Page 121 of Break Your Fall

“I’m all about Pinkie now. You guys”—Banks’s finger jabs my shoulder and I shrug it off—“have your girls and I’ve decided it’s my turn.”

Julian laughs again, offering him a, “Good luck, man,” as I laugh despite myself,tomyself, at my own imminent add-in.

“You’re gonna need it.”

Aspen finally leaves Valerie’s side to walk to the food cart as Banks opens his jaw to protest, and I’ve never been so happy to cut him off. “Hey, I’ll catch up,” I say to Julian before rushing off through the sand to Valerie’s side.

This close, her dress looks more like a silk nightgown than a wedding gown, and she’s paired the dress with a black choker necklace that I can’t wait to laugh about later with Reyna.

The smile on Valerie’s face fades when she turns to me, taking me in. “Oh, it’s one of you.” She tries to hide her disgust behind another smile, but I’ve been exposed to it for years, and I’m now unabashedly letting her see mine. “Where’s my daughter?”

I ignore her question, because she knows Reyna would be the one standing here if she wanted to be. I hope she feels her daughter’s absence today, and in my next words.

“If you ever make Reyna feel like her life doesn’t matter again, you won’t have a daughter.”

She lifts her chin with narrowed eyes at my tone as she processes my words, trying to decide if I’ll be true to my threat. I harden my stare, hold it steady. I’ll always be true where Reyna’s involved, and this threat that Valerie’s now acknowledging with crossed arms and a sigh is well deserved.

“I’m not surprised she told you.”

My head shakes with pity and resentment as I hold her unconcerned stare. “She didn’t. She didn’t have to.”

Valerie raises a brow, stepping closer to me with a trace of amusement and a challenge in her eyes. “What are you gonna do? I mean, really. What are you going to do?” She thinks she’s untouchable and I have no power.

Reyna almost let herself drown. She could’ve died because she has Valerie Stokes for a mother. That will not happen again. If I can prevent Reyna from hurting that deeply, I will.

“I will make sure you never see or hear from her again.”

Choose her or lose her.

She blinks, the slightest flinch that my words have affected her. But she remains as placid as possible, having none of her own, nothing to say for herself. But I didn’t expect an argument, a fight for her daughter, and that’s the note I wanted to leave her on.

So I do.

I step back, turning away as Aspen walks back up to her side with his hands full of food.

Julian and Banks are gone from our spot. My feet move me through the sand as my eyes search toward the ocean, and I’m only somewhat surprised to see them now in the water, too; all of my friends hollering and getting knocked under the water by the waves and each other.

Banks is chasing Jessa who looks only mildly irritated at his advance, kicking up his legs in exaggerated runs and flailing his arms like a T-Rex. I hear the guy let out a literal roar as I stroll closer, along with Reyna calling out my name.

“Thomas. Holloway.”

Oh, shit. The full name, with a pause.I’m in trouble,I think with a smile at my soaked girlfriend as she splashes water in my direction.

“Get in here,” Camille calls out to me next, but I haven’t stopped walking.

How many more moments will I get to be this young and silly, playing around in the ocean with my friends?

I add my phone to the pile they’ve made of theirs on the corner of an abandoned towel before continuing my advance, persistent and determined as I keep my eyes on Reyna.

She trudges backward, the water up to her hips, with fearful anticipation on her face. She lets out an excited shriek when I break into a run, deflecting my descent with a big splash. I let myself drop face-first with a splat, the water drowning out sound and sending a shiver through my body.

When I come back up, Reyna’s there, ready to shove me back under, but I deflect her now, returning the splashing before I grab her around the waist. She squirms in my hold, shrieking again as I spy Julian doing the same thing with Camille, and Banks with Jessa. The three of us share a look and a nod before we tumble backward with the girls into the waves.

We target and chase each other. Swim and splash together. Our chorus of screams and laughter lifted and carried through the wind.

We made it.

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