Page 139 of When Hearts Remember

“I’m meeting a contact after this.” Liam checks his watch. “Shit. I’m late. Got to go. You going to the Christmas Ball in a few weeks?”

“Of course. It’s the first time we’re hosting it outside of The Orchid.” The Christmas Ball at The Orchid is consideredtheevent of the year—who’s who in the old money or powerful circles mingle under the guise of celebrating the holidays. But it’s really where a lot of deals and secret handshakes happen. This year, to mix things up, according to Jack Szeto, our Entertainment Director, instead of hosting it in the ballroom, the event will happen on a luxury cruise.

“Well, I’ll see you there then.” He bolts out the door, leaving Alexis and me behind as the rest of the conference room empties.

Alexis shifts on her feet, her bottom lip once again under attack by her teeth.

Chuckling, I gently tug it loose and her breath hitches. “What has your lip done to you? You’re going to chew it off.”

Her face turns impossibly red. “You can’t help it, huh?”

“What?”

“Taking care of people.”

I smirk. “Only certain people.”

She ducks her head and kicks the ground. Her phone buzzes and she quickly swipes it open, her eyes widening in obvious excitement, but seconds later, her shoulders slump. She looks disappointed.

“Everything okay?”

“Huh?” She glances up, then clears her throat. “Oh. I thought it was an email from a…friend. But I think I was overthinking it.”

A friend.

She meant Polaris. Guilt punches me at the obvious sadness in her eyes.

I haven’t responded to her last email.

I don’t know how to without revealing my identity. How will she react when she finds out she’s been pouring her heart out, revealing secrets I’m sure she hasn’t told her closest friends, to me? Someone she was wary of until recently?

What will she do when she finds out the person I talk about in my emails is her?

She eyes the door. “Um. I have to go. I need to head off to practice.”

“Practice?”

She grimaces. “Swimming. It’s all in my head, honestly. I swim just fine in the kiddie pool. My instructor says my strokes are solid, and my form is great. But the moment I step into the big pool, I freeze. I think it has something to do with what happened to me.”

My chest tightens, thinking about that horrid night. She doesn’t remember the details, but it must’ve been traumatizing, submerged in the dark waters, unable to escape, knowing she was going to die.

All because you didn’t teach her how to swim, Ethan.

Guilt seizes me, a vice around my neck.

“I’ll teach you,” I blurt out.

Her mouth drops open. “What?”

“Let me go with you. I’ve been swimming all my life. Let me teach you.”

Ten years too late, but please let me teach you how to swim now, Nova.

“B-But, it’s Tuesday. Don’t you need to eat dinner? It’s past five. And you don’t swim in the afternoons unless it’s Wednesday.”

A small thrill sweeps through me. She remembers my routine.

“Screw it. Swimming is a lifesaving skill. You want to learn. I’m good at it. Let me teach you.” Desperation grips me. I seize her hand, and those sky-blue eyes flicker—first to our hands, then to my face, then back again.

---