Page 71 of Every Beautiful Mile

Gotcha!

I grin and push his board away from mine before I start to paddle fiercely.

“Hey!” he yells through a laugh.

He’s a hell of a lot stronger than me, but with his paddle on my board, he doesn’t stand a chance.

“I play dirty, Ethan!” I call over my shoulder with a smile as I stand on my board and paddle as hard as I can.

I hear a splash but don’t turn to look. Seconds later, my board jolts, a hand wraps around my ankle, and Ethan’s head pops out of the river next to me.

“So do I, Nel.”

He grins maniacally and gives a tug just enough to falter my balance. I fly off the board with a scream, and the cold water nearly knocks the breath out of me as I go under.

I laugh when my head comes to the surface. Ethan faces me, chin just above the water, eyes shining.

“You’re an ass,” I say as I dip my head back in the water to smooth my hair away from my face.

“Says the woman who stole my paddle.”

He shakes his head and laughs. Drops of water run down his neck and bare shoulders.

“Were you just trying to get me to take my shirt off, Nel? Because all you had to do was ask.” He lifts his chin, and droplets of water drip from the scruff of his jaw.

“You’re insufferable. You challenged me, remember?”

I splash him with a handful of water before pulling myself up onto my board and trying to make my suit cover more skin.

“Nel?”

“Hmm?”

He pulls himself up on his own board, water dripping down his chest that I force myself not to stare at.

“You know I said I had a great time last night?” he asks.

“Yeah, we definitely don’t need to talk about this. I shouldn’t have asked. I was just—”

“It’s just that I had such a great time. By the time Zoey showed up, I was ready to call it a night.”

Oh.

“I just wanted you to know.” He says it like it’s important.

“Well, now I know.”

I tell myself it doesn’t matter, that I don’t care, but the weirdest feeling of hope blooms in my belly, along with a smile I never quite shake from my lips.

Twenty-seven

I’m certain my heart is pounding so loudly that the people in Canada can hear it. The smirking, the muscles, and the way he says my name like warm honey—Ethan is giving my nervous system whiplash.

“Heading down to Bar Harbor next weekend, right, Mom?” Finn asks as I pull my board onto the beach next to him.

“That’s the plan. Stay there for three weeks or so and then head home after that.”

I grab my dry clothes from Derek’s kayak, grateful to be covering myself.

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