“Did your diary also tell you I love you, too?”
She bites her lip and nods.
“Do you think you could? Again?” My heart hammers against my ribs, hope and fear tangling inside me.
“Do you want me?” Her voice breaks, and the sound fractures something in me.
“My feelings for you haven’t changed.”
She swallows as she turns to look at the ocean.
I wrap my arms around her waist and stand behind her, whispering in her ear, “We’ll figure it out. Together.” I turn her to face me and touch her cheek gently, my thumb grazingher skin. “If you want to. No pressure, no expectations. Just hope and possibility.”
“What if Dom finds out?” she whispers, glancing over her shoulder as if he might materialize from the shadows.
“He’s my best friend. But you’re...” I struggle for words, feeling the ones I want to say slip off my tongue.
“I’m what?” Her eyes lock with mine, vulnerable yet demanding the truth.
“Everything I didn’t know I was missing, but everything I can’t give up.” I swallow hard. “Like finding a piece of myself I never knew was lost until it was right in front of me.”
A single tear tracks down her cheek as she stutters, “I remember loving you.”
I know she doesn’t, but it’s still nice to hear.
I take her hand and guide her to the surf lifesavers' cabin on the beach. We sit side by side on the bench facing the ocean, our shoulders touching, watching the last ribbons of sunset disappear into the darkening horizon.
“I never stopped loving you,” I say, my voice barely audible above the crashing waves. “Even when they told me that you might never remember. Even when Dom warned me to stay away.”
She turns to me, her blue eyes reflecting the fading light. “He warned you?”
“He’s protective of you. Always has been.” I run my thumb across her knuckles, savoring the softness of herskin. “But how could I stay away? It was like asking me not to breathe.”
The truth sits heavy on my tongue. I know Dom wants her too. I’ve seen the way he looks at her when he thinks no one’s watching—possessive, hungry, conflicted. I’ve caught the subtle shifts in his voice when he speaks her name. My best friend, the man who helped me through the darkest period of my life, wants the same woman I love.
But I can’t bring myself to tell her. Not now, when she’s finally here with me, her hand in mine, her eyes searching my face for answers.
“What is it?” she asks, sensing my hesitation.
I shake my head. “Nothing important.”
What good would it do to plant that seed? To make her question her relationship with the man who’s been her protector? A man who told me he took her virginity because I was holding back. Dom may want her, but he’s never going to cross that line if she doesn’t remember.
But I won’t be the one to tarnish her image of him, not when she’s already lost so much.
Instead, I pull her into my arms, one hand cradling the back of her head as I press my lips to hers. The kiss is gentle at first, tentative—like we’re discovering each other for the first time. But then she sighs against my mouth, and something ignites between us.
When we finally break apart, she’s breathless. Her fingertips trace the outline of my lips, feather-light, and send shivers down my spine. “I remember…”
“Amara. What are you saying?”
“When I said I remember loving you. I do. I wasn’t going to tell you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not yet.”
My opens and closes as I stare at her, wondering how long she's remembered for but I'm more surprised that she wants to keep it a secret.
“Why not?”
“Because someone tried to kill me and until I know who it was, I’d prefer for everyone to think I can’t remember anything.”
