Page 65 of Forget Me Not

“Sorry,” I shake my head, looking back out at the water. “I did drown. Only they brought me back.” He doesn’t say anything, though his jaw feathers and his eyes harden. “I’m surprised you aren’t asking me what happened. Everyone always wants to know the full story. Everything that happened up to the car crashing against the surface of the water.”

“It doesn’t matter. You drowned.”

I shake my head. “No one asks what happened after. It’s too garish to think about for most people. The struggling to get out of a sinking car. The moment where your ears and lungs are filled with so much water that you can’t hear. You can’t breathe. Almost like you just cease to exist.” I suck in a deep breath, surprisingly calm, despite retelling the story I don’t share with anyone. “I told everyone I forgot what happened up to the moment I blacked out. I lied, though. It seemed so easy for everyone to believe. Like who could remember such a thing?”

“You aren’t your fears, Nova.”

I shake my head, my hands twisting in my lap. “No. That’s the thing. I want to move past it. I just . . . haven’t been able to.” I force my gaze to his and something in his eyes makes my mouth run dry. “Not until now.”

Slowly, he steps toward me, boots thumping against the wooden floor in time with my heart beat ringing in my ears. He drops down in front of me, placing a finger under my chin to lift my gaze to his. His eyes are scorching in the moonlight overhead, burning into me and wrapping my windpipe in an iron fist.

“My mother used to say there’s no going back. Only forward,” he murmurs, voice so quiet I can barely hear him against the waves lapping at the bottom of the boat.

He’s never shared anything with me about his family before.

I want to know what his mother would be like if she were still alive. He doesn’t speak about her, nor the rest of his family, for that matter. The truth is, I can’t force him. If he doesn’t want to tell me, he doesn’t have to.

Still . . . those burning questions lie just beneath the surface.

I told him days ago that eventually, secrets catch up to you.

What a hypocrite I was.

“She sounds like a smart woman.”

“She was.”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a boat this small. The last thing I was on was the ferry when I moved here and that took a lot of coaxing. And a doctor to prescribe me anxiety meds that made me feel like a zombie. ”

That was an experience I would never like to live again. Katelyn practically dragged me to the center of the ferry, so I couldn’t see the water.

“Well, stick with me, little bird. I’ll have you driving this ship in no time.”

“Ship?” I ask, raising a brow and looking around us.

“Okay, that’s it,” he says, eyes full of amusement. “Insult me all you want but Hope’s Grace is a marvelous vessel.”

“Why Hope’s Grace?”

His lips quirk at the side. It‘s the closest thing to a real smile I’ve ever seen out of him. “You really want to know?”

I nod and he smirks.

“My first love was named Hope. Had to name the ship after her.”

God, why did I ask?

He chuckles. “Relax. It was the name when I got it.”

“You ass,” I scold, shoving at his arm. He catches my hand and stands, hoisting me out of the chair so fast, I stumble into him.

“Am I? Letting you sit in my seat. It clearly says captain on it.” He maneuvers me until he can sit down, pulling me down on his lap. I can feel his hardness pressing against my ass, like it’s teasing me, and every bit of Katelyn and I’s earlier conversation comes rushing back.

Sex with Reid. I’m not sure I would survive.

I laugh, though it’s breathless from how quickly he moves me. I settle on his lap and he plucks an old timey captain’s hat off a hook above the window beside us, plopping it on my head.

“Now, you’re the captain. Where to?”

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