Page 52 of Make Out With A Merman

And the truth is, I’ve already chosen her. I just haven’t told her yet.

So I walk the length of the dock, each step slower than the last. My boots are silent on the worn wood. I stop when I’m close enough to see the glint of the lake reflected in her eyes.

She doesn’t turn.

“I thought maybe you’d keep avoiding me another week or two,” she says, her voice light, but tired.

“I was wrong,” I say.

That gets her attention.

She glances up at me. “About what?”

“About thinking I could keep you out.”

The silence stretches. She studies my face like she’s looking for the cracks.

“You think saying that’s gonna magically undo the way you shut me out after we”

“It’s not about undoing,” I cut in. “It’s aboutstarting.Right. This time.”

I sit beside her. The moonlight makes her look unreal. Like something summoned from salt and starlight.

Her voice drops. “Why now?”

“Because I can’t do this halfway anymore,” I say. “Not with you. Not with what’s coming.”

She stiffens. “Whatiscoming?”

I pause. Look out over the lake.

The water’s too calm. Too quiet. Like it’s listening.

“It’s moving again,” I say. “The rift. It’s close.”

“How close?”

“Close enough I can feel it in my spine. The deep’s turning over. It’s breathing up.”

She exhales slowly. “And you still want me near you, even with that?”

“I want youbecauseof that,” I say, voice steady. “Because I’ve never had someone look straight into the storm and not flinch.”

She watches me for a long time.

Then, quieter than I’ve ever heard her: “Ryder… I’m scared.”

I nod. “Me too.”

I lean in.

Her lips meet mine halfway.

And everything else, lake, sky, past falls away.

It’s not a perfect kiss.

It’s better.

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