We both turned, West gently setting me back on my feet as we joined the others near the water’s edge.
I stared hard into the moonlit surf, trying to make out the shape.
“I’ve never seen a real one,” I said breathlessly.
“There,” Loxley pointed.
And then it happened. A dolphin leapt out of the water, catching the silver light as it crashed back down. My hands flew to my chest. It was such a small thing. A fleeting moment. But it felt like magic. Like something I wasn’t supposed to see, but got to anyway.
West wrapped his arms around my waist again, resting his chin on my shoulder.
“You okay?” he whispered.
“Just incredible,” I said. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
He paused, voice quiet. Honest. “Me either. I’ve never taken the time. Feels like magic.”
That was exactly how I felt, the same words echoing in my head and humming in my chest. But when West said it, it didn’t feel like he was talking about dolphins. It felt like he meant something else entirely. Like the magic wasn’t out in the ocean, but between us.
Chapter Thirty
WEST
Once we got backinto the room and away from my brothers, reality came slamming back into me like a freight train. The hotel door clicked shut and we were alone, and everything shifted.
Blue and I were strangers again.
Quiet.
Careful.
She moved to her side of the room like it had been marked off with caution tape, and I followed suit, pretending that distance didn’t gut me. Pretending I didn’t miss her hand in mine.
I hated how much I already missed the sound of her laugh.
“I’m going to change into something I can sleep in,” she said, forcing a polite smile like we were coworkers stuck in a shared hotel room on a business trip. Which in a way, I guess we were.
“Okay,” I nodded, turning to stare out the window like the ocean.
Once I heard the bathroom door click shut, I ditched Easton’s borrowed jeans and pulled on the suit pants I’d worn earlier. I decided to skip the belt, not because I was settling in, but because that was my version of cutting loose. But I wasn’tabout to get too comfortable because I had no intention of sleeping.
I also knew Blue wouldn’t be able to sleep with me sitting in a chair, staring at her like some kind of psychopath. I needed to think of something to do, something that could get my mind off the fact that I had tip-toed on the edge of trouble all night.
Pacing the room like a caged animal wasn’t going to help, and pulling out my laptop would make me look even more unhinged.
The bathroom door opened again, and I turned without thinking.
She was wrapped in the white hotel robe, a towel twisted on top of her head, her face bare of any makeup. Fuck she was gorgeous.
It took her clearing her throat for me to realize I was staring.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, turning away quickly. “I think a shower’s a good idea.”
I grabbed the brown bag I’d shoved under my suit jacket earlier, knowing all it held was a fresh pair of underwear and a travel toothbrush. It didn’t matter. I just needed some space. Something to keep me from falling further into whatever this was.
In the shower, I let the water hit the back of my neck until it turned my skin red. I didn’t move, didn’t wash, didn’t think. At least not anything productive. I just stood there, hoping I’d be able to step out of the bathroom and look at her like she was anyone else.
When I finally emerged, I was drying my hair with a towel and my jaw was still tight, but the room was quiet and darker than before. Only a small light remained on and I saw Blue asleep on top of the covers. She was on her side, facing away from me, with her wet hair spread across the pillow in long, tangled ribbons. A tank top clung to her back, and tiny sleep shorts revealed a stretch of bare skin I had no business noticing.
