Page 17 of The Fallacy of True Love
I quickly transferred my eyes to his left arm. Sure enough, his entire outer bicep looked red and swollen.
“Didn’t you see me out there? This is the surf zone. That area over there is where you swim,” I said, jerking my head to the right.
He looked out into the horizon. “I know.”
“You could have died!”
“I know,” he repeated without turning his head. “I wasn’t thinking.”
“I thought you were a genius. Or is that reserved for your classes? Is practical thinking beyond you?”
“Damn.” He glanced at me. “Good to know you like me just as much as you did last time.”
So he remembered me—probably because he rarely ever met anyone he couldn’t charm. “Is it too much to hope there won’t be a next time?” I muttered loud enough for him to hear.
His eyes shuttered. “I didn’t exactly plan to be here.”
That explained the underwear. A part of me wanted to ask why he was here then, but more than that, I just wanted to move on with my day.
Before I could, I had to take care of this guy first. “Can you stand?”
He frowned at me. “Why?”
“So I can bring you to the clinic,” I snapped. “You might have a concussion.”
“I wish I did so I could forget the last twenty-four hours.” Snorting, he shook his head. “As if that would make a difference.”
“I’m serious. You could have?—”
“I’m fine,” he said sharply. “You don’t have to pretend like you care.”
My teeth gnashed together. Was he kidding me? Here I was trying to help him out when he was the one who’d swam where he shouldn’t have and gotten himself hurt. He could have also hurt me. Rather than apologize or be grateful, he was acting like a brat.
He was wrong about me too. I wasn’t pretending to care—I was trying to be a decent human. But if he preferred to think the worst of me, I wasn’t going to waste more of my energy trying to convince him otherwise.
“So you don’t want me to bring you to the clinic,” I demanded as I stood and dusted off my legs. “This is my final offer.”
“No,” he answered, staring at the sea again.
I should have left it at that, but my mouth opened again. “Make sure to clean and dress that wound. It’ll hurt like a bitch.”
“Apparently, that’s the theme of the season.”
I could tell him to quit the self-pity and be thankful it wasn’t anything worse, but who was I to preach about positivity? Optimism had never been part of my programming.
And while people could accuse me of being many things, a hypocrite wasn’t one of them.
I removed the leash from my ankle and pulled up my board. Might as well call it quits. I’d barely gotten any time on the waves, but my headspace was shot.
This city boy had brought his negative energy to my sanctuary and ruined my morning. If I had any bit of luck on my side, he would only be here for a day or two and we both could go back to our peaceful lives.
“Hey!”
I stopped. Despite myself, I glanced back.
He hadn’t moved from his spot by the water, but now he was looking at me. “I owe you one.”
“You can pay me back by avoiding me.”
