That was the final straw he needed to turn around. He edged along the wall, cursing the barnacles that scraped the shit out of his hands, but stopped when he heard the shuffle again. Heard andfeltit.
Sand and pebbles dusted him from above. He looked up and spotted Heath standing on top of the wall a few feet away. He wore only a pair of light-colored shorts, his bare toes curling over the edge of the capstones. They were the only part of him holding onto anything as he swayed forward and backward, quietly humming something Evan couldn’t identify.
“Heath! The fuck are you doing? Get down before you break your neck.”
This was the guy who’d repeatedly failed to navigate between a mostly stationary raft and the swim platform of a sizeable boat. There was no way he should play balance beam over jagged rocks.
“Hey, you hear me?”
Heath didn’t respond, and gave no sign that he was hearing anything at all. Something was wrong. Creepy and wrong, and that wrongness pushed him to get up there quickly.
“Heath. Do not move. You hear me? Donotfucking move.”
Evan pushed through the water, the backflow knocking him off balance as slippery rocks twisted his footing. It felt like it took forever for the stairs to reappear, and he clambered up to the patio at a half run, his feet skidding on the slick stones.
At the top, he scanned for Heath and saw only darkness and trees illuminated by the moody pool lighting. Panic pushed him into a sprint. He neared the pool and spotted movement through the fan of palms. Heath took slow, measured steps toward the infinity edge, pausing occasionally to sway with the breeze. He had maybe two feet before he’d run out of space. From there, it was a plunge either into the pool or over the wall to the rocks below.
“Heath, stop!” Evan’s voice broke, and he pushed himself faster.
Heath’s next step took him right to the edge, and he teetered, his body shifting from loose and unbothered to stiff and alarmed. The groggy confusion in his voice changed to a yell, and adrenaline kicked Evan into top gear.
Bolting across the top of the wall, he approached Heath at an angle, diving and catching him at hip height with an outstretched arm. He twisted, dumping Heath backward into the pool as he overshot and crashed into the water after him, catching his entire left side on the abrasive cement of the pool’s edge.
His shoulder and upper arm took the brunt of the impact. He’d dislocated it once in college, and while the pain wasn’t as bad, he couldn’t say he was thrilled to be reliving the experience. At least the bruising would be spectacular. He’d milk that for all it was worth.
“Heath?” he rasped, reaching into the water to pull a sputtering Lennox to the surface.
Heath coughed and spat, pushing his hair out of his face as he stumbled for footing. He looked at Evan with dazed confusion, but he was okay, and Evan’s knees gave out as relief drained the last of his energy.
twenty-one
. . .
“Evan?” Heath pushed toward him in the water. Everything was moving in slow motion, including his mind.
What the hell was going on? Why were they in the pool? He had no memory of anything after collapsing into bed.
Evan blew out a stream of bubbles, then surfaced and immediately grabbed him by the back of his neck. The moment on the boat flashed through Heath’s mind, and he wondered if Evan was about to kiss him again. Instead, Evan pulled him into a tight one-armed hug, which was a more than acceptable consolation prize.
“You fucking asshole.” Evan’s voice was thick and raw against the shell of his ear. Goosebumps raised across every inch of his skin, the vulgar and threatening tone a goddamn aphrodisiac.
“What—?”
Evan pushed him at arm’s length, looking him over with an intensity that made Heath very glad his lower half was submerged in freezing water.
“You told me I couldn’t die, then went caterwauling in the dark?Youcould’ve died! What the fuck were you doing?”
“I was doing what now?” Heath dug through the fuzzy contents of his memory and came up empty, but Evan’s words…
Oh, no.
“Shit. What did I do?”
“What do you mean, ‘What did I do?’”
“I don’t have any memory of what happened.”
“You don’t remember?”
