“Best afternoon we’ve spent together in a long time,” she said, sliding her hand into his.
“Agreed.” He looked over at her with an easy smile on his face.
They hiked together in comfortable silence, coming out once more at the top of the rock. Their clothes lay right where they’d dropped them.
“I guess we should have just hiked up in our swimsuits the first time. Now we’re going to have to come back for our clothes at the end.”
“Don’t mind,” he said with a shrug.
“Me either.” She walked to the edge and peered down. Beside her, Ryan looked like a god in nothing but low-slung green board shorts, his skin bronzed and glistening, all his tattoos on display. “I should spend more time with you in a swimsuit,” she said, sliding into his arms.
“Sounds like a great idea to me.”
She slid her hands over his tattooed biceps. “I want to spend more time with you, Ryan.”
“What are you saying?” A guarded look came into his eyes.
“I don’t know. Let’s just not think of me leaving next week as a good-bye, okay?” She grabbed his hand and yanked. They sprinted together to the edge of the rock, and as she leaped out into the air, she whispered under her breath, “I love you.”
* * *
Ryan surfaced with a splash, feeling oddly disoriented. He could have almost sworn he heard Emma say…
But that was ridiculous. Wasn’t it?
She floated nearby, watching him from those bright, blue eyes.
“What was that about up there, about not saying good-bye?” he asked.
“I just…I used to think I wanted to leave Haven behind and start over somewhere else, but now I’m not sure I do.”
“But your degree…”
“I had this crazy thought just now.” She kicked her feet, floating closer. “What if I don’t need a degree after all? Maybe I could just start my own landscape design firm here in Haven and hope for the best.”
His stomach had gone all tight and cramped. “Emma, this is your dream. Don’t you dare give it up because of—”
“You?” she said, her eyes sad. “I wouldn’t give up my dream for anyone, Ryan. Don’t worry. But sometimes dreams change. Sometimes once you start chasing them, you realize those dreams represented who you were ten years ago, not who you are today.”
He stared at her, completely blindsided. “What are you saying?”
She looked away. “I don’t know, really. I’m just having some second thoughts.”
“You have to go to Georgia,” he said. Because he’d known Emma forever, and she’d always wanted this chance. She’d planned and saved for years for this opportunity. And no matter what she said, he had an uncomfortable suspicion that part of her current change of heart had to do with her feelings for him. Because they’d been together awhile now, andfuck, what had he been thinking?
This wasn’t casual, not for either of them, and now he was about to derail her future.
No way. He couldn’t live with himself.
“You need to go,” he said again. “Try it. If it doesn’t feel right, drop out. But you should give it at least a semester. You’ve worked too hard for this chance to let it slip away, Emma.”
“A semester. I like that plan.” She started kicking toward shore.
He swam behind her, totally distracted by the flashes of pink from her bikini through the water. She pulled herself out onto the rock, wet and glistening and so fucking gorgeous. He hauled himself out beside her and pulled her into his arms.
“How did we get here, Ryan?” she asked softly, her lips pressed against his neck.
“I don’t know.” His voice sounded gruff because he knew what she was asking. How had they gone from friends, to friends with benefits, tothis?Because this felt like something he was terrified to put a name to. It felt like whispered confessions as she leaped off the cliff. It felt like things he had no business thinking about, not with Emma.
