“Life.” I let out a breathy sound. His fingers knead at my nape while his other hand rests on my lower back comfortably, holding me in place. Good thing he is, because I feel like I could melt at any given time and become slush by the shore instead.
“Don’t you know the best things in life come unexpectedly?” His words are like the hug I didn’t know I needed, like a sledgehammer trying to break down my walls.
“Yeah, but there’s no success in the unexpected,” I add.
He nods as if he understands. “Life without success is not a life I want. I get it.” He lets out a breath. “I get it more than you may realize, but we can’t walk around like life’s a tight rope that can’t bend or mold when needed.”
I shrug. Says who? Because I can. I definitely have.
“That’s when you snap, Hales.”
I let his words hang between us. I can’t take them right now. Right now, the only thing keeping me afloat is pulling that rope as tight as I can, or I’m going under. Work, my family’s struggles, my loneliness, all of it—it’s too much, and I need to be careful so I don’t sink deeper with them. I need to be careful so I don’t drown. So, if my plans are the rope keeping me alive, I’m holding on to it with both hands.
“I thought holding tight makes you stronger.” I finally move my hands, sliding them up his hard chest and holding his face with both hands.
“It can also break your hands, baby.”
“Baby?” I savor the name on my lips; I like it a whole lot more than I should for someone who’s about to not see this man again for another whole year.
“Is that out of your plans? Me calling youbaby?”he asks, lowering his face to my lips.
“You can mess up my plans anytime, Asher Hunter. Apparently, that’s your M.O., no?” His lips are so close to mine. So close, I can smell fresh peppermint. So close, I can almost feel his softness on my own. So close, I shut my eyes so he can just kiss me and I can get lost in him. But he doesn’t. Instead, he picks me up by my ass and breaks into a sprint.
“No!” I shout, but it’s too late. I’m being turned and going quicker than I expected, plunging horizontally into the water on top of him.
The water is frigid and salty and not deep at all. His body is barely submerged, so only my breasts and feet are underwater. I think I made it safely, and I can get away from his hold, but he continues walking backwards like a crab, going deeper and deeper. I yelp and wrap my legs around his ass. I hate everything about this. All of it.
His face pops out of the water, and he smiles wickedly at me. “You said I could mess up your plans, baby. This is me coming at them like a wrecking ball.”
“I actually hate this!” I shout, tensing even more in his hands as I’m submerged into the water. It’s so fucking cold, I’m going to lose my shit.
“It’s so cold!” I shout, but he doesn’t listen. He keeps going deeper and deeper until he sits up, half our bodies underwater. I breathe heavily where, for him, this is child’s play. He’s so calm, almost as if they are one, the ocean and him.
“I told you I didn’t want to come in!” I shout, smacking him playfully with my hand.
“And you also said I could wreck your plans. This is me doing that. Live a little, Hailey. Life’s too short.”
I guess he’s right. Lifeistoo short, but I hate this.
“This dress was so expensive.” It’s the only thing that comes out of my lips as I start relaxing against him. Now that my body is starting to get used to the temperature, maybe I can relax. That’s if I don’t think too much about all the creatures that might be under us right now. The thought of that alone makes me shiver.
“You said so two years ago.”
“And you dismissed it and still dunked us in this water?” I splash his way, and he smiles. Not flinching, not closing his eyes,he smiles. Fucking ocean cowboy, acting all tough when he’s near the water and making me want to do wild things out here in the open with his wicked smile, perfect mustache, and pretty eyes. Pretty eyes hiding behind almost foggy glasses. I lift them up, letting them rest at the top of his head and keeping my hand wrapped around his neck.
“I’d buy you another dress just to get your legs wrapped around me just like this.” His gaze drops to my lips. “If I could keep you clinging to me as if I’m your anchor, baby, I’d buy you three.”
I roll my eyes. “So cheesy.”
He shrugs. “Maybe. But you liked it.”
“I did not,” I tease.
He moves my bangs away from my face and stares into my eyes. “Your eyes are so damn beautiful, Hailey. I’ve never seen anything like them.”
“They’re kind of soulless.”
“If you think that, your mirror must be broken.” His gaze bounces between my eyes as he holds my face.
