Page 23 of Make Out With A Merman

I run down the shallows to meet them.

“Got ’em?” I shout.

“Safe,” he grits out, hauling them both through water thatstillwants to pull them back.

Zoe starts crying when her feet hit sand. Gabriel clings to my side like a barnacle.

I glance at Ryder.

He looks furious.

Not at them.

At the lake.

Like it betrayed him.

And for the first time, I see it, that edge in his eyes isn’t just control.

It’sfear.

Some people love coffee.Some people love long walks on the beach.

I, apparently, love arguing with a brooding merman about water safety at eight in the damn morning.

“You can’t just tape off half the lake like it’s a crime scene,” I snap, hands on my hips. “Weneedthose zones for training.”

Ryder doesn’t flinch. Just finishes wrapping a bright red cord around the main dock post, ties it like he’s angry at knots. “We almost lost two campers yesterday.”

“Almost,” I say, stepping closer. “You pulled them out. We learned from it. We adapt. That’s how this works.”

He straightens, towering over me, shirt clinging to his chest like betrayal. “We don’t adaptaftersomeone drowns.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m not saying we play dodgeball in the rift. But we can’t just throw up warning signs and pretend the water stops existing.”

His jaw clenches. “I’m protecting them.”

“No,” I say, poking him in the sternum, “you’recontrollingeverything.”

His gaze sharpens. “And you’re dismissing risk like it’s optional.”

I laugh, short and sharp. “You think because I wear floaties and talk glitter I don’t see danger? I saw Max’s face when that current hit. Iseeit, Ryder. I just don’t let it rule me.”

He steps forward, close enough to feel the heat rolling off him.

“Then start acting like it matters,” he growls.

My blood spikes, hot and furious. “Don’t youdaretalk to me like I’m not out here every day keeping them safe in my own way.”

A beat.

His chest rises and falls once. Twice.

He says, quieter, “You have no idea what’s coming.”

I stare at him, my heart thudding so loud I think the water hears it.

“What do you mean?”

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