Page 25 of Shift the Tide

“Nothing,” Kiera responded quickly, but the way her voice squeaked with surprise probably gave her away.

Izzy raised an eyebrow, looking as if she was holding back a laugh. “Right…” she said slowly.

Kiera scrambled for a reasonable excuse. “I — I was just thinking about, um, sunscreen.”

Izzy blinked. “Sunscreen.”

“Yeah,” Kiera rushed out, nodding way too fast. “Like, if I should reapply. You know, UV rays and all that. I don’t want to pull a Pete and get sunburnt.”

Izzy just stared at her for a beat. Then, with a small shake of her head, she turned back to her book, clearly deciding not to question the nonsense that had just come out of Kiera’s mouth.

Kiera exhaled, dragging a hand down her face, feeling even more ridiculous.

Izzy flipped another page, shifting slightly. “You should probably reapply,” she murmured absently, eyes still on the text.

Kiera swallowed hard, suddenly feeling too warm, and reached blindly for her bag. Anything to give her hands something to do. She fumbled with the sunscreen bottle, nearly dropping it into the sand as she twisted the cap off.

She squeezed a dollop onto her palm and started rubbing it into her arms with way too much concentration. She could feel Izzy beside her, still reading, still entirely herself, completely unaware of the ridiculous state Kiera had worked herself into.

Izzy let out a small sigh and set her book down, tilting her head to look at Kiera. “Do you want me to get your back?”

Kiera’s brain stalled. She turned toward Izzy too quickly. Izzy looked at her with a perfectly neutral expression, like she’d just asked her if she wanted water. Like this wasn’t athing.

And maybe it wasn’t. Maybe it was only a thing in Kiera’s head.

“Oh,” Kiera said, voice coming out a little too high. “You don’t have to…”

Izzy rolled her eyes, already reaching for the sunscreen. “You’ll burn if you miss a spot. Just turn around.”

Kiera hesitated for a second before obeying, shifting so her back was to Izzy, her pulse suddenly too loud in her ears.

Izzy’s hands were warm when they touched her shoulders, spreading the cool sunscreen in slow, careful movements. Her fingertips pressed firmly but gently, gliding over Kiera’s shoulder blades, down the line of her spine, then sweeping outward again.

Kiera clenched her jaw, staring at the ocean like her life depended on it.

It was just a friend helping a friend avoid melanoma. Nothing more. Kiera shouldn’t want to read into the way Izzy’s hands felt on her bare skin, how they dipped under the shoulderstrap of her bikini top, then lower. She wasn’t aware a shoulder blade could even be an erogenous zone until Izzy’s thumb traced the soft curve.

Izzy’s hands smoothed lower, following her ribcage out toward the sides of her waist. Kiera squeezed her eyes shut, her skin tingling in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with sun exposure.

“There,” Izzy said after what felt like an eternity, giving her shoulder a quick pat before pulling away. “You’re good.”

Kiera let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding, turning back around with what she hoped was a casual nod. “Thanks,” she said, her voice only slightly strained.

Izzy was already reaching for her book again, like the whole thing had been an average day-at-the-beach experience. Like it wasn’t currently short-circuiting Kiera’s entire nervous system.

Kiera picked up her water bottle and took a long, desperate sip, willing herself to get a goddamn grip.

Kiera twisted the cap back onto the sunscreen bottle, still feeling the lingering heat where Izzy’s hands had been. She needed to say something — anything — to shake off the weird energy building between them.

She cleared her throat. “Do you think Maggie will be okay?”

Izzy didn’t look up from her book. “Yeah. Probably.”

Kiera paused at the noncommittal response. “I mean, she seemed in good spirits when she left, but you know how she is. Always brushing things off like they’re no big deal.”

Izzy exhaled, still not looking at her. “I’m glad Danica is with her. And at least Pete can help entertain them while they wait.”

Kiera hesitated, trying to figure out if she’d done something wrong. “Are you sure you’re good? You seem kind of… on edge.”

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