Page 66 of Make Out With A Merman

And gods, I love him for it.

I’m not a hero.

I’m barely a functioning adult.

But I know this, if the rift rises, if it tries to take him, if it threatens these kids or this place.

It’ll have to get throughmefirst.

So yeah.

I’m making a deal with a precocious thirteen-year-old witch with flair for the dramatic and a probably-illegal stash of enchanted glitter.

And yeah, maybe that’s reckless.

Maybe it won’t work.

But if I don’t try, if I just stand back and watch the lake eat the person I love?

That would break me more than any magic ever could.

So I close my fingers around the compass.

Take one last breath.

And whisper to the lake, to the stars, to whatever’s listening.

“Not without a fight.”

CHAPTER 22

RYDER

The night air is cool against my scales, but every part of me is on fire, thanks to the woman beside me. We stole away from the cabins, drawn by the need to find a moment alone. The solar lantern platform hovers above the water, casting a gentle, otherworldly glow around us. Below, the lake is almost too still, holding its breath as we find our way to the center of the platform.

Callie walks beside me, her hand in mine, fingers laced tightly. She looks up at me, those green eyes reflecting the light of the lanterns like stars in their own right. The freckles across her cheeks are constellations I want to trace with my lips, and the red of her hair reminds me of the sunrise over the ocean back home, a promise of something beautiful.

"You okay?" she asks, her voice soft, like she's worried about breaking the silence.

I nod. "Just... thinking."

She tugs me closer, her thumb brushing the back of my hand. "About what?"

I take a deep breath, the weight on my chest lifting slightly as the words find their way out. "You know that night on the lake? When the rift almost took me?"

Her grip tightens. "I do."

"I think... I think that's when I realized I couldn't lose you."

Callie smiles, but there's sadness behind it. "You think that's whenyourealized it?"

I tilt my head. "What do you mean?"

"I realized I couldn't lose you the night we met."

I raise an eyebrow. "When you nearly impaled yourself on those inflatable mermaids?"

She laughs. "Such a romantic, Ryder. I’ll have you know, the mermaids were retaliating."

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