“I am,” I breathe, though my voice cracks slightly. “Just hard sometimes, especially in a place like this.”
A shadow crosses his face, a flicker of worry in his eyes. “We can leave if it's too much.”
I take his hand, holding it firmly. “No. I don't want to leave just yet.” I nod toward his camera. “Did you take a picture of me?”
He lifts the camera, angling it toward me. “I did. I want all my pictures to be of you.”
A warm pulse spreads through my chest down to my stomach, a quiet flutter that has nothing to do with the sea breeze. I grin, teasing. “I was wondering when I’d see you in action.”
He freezes mid-frame, eyes glinting with amusement. “My mam told you, didn't she?”
“I suppose we both know each other's guilty pleasures now.”
He lowers the camera just enough to wink at me before snapping another shot. I break into a laugh, covering my mouth as he takes shot after shot. I swipe my hand over the lens, shaking my head.
“I think you have enough.”
“Enough? I’ll never have enough. Just give me one more smile.”
I roll my eyes. “Nope.”
His gaze sharpens, that quiet, don't-test-me look I know too well, and my heart beats faster. I push off, sprinting away, my laughter echoing across the rocks. His long legs make up ground effortlessly, but I zigzag, twist, and dodge, letting the thrill of the chase wash over me.
Just as I near the water, I feel him wrap an arm around my waist and pull me back.
I shriek, half in surprise and half in delight, twisting to look at him. His grin is wild, pearly teeth on display, and he looks ridiculously pleased with himself. My hands fly to his chest, feeling his heartbeat.
“Gotcha.”
I get lost in his blue eyes, endless and calm like the ocean. I take in every single detail: the dark stubble tracing his jaw, the way his hair flutters in the wind, the faint lines beside his mouth, the perfect curve of his lips, and a tiny freckle on the edge of his nose. My chest seizes as I realise I’m falling—hard, completely, irrevocably. Our breaths mingle, ragged in the salty air, and in that moment, I know I want him to hold me like this forever.
“I don’t know what you’re doing to me,” he says, tucking a stray strand of my hair behind my ear. His camera is slung over his shoulder. “But I know I can never let you go. No matter the consequences, no matter what comes, I’m not letting you go.”
I wet my lips, my voice softer than the waves beside us. “Then don't. I'm all yours.”
That's all it takes.
He kisses me like he's been holding back all day. The faint taste of chocolate lingers between us, warm and sweet, and despite the sun lowering and the cold creeping into the air, heat spreads through me from the inside out. I don't feel the chill.
I only feelhim.
The man I spent most of my life resenting has claimed half of my soul, and the thought of giving him the rest makes me dizzy with both fear and longing. But I focus on the kiss, on the way he cradles me like I’m everything he’s been waiting for. His hands, his mouth, his very presence—all of it tells me that I’m wanted, I’m safe, and I’m seen.
Guilt claws at the edges of my mind. This could hurt the one person we both love most in this world, and my dad would hate this. He'd despise Elijah for looking at me as anything more than a friend. But none of that matters right now.
Because Elijah is the one who pulled me out of the dark hole I thought I’d never climb from. He stays with me when I fall back in, when the walls close in, and I’m suffocating in my own sadness.
I let go.
I kiss him back with every piece of me he’s already claimed, allowing him to anchor me to the light when the darkness threatens to pull me under.
In that moment, with the tide at our feet and the sun bleeding out of the sky, I know—he's my calm, my home, the only place I've ever wanted to be.
We barely make it through his bedroom door before his mouth is on mine again.
I stumble backwards, laughing softly into the kiss, my hands fisting the sleeves of his shirt as he crowds me against the wall. The entire drive here felt like a fever dream, too slow, too tense, every second stretched thin by the need to touch him and be touched by him.
I've been waiting for this.
