Lilac, what are you doing? You can’t leave him here to die.
I roll my eyes at myself and rush back to the cliff.
He doesn’t come up for air. I strain to see through the dark, salty water. Panic claws at me. He isn’t surfacing. Did he die?
I should walk away. Let him drown. If I did, I’d be free. Free from him. Free from his shit.
But I don’t have it in me. Because if he’s dead, it would gut me. I do love the lunatic. He has my heart.
So I rush forward and dive headfirst off the cliff and into the icy water. I swim under the surface.
Irvin should be sinking, but I don’t see him. I come up for air, then search again.
At first, there’s nothing.
Then I see him—floating, half submerged.
I swim over and grab him as hard as I can, dragging him toward the shore. He coughs up water, lying flat on his back, then runs his fingers through his hair.
He smiles. “I was wondering if you were going to save me.”
Did he—
This bastard did not almost drown just so I’d save him.
“Are you fucking serious?” I snarl. “You nearly drowned just to prove a point? You have issues.”
He sits up and reaches for my hand, but I snatch it away.
“Yes. I wanted to prove a point.”
“What was the point?”
“For you to admit you love me.”
I roll my eyes at him.
Of all the ways to get those words out of me, this is what he chose. “Fuck you, Irvin.”
He stands and grips my chin, but I jerk away and shove him. He stumbles, nearly tripping over a rock.
“You proved my point,” he says. “You chose to save me.”
“It’s called being a decent person, you asshole.”
But deep down, I know he’s right. I did choose him.
“No,” he says. “If you really didn’t want anything to do with me like you claim, you wouldn’t have saved me. If you hated me, you would have let me drown.” He taps my nose. “You love me. You just won’t admit it.”
He wraps his hands around my waist, yanking me close. “Now, I’m more obsessed with you than ever.”
My heart pounds in my ears. Desire blooms in the pit of my stomach.
“What about you?” I ask.
“What about me?”
“Your obsession is rooted in love because you lost your mother—not because of me. You need my words to prove you’re loved because you feel like no one loves you.”
