“We thought we’d lost you, Twinkle.”
He pressed his face into my chest. “I was so scared.”
As Jasper and I crowded Finn, soothing his fear and tears, Jas leant in and whispered, “How bad is it?”
I looked up, my eyes locking on his, hoping he could see my answer without me having to say it.We’re fucked.
“Can’t we call for help?” Finn mumbled against my shoulder.
“No comms. Our phones got smashed.”
“Lifeboat?” he asked.
“Wouldn’t last five minutes, and these idiots trashed that too.”
The boat continued to heave and roll as the three of us held onto each other, one thought echoing loudly inside my head:If we’re going down, at least we’re going down together.
As I let the notion that we probably weren’t getting out of here alive sink in, I forced down my emotion and lifted my gaze to theirs.
“If you had one wish… for the future, what would it be? No holding back. I want to know.”
“To get off this boat,” Finn replied instantly, making me glad that some of his sass was coming back.
“Not what I mean, Twinkle.”
“I want you to stop with that name.”
“Never. Now, stop deflecting. What do you want? You get one wish. Make it count.”
The boat let out an almighty groan as if it was giving up its fight against the storm. I braced myself against them, knowing that if it breached, the devastation would be fast.
I forced my face to stay neutral. “Jas?”
“I don’t want to work in an office. I hate it. I mean, I’m glad I did it because it brought us all together, but I hate everything about it. I want to be back out on the water.”
Finn scoffed.
“Okay, back on calmer water, but I miss diving so much that sometimes I feel like I’m dying inside. I want to live by the beach. I want to explore the deep, but I want someone else to do the budget setting and the spreadsheets and the organisation.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “You’re listing all the good bits. That’s the stuff that gives me life.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle, but the groaning noise cut that short.
“Finn?”
He sighed. “Ever since my parents threw me out, I’ve always felt scared to be myself.” I knew what his parents did to him, and I hated them for it. “Half the time, I don’t know who I’ll want to be that day. But, if I had one wish, it would be to be enough for someone. Never too much, never having to downplay what I want or need. I’d wish for someone to see me for me and never make me apologise for my existence.”
I pressed a light kiss to his lips.
“And you? What would you wish for, Trav?” Jasper asked.
“That’s easy. Marriage, kids. I want a house on the beach in the sun while I get to play in the dark water all day.” The sinking feeling in my gut told me that there was no way I was getting that because we weren’t going to see dry land again, but it was what I wanted. What I’d always yearned for, but never dreamt I’d get.
“You two are certifiable. Why would you ever want to go near the water again? I mean, it’s literally trying to kill us. If this were a movie, this would be the part where a giant sea monster joined in on the act and we vanish beneath the waves…” A look flashed across Finn’s face. “Your phones got broken, I presume by Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dumber, but what about mine?”
I looked to Jasper, who shook his head.
“No, there were just two phones.”
