. The scars nobody sees. The way obsession feels like a noose, even when you crave it.
Instead, I just said, “The water’s pretty.”
He smiled, slow and soft. “It’s beautiful. But not as beautiful as you.”
Corny. But I let myself enjoy it. I let him lean closer, his hands moving down my arms, fingertips grazing my skin in a way that made me shiver. Not just from the cold.
He leaned in, and I didn’t stop him.
But even with his mouth so close, even with my body pressed to his, my mind was somewhere else.
On the shore. Back with Caiden.
His stare was inescapable. I wondered if he’d do something. Snap, break the moment, drag me back to him the way he always did.
But he stayed where he was.
For now.
Alex touched my face, thumb stroking my jaw. “Let’s head back?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m freezing.”
Together, we walked back up the beach, sand scouring our ankles, sea air biting at our cheeks. The others were already heading for the stairs, Sabrina’s voice floating above the wind.
I didn’t look over my shoulder. But I felt him. Always, always, I felt him.
The ache didn’t stop. It never would.