He just smirks and steps through first, tugging me gently after him. The waterfall crashes over my shoulders, cold and wild, stealing my breath. And then it fades.
We’re behind it, in a hidden alcove behind the water. The only light comes filtered through the wall of falling water, turning everything silver-blue. It’s small, but it feels… safe. Untouchable.
‘I had no idea this was here,’ I whisper.
‘It’s where you get into the control room, for the waterfall,’ he explains. ‘The door is locked, because of course it is, but this might just be the most private spot on the island.’
‘I love it,’ I blurt.
We sit on a flat rock, close enough that our legs brush. Lockie runs his thumb over my knuckles, absent-mindedly, like he’s done it a hundred times. I tuck my wet hair behind my ears and try very hard to act normal, but my breath catches, and I hope he doesn’t notice.
We don’t say anything, or look at each other, for a while – we just watch the water.
When he finally speaks, his voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it before.
‘I meant what I said before, you know. About not getting through this without you,’ he tells me.
‘You too,’ I reply. ‘You wouldn’t have been my first choice for the end of the world but next time, if we’re unlucky enough to have a next time, you’ll make the top five.’
He laughs but doesn’t look away after, he just stares at me, and there’s something in his eyes…
‘You’ve kept me sane,’ he says.
I swallow.
‘Right back at you.’
A beat passes – one of those long ones that lasts a lifetime, that feels impossible to breathe normally through.
‘At least us being off-air gets you off the hook,’ I say lightly, looking back at the water. ‘You don’t have to pretend to fancy me any more.’
Silence.
‘Who says I was pretending?’ he eventually replies.
My heart punches my chest. I force a laugh.
‘Oh, shut up.’
He doesn’t. And he shifts closer too.
‘If I didn’t fancy you,’ he starts, his voice barely audible over the sound of the water, ‘could I do this?’
His lips brush my neck – slow, deliberate and, unlike when he did it in the challenge, it feels hungrier. Like he’s not going to stop.
‘You did that to Honey too,’ I manage to remind him, though my voice comes out weak and breathy.
‘That was for a dare.’ His breath tickles my damp skin. ‘And I wished it was you.’
I don’t move. I don’t blink. I don’t even breathe again until he pulls back enough to look at me.
‘I don’t want to spend the rest of my life wishing it was you, whenever I kiss someone,’ he continues. ‘So, for the avoidance of doubt, in case you’re overthinking things. Cleo – I want you.’
‘I want you too,’ I manage to blurt back with a smile.
Lockie grins back at me, leaning in so close his nose almost brushes mine.
‘So… what do we do about it?’ I ask, hoping he comes to the same conclusion as me.
