Page 98 of One Touch

“You’d be fantastic.”

“I don’t know. Horror isn’t exactly my favorite genre.”

I looked at the ocean for a moment. “You want to go for a swim?”

“A swim? Isn’t it a bit chilly at this time of year?”

“Freezing.”

“You’re not exactly selling it to me.”

“The colder, the better. You know, that was one of my secret weapons after Marie passed. The cold.”

“Ocean swimming?”

“Right. You have to trust yourself, believe in yourself. You give yourself up to the water. I got into the habit of it whenever I could. I’d ask Dad to watch Ava for a little while, or Cole, and I’d come down here and get in. Let myself get really fucking cold.”

“And that helps?” Her gorgeous red hair fluttered gently in the breeze.

“When you’re that cold, it’s kind of hard to think about anything except the cold. You go into yourself. It’s calm. It’s still. It’s weirdly blissful.”

“That sounds nice.”

“So, come on. Let’s do it.”

“I don’t have my swimsuit. Or a towel.”

“Me neither.” I glanced up and down the stretch of sand. The beach was almost empty save for a couple of lone dog walkers in the distance. “Think I’m safe doing it in my boxers. Although I appreciate it’s not quite as simple for you.”

She bit her lip. “I’m gonna do it.”

The thought made me weirdly excited. “You are?”

“I can’t let you experience this blissful nirvana without me.”

“Lily, you’re fucking awesome.”

“Remember that when I’m yelping and screaming about how cold it is.”

I felt a deep connection between the two of us. We weren’t just taking off our clothes. We were stripping away our defenses.

She was in a pale gray bra and panties. I was in my boxer shorts. We left our stuff on the beach and made the short walk to the ocean.

“Okay, how do we do this?” she asked, her skin already making goosebumps. Her body was sheer perfection. It felt almostunbelievable that just a couple of days ago, I’d made that body tremble with pleasure

“You literally walk into the sea.”

“Show me how.”

I’d done this a thousand times, but it was still daunting. There was nothing quite like the cold. Plus, I hadn’t done it in a year or so. I decided that the best strategy was to not overthink it. “Here goes nothing.”

The moment I started to run into the ocean, I heard peals of laughter from Lily. Despite the ball-numbing coldness of it, I didn’t stop until I was all the way up to my neck.

“Holy fuck!” I shouted as I reacted to the shock of it.

It took me right back. The ocean was power, and when I immersed myself in it, I felt that power seeping into me.

I felt like I could do anything. Anything at all.

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