By The Sea by Katherine McIntyre

Author:Katherine McIntyre
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Decadent Publishing
Published: 2014-06-11T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

My walk home from my shift should’ve been just me. I’d kept my distance and agreed to meet with him tomorrow, even trying to remain inconspicuous with my avoidance. And yet, a couple of minutes into my stroll down the deck, footsteps echoed behind me.

“Meg, wait up,” he called, his voice clear in the quiet night. I turned around, feeling split wide open. The night hit me worse, reminding me of our evening swims and leaving me drowning in memories.

“Don’t tell me you plan on tagging along this whole way?” Levity danced on my voice but didn’t break the apprehension in my chest.

“Did I do something to bother you?” he asked, grabbing my hand.

I pulled my hand away and crossed my arms. “Look, I agreed to help you find your pelt and all. I’m happy to see you, trust me. But you’ve got to understand it’s kind of painful, you being around again when I know you’re going to be gone once the pelt’s found.”

“Is that what you think?” he asked. My guard melted. Even though I wanted to keep my distance, I couldn’t, not when he looked at me with those eyes, ones that even when darkened by shadows hid tomes of buried emotion. We reached the path that carved through the park. A couple stray benches lined the way with the green broken up by trees and the occasional bush.

I shrugged. “What else am I supposed to think? I’m not stupid and I’ve learned from past mistakes.” Not well enough though, getting involved with him again.

He grabbed my hand again and pulled me closer, inches away from him. The salt breeze brushed by us, drawing his scent all around me. But unlike before, when he was cold and wet from the ocean, now he was warm and real. My back arched with the thrill of being so close to him. How often had we swum together? How did he know when I was upset, what I was feeling without asking? Not like I broadcasted. Most people thought I was chipper day in and out, and sometimes I believed them.

The ocean roared behind us, a distant beast. Here was alien territory, standing on land surrounded by the green with the overarching branches casting shadows from above. The sweet smell of freesia flowers mingled with pine, a strange combination for this close to fall. He didn’t make any move to let go of my hand and I didn’t pull away.

The magnetic attraction I’d felt for him, strong as the tide, tugged at me now. Stupid. It was stupid to get attached. To care for him again. But despite my denial, deep down I knew I already did. I was invested the second I knew who he was because my heart still squeezed in my chest whenever I remembered our nightly swims and every time I thought too long on the conch shell around my neck, the longing that followed was too painful. I’d never forgotten him. I’d never stopped caring.

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