Page 19 of The Casualty of Us
“Ophelia, Ophelia.” I look over at the sound of Evie’s voice, not at all liking the sly look in her eyes. “The lady doth—”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Protests too much, methinks.”
“Oh god,” I groan, dropping back down and covering my face with my hands. “Anything but Hamlet, please.”
The girls all start laughing at my expense until Ollie’s voice interrupts us suddenly.
“Ladies.” I turn my head to see my twin hanging off the side of the dock next to me. “Can I interest you in a game of Marco Polo?”
“Marco Polo?” I immediately dive into my duty of ego deflation. “What are you, five?”
Unfortunately, Evie pipes up before my words can have much effect. “I’ll play.”
“Same,” Kennedy adds.
Ollie shoots me a smug look, and I roll my eyes at him as he tacks on, “Marley?” A hopefulness to his voice that most people probably wouldn’t catch. “Want to play?”
“What the hell.” I turn my head in time to catch her shrug carelessly. “I’m not one to turn down a good game.”
“You going to come, O?”
“Nah.” I look back at Ollie with a dramatic sigh. “Not looking for a repeat of us trying to drown each other again.”
“I didn’t try to drown you,” he grumbles.
“No,” I agree seriously, even dropping my brows a little before shooting him a grin. “You just complained to Mom for a week that you still had water in your lungs from your near brush with death and screamed ‘Five feet!’ anytime I came into the room.” The girls burst into laughter around me, and Ollie’s cheeks turn pink as he quickly pushes off the dock, leaving me to wiggle my fingers at him while calling out, “But have fun, big brother!”
Marley smirks at me while pulling off her cover-up. “You’re terrible.”
“And don’t you forget it.” I laugh softly, closing my eyes as the splashes of them getting in the water fill the air around me.
The sun on my skin relaxes me to the point of admitting to myself that I’m probably too tired to even keep myself afloat in the water right now. A week of school with almost no sleep has sent my energy levels plummeting and it’s taken everything in me to just stay in the present the past couple of days. To keep my mind from drifting too far off in classes. To battle the dull pound that starts up in my head by midday.
That’s how it happens, though.
The less sleep I get these days…the more the memories seem to pull at me.
Maybe I can catch a quick nap out here. It’d be easier to do with Ollie’s voice reassuringly calling out Marco in the distance than alone in my dorm anyway.
I fold my hands over my stomach, decision made, and blow out a deep breath that has my body practically melting againstthe warm wood of the dock, fully prepared to drift so that my mind can finally find some rest when a drop of cool water falls against my cheek. Quickly followed by another.
“You’re stunning, you know that?”
I crack my eyes to see Hayes leaning over me with water dripping down from the strands of his black hair to settle against my skin.
“You’re supposed to be playing a game,” I chide automatically.
“I lost.”
He grins like the opposite is true, and my brows fall. “In two minutes?”
“What can I say?” He reaches over, bracing his hand on my other side and effectively caging me in. “Marco Polo.” All traces of amusement leave his face. “Just not the game I was born to play.”
“Well, I have news for you.” I reach up and give his shoulder a hard push, making him topple to my left. “Neither am I.”
He falls to the dock with a laugh before propping himself up on his elbow to stare down at me unapologetically.
