Page 88 of Make Out With A Merman

I lean back in the chair, close my eyes, and let the breeze run through my hair.

Because this camp?

This weird, magical, unpredictable place?

It’s not just where the story happened.

It’s wherewehappened.

And I’m not going anywhere.

CHAPTER 28

RYDER

It’s been three days since the rift closed.

The lake’s been still.

Too still, if you ask Torack. He says the water’s holding its breath, like it doesn’t quite trust us yet. Like it’s waiting to see what we do next.

I get that.

I’m kind of waiting on myself too.

But this morning, I make a decision.

Not because I’m pushed.

Not because I’m cornered.

Because for the first time in my life… Iwantto stay.

Not guard.

Not patrol.

Justbe here.

And build something.

With her.

Callie.

She’s back at the main dock right now, trying to wrangle three campers and a boat that somehow got filled with glitter. Jason claims it was “an act of divine expression.” I don’t ask questions.

I find her after the kids run off for lunch, crouched beside the toolshed, elbow-deep in a busted solar light.

“You got a sec?” I ask.

She glances up, wiping sweat off her brow with the back of her hand.

“Depends. You offering lunch or sarcasm?”

I crouch next to her. “Neither. Something better.”

She blinks. “Better than food? Whoareyou?”

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