I closed my eyes and tiptoed to give him a kiss. His lips curved and remained curved.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Because I’m happy.” He peeked through one eye and laughed. “Because now you’re smiling too.”
Joy bubbled inside me as he hugged me from behind. We took in the rocks, the sparse greenery, the little cove shimmering in beautiful shades of blue. Resting the back of my head on Alex’s shoulder, I looked up at the sky and stretched my arms out. My legs floated up, the tips of my toes peeking through the surface.
“You like this,” said Alex, towing me in a gentle zigzag through the water.
“Mm-hm.” The sea felt amazing, gliding over my skin. The motion of baby waves was comforting and hypnotic—rising and falling, rising and falling. Like listening to a heartbeat—the ancient, fluid heartbeat of the sea. My body bobbed up and down to its nautical rhythm.
Something warm touched my fingertips. I opened my eyes and saw Alex floating on his back, his fingers reaching for mine. I clasped his hand and shut my eyes again.
Then I did an internal double take. Alex was swimming next to me, which meant…
Holy crap. I’m floating on my own.
As soon as the thought hit me, I panicked. My body tensed. My arms started flailing.
“The more you fight it, the faster you’ll go under,” Alex said. “Relax. You’re not going to drown, Heart-Eyes. Any time you want, you can just kick off the sea floor.”
My feet found solid ground and relief flooded through me. We were still in shallow water. My eyes darted to the shore and our towel spread out on the rocks.
“Don’t you dare leave me now.” Alex squinted up at me. Water droplets glistened like crystals on his eyelashes. “I know it’s hard, but this is it. You give up right now, and you’ll be giving up on yourself.”
Iknewwhat I had to do but making the leap to the other side had my heart hammering hard and fast against my chest.
“Take my hand, Moti. You can do it. You were already doing it. You were floating.”
I recalled the gentle rising and falling of my body, the water undulating like a satin sheet around me.
“Come on,” Alex said. “Eyes to the sky. Little kicks to get your legs up.”
I gave myself up to his voice, letting him guide me. When my body lifted off on a small wave, I filled my lungs with a deep breath, willing myself to stay afloat. The spike of adrenaline in my body leveled out as the water lapped around me.
I was doing it.
I was doing it all on my own.
Not wanting to jinx it, I turned my head slowly and looked up at Alex.
His grin confirmed it.
A joyous sound escaped me and burst into the sky. I shut my mouth quickly, in case that bit of air had been keeping me afloat. Then I laughed again because I was too damn happy to hold anything in.
The groove in Alex’s cheek deepened as he threaded his fingers through mine. We turned our faces to the sun and held hands, floating like two starfish in the sparkling waters of the hidden cove. I knew I would never—for as long as I lived—forget this magical afternoon with Alex.
It was early evening when the ferry from Folegandros dropped us at Santorini. The port was packed with cruise passengers waiting to board the small boats back to their ships.
“I’ll let Eddie know we’re here.” Alex phoned the deckhand who transported us to and from the yacht.
We stepped from the pathway so he could talk over the noisy chatter of the tourists. I smiled when Alex absently switched sides with me. He was the guy who walked by the side of the road, so he could take the dust or fumes or puddles for you. The thoughtfulness with which he assembled his dishes didn’t end when he left the kitchen. It naturally carried over into the rest of his life.
“See that?” someone beside me said. “You see the way she’s looking at him?That’sthe look of love.”
I swung around and spotted a gray-haired couple grinning at each other. The man was holding a camera and the woman was pointing at me.
“Excuse me?” I shot a quick glance at Alex, grateful he was still engrossed in his call with one hand over his ear.
