Page 117 of Luck Be Mine
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Isn’t it? You’ve been shadowboxing with this idea for years. Now you’re trying to make it stick?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to lean too hard on you.”
“Like I leaned on you when I was hurt? It was okay for me, but wrong for you?” The cold bit at her, and she kicked away, stroking for shore.
“I’m pulling you down, Cait,” he yelled.
She turned, swallowing hard. “Then I go down with you. To the bottom. Together.”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I want.”
Pain ripped through her. “Wow. There’s a statement.” She fought the waves into shallow water.
Hunt trailed her. Not to save her, to argue. “I don’t want you sacrificing for me.”
“I would. In a heartbeat. As you would for me. Has it changed?”
“No. I love you, Cait.”
“Except when it gets hard and you make excuses. Thanks. Clarified my position. Do the hard stuff, frogman. Straighten this out in your head.”
“I’m trying.”
“If this is the result, I don’t know what to think.” She let all of it show: the hurt, the anger and the tears. “When I was injured, you were there. I won’t do any less for you. But I learned no one was coming to save me. Not even you. I had to save myself.”
She hit soft sand and went for her shoes.
Hunt cleared the water and grabbed his shirt. “I wouldn’t do that to you, to us. Commit suicide. I wouldn’t.”
“How would I know?”
Fear locked her throat. With nothing left to say, Cait climbed to her car. Yep. Blew up her marriage. Like she predicted.
§§§§§§§§§§
◊ A Choice ◊
He followed her home — sand rubbing in his swim shoes and the smell of the ocean’s sour salt clinging in his mouth and nose.
He popped the glove box and grabbed his phone out of habit.
Twenty-three texts. Seven missed calls. When he was home, he answered. He gave her his schedule. He didn’t leave her dangling.
Truth slammed him, brine-hard.
Cait hated swimming.
She’d come for him. A SEAL. Into the rough water.
I go down with you. To the bottom. Together.
He’d broken faith. Cracked the foundation they’d built. Breached trust.
The reality rose like Poseidon from the deep and hit him square. Would he give up the good from the last five years? No.
“For a smart man, Travis Hunter, you can be a damn fool.”
