Page 89 of The Villain

I preened. “I have my moments.”

“How about you use one of those moments to shut up now? Listen to the waves. This is supposed to be relaxing.”

So… I shut up. I slid the sunglasses Cian bought for me over my eyes and then leaned back in my chair. The sounds of the people around us faded into the background, replaced by the crash of waves hitting the shore. The wind tossed my hair around my forehead. Water swirled around my ankles.

With our chairs pressed together, armrests touching, Cian’s hand settled over mine. He squeezed once, and I couldn’t help but smile.

I hadn’t expected the ocean to be so loud, but it was—the constant whooshing echoing in my ears as the waves broke over and over again along the shore. It softened the sounds around me. Life felt less sharp.

I dozed off for a few minutes and woke up when my stomach growled, so I dug a granola bar out of the beach bag. Cian was awake, staring straight ahead at the ocean. A tiny human waddled in front of us wearing a yellow daisy swimsuit and a wide-brimmed hat. I wasn’t exactly an expert in age estimation, but she was definitely a toddler, judging by the way she drooled around the sandy fist shoved in her mouth.

Cian lifted his sunglasses into his hair and made a face at her, crossing his eyes and puffing out his cheeks. She gurgled with delighted laughter before stumbling off to where her dad stood holding a shovel and pail. She stopped halfway, then turned and ran back toward Cian. This time, he squinted one eye and stuck out his tongue. She squealed and ran all the way back to her dad, who lifted her into the air and smiled at Cian.

Cian watched them play in the surf for a few moments, then he leaned back in his chair.

I stared at him. “You like kids?”

“They’re okay.” He unscrewed the cap from a bottle of water and gulped down half its contents. “I spent my twenties as a surrogate dad to Jace. But I never saw him as a toddler. His mom never took any pictures, so…” His voice trailed off and he chewed his lip. “Anyway. Patrick couldn’t get anything he wanted from Jace, so he pretended like he didn’t exist. Sometimes I think… I think despite everything Patrick did to me, how he treated Jace was what really made me hate him.”

I felt a pang in my heart. “Jace is lucky to have you.”

“I guess. Sometimes I wonder if I could’ve done more. Done better.”

“He loves you, Cian. And I…” I scrubbed at my face. “I thought Dennis was a decent brother. He was all I knew. But now I see how real brothers are supposed to act. He never protected me from my dad. He only cared when I could do something for him.”

“Still. I’m sorry you lost him.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Cian tugged on my arm. “Come on. Let’s go in.”

I stood up next to him. “Go in where?”

“The water, dumbass.” He didn’t wait for my answer, just held my hand, our fingers twined, and led me into the ocean. I gasped as the cold water quickly rose past my knees, then my groin. I swear my dick shriveled up and my balls tried to crawl back inside my body. When water hit my waist, my skin erupted in goosebumps.

“Cian, it’s fucking freezing.” My teeth chattered. No one else was in the water this far out. Only our stupid asses.

“You’ll get used to it. Dunk your head under the next wave.” He demonstrated with a quick dip below the surface. I was chest-deep now. Sometimes I had to jump to keep my head above the waves.

I glared. “And how is gettingmorewet going to help?”

“Trust me.” He started to tug me deeper, and I balked. He turned to face me. “Wait, do you know how to swim?”

“Of course,” I said quickly.Tooquickly. With an exaggerated scoff.

He squinted at me. “Dev. Can you swim?”

I swiped at a piece of seaweed on the surface of the water. “I had a two-week class in third grade.” There, that was embarrassing to admit.

But Cian didn’t make me feel like an idiot for not being born a fish. He tugged me closer until I was plastered against his chest. “Wrap your legs around me,” he said softly. I let my legs float up and wrapped them around his waist. Water dripped from his chin, and his long, dark eyelashes were clumped together from the seawater. His vibrant blue eyes crinkled in the corners as he smiled. And his body felt so warm that I found myself clinging to his shoulders. “Next wave, we’ll go under together. All right?”

My stomach swooped. “Don’t let go.”

“Never,” he whispered.

The next wave came, and he counted to three before dunking us both. I closed my eyes as cold water swirled around us. We were underwater for a few seconds before we resurfaced. I sputtered as I clung to Cian.

He slicked my hair back from my forehead. “See? You already feel warmer, don’t you?”