Page 79 of Her Pretty Words

“What?” I whisper.

“I stayed with you that day because you were flying home in the afternoon. I needed every minute with you.” My face must reflect a thousand questions because he continues. “Your family was waiting for mine to return home, and I could tell that your mom was starting to stress about getting to the airport on time. So, I lied and told them my family was home. I waited all day for them—” His voice breaks off and his eyes are squeezed tight. I see how brave he is in this moment. How hard it must be to speak about something he’s never told anyone before.

“Hey,” I whisper, bringing my fingers to his cheekbone. “You don’t need to tell me everything today unless you want to. Or tomorrow. Or even months from now.”

“Won’t you be gone months from now?”

“Oh,” I say, realizing I never got the chance to tell him. “I was going to tell you, but then…” I let that part of my sentence trail off. “I’m moving to Sanibel.”

His wide eyes meet mine and he lets out the most beautiful sound I’ve heard. He laughs. His arms twist around me tight enough that I let out a huff of air. “Thank God. I was beginning to worry about how much I was going to miss you.” He kisses me powerfully, then lifts us out of bed. He spins us around. My laughter echoes off the walls, adorning the room where everything seemed to hurt minutes ago.

It’s nearly midnight when Grayson suddenly says, “I’m taking you somewhere.” After the exhausting emotions from the day, we stayed in bed and showed each other our comfort movies, only leaving to grab our dinner from the delivery person at the door, and to occasionally use the bathroom. It was a much-needed distraction for the both of us.

“It’s like the middle of the night,” I point out, which he ignores.

He climbs out of bed and stretches his limbs, then he interlocks our fingers. He guides me down the hallway, stopping to grab a sheet from his linen closet on the way out.

It’s nearly pitch black outside. We walk in the sand for a few moments before he stops and lifts me off the ground. I wrap my arms around his neck and nuzzle my face in his skin. “I’m glad we’re not pretending anymore, because I’ve always wanted to smell your skin shamelessly.”

“I’ve wanted to do much more improper things with you, shamelessly.”

I laugh. “You’ve made that pretty clear.”

“Have I? And here I thought I was doing a good job concealing how attracted I am to you.” The hand that’s holding me up slides to my butt and squeezes. I bite his neck hard enough to leave a mark, but he chuckles as if a mosquito bit him. “We’re here.”

I open my eyes to find ourselves beneath the lifeguard tower. He sets me on my feet and then spreads the sheet over the sandy ground. He sits and leans against one of the posts. I do the same. I trace his profile with my eyes once they adjust to the dark.

“Ask me,” he says.

“What?”

“I know you have a million questions, and I know you said I don’t have to talk about it today. I’ll let you know if something is too much for me, but I’m going to try. I want you to understand me. So, ask.”

So brave.“Okay… Tell me about the first time we met.”

His gaze snaps to mine like he wasn’t expecting my question. I give him a smile which erases his hesitancy. “Okay.” He nods. “Delilah always woke up before I did. It was the first week of summer break, and I took advantage of the time to sleep in. I had finished breakfast late one day, my dad was at work and my mom was on the back deck watching my sister play with another girl. I remember the moment I walked out the back door, you were mid-laugh, shoveling sand into a bucket when my eyes caught yours. I was terrified in the way that most boys are of pretty girls. I had every intention of turning around and hiding inside. Delilah called me over and I didn’t move. She stalked toward me, grabbed my hand, and dragged me to you against my will.”

I laugh, picturing it. He smiles in return. “I was too scared to speak, but Delilah said ‘This is Macy, our new friend. Macy, this is my brother, Daniel.’ You smiled so bright; it was like staring at the sun.” I remember our conversation on the way to the fall festival, when we shared our first impressions of each other.“You embodied the rays of a thousand suns. You were joy personified. I thought you were lovely, Mace.”There’s a smile in his voice when he says, “You hugged me and then ran off along the shoreline. Something in my mind clicked, and I chased you. I could never catch up to you back then.”

“Now look who’s faster,” I whisper.

“Not for long. You’re already making me work for it.”

“I remember that day.” I smile but it slowly fades into a frown now that I know how the story ends. The kind boy I had met that day lost his family shortly after, including his twin sister.

There’s a bond between twins unlike any other. The moment he twinkled into existence, she did too. She was the first person he ever met, even before his parents, and now, his other half is in a different world.

He was left to grieve all alone, and his agony was strong enough to keep him from ever telling someone what happened. I find myself reaching for his arm, holding it, and rubbing soothing patterns over his skin.

I can’t imagine losing my mom and dad, let alone if I had a sibling. But enduring that as a child, when he had only a thin understanding of the world—I can’t fathom his pain. We learn from our experiences, and I can only imagine the awful things he believes about the world.

“Did you ever talk to anyone about all of this?”

He shakes his head. “After everything happened, I had no interest in making friends.”

I frown. I hadn't realized the depth of his isolation until now. “What about a guidance counselor?”

“Nope.”

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