Page 30 of Paradise

I see Hayden farther out, yelling for Levi as well, and then Carson taps me on the shoulder. “Jump down.”

I don’t hesitate, throwing my body off the side of Carson’s board into the cold water, and swimming as fast as I can. Carson jumps from his board, leaving it behind, and swims alongside me toward where Levi has gone under. We battle the strength of the waves, the pouring of the rain making it hard to breathe even when we come up for air.

“Levi!” I hear Hayden scream, so I wipe my eyes to clear some of the saltwater to see how close I am.

Hayden is ripping the Velcro from his ankle and diving under a wave, his abandoned board catching on the wave and crashing toward the shore. Carson grabs onto me as a wave builds next to us, his arms going around my waist as we dip under the water, and when we finally come up for air again, my arms go around his neck.

“Logan, get to the beach!” Carson yells, letting his hands slide from my waist.

“But Levi!” I yell back, digging my fingers into his neck.

“Hayden has him.”

I crane my neck to the side, kicking my legs to stay above water, and see Hayden dragging Levi’s unmoving body behind him, trying to hold him above the water, but struggling. Carson takes off, and I follow him, using my arms to push myself through the salty ocean to get to my boys, my family, my brothers.

“Levi!” I scream, pushing myself even harder after them.

I finally get close enough to the shore where I can reach the sandy ground, so I do my best to take off running after them. Hayden has Levi thrown over his shoulder, the waves crashing harder behind them as he moves farther away. With the strength of the wind, the ocean seems like a black pit of death.

I’m the last one to reach the shore, and when I do, Hayden has thrown Levi down on the sand and is pounding him on the chest.

“Breathe, fucking breathe, you idiot!” Hayden yells, then he slaps Levi across the face.

“Hayden!” I yell, diving onto the sand to grab him, but Levi comes to and leans to the side, choking out water and what looks like some seaweed.

“Oh my God.” Hayden sighs, exhaustion taking over his muscles as he falls limp onto the sand, talking to no one in particular. “I thought he was fucking dead.”

Levi chokes out some more water, pounding on his own chest now.“Jesucristo,”he gasps out in Spanish. “That was fucking sick!”

Carson laughs, falling flat onto the sand too. “You fucking idiot.”

“Sick!?” I scream, lunging for Levi and landing directly on top of him. I slap his chest, his arms, his face. “We thought you were fucking dead!”

Hayden is still heaving, trying to get air back into his lungs, but he laughs with Carson.

Levi chuckles, grabbing my wrists as he continues to cough. “I’m fine, Lo.”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I feel them fill with tears, and then I let my body fall lax on top of Levi’s. My lungs deflate in relief. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

Levi is still coughing but wraps his arms around me anyway, repeating himself. “I’m fine.”

The rain hasn’t stopped, so I roll off of Levi to lie flat on my back so it hits my face. My chest heaves, and I close my eyes to savor the feeling of lying on the wet sand with my three favorite people—even if it is after a near-death experience.

“I guess we’re gonna have to pay for those boards,” Levi says casually, and we all burst into laughter. I wipe the water from my face as I sit up, using my hands to shield my eyes from the rain, so I can stare out into the ocean. I can only spot one board floating in the water, and I’m sure the second I get into the water, it’ll be taken away by a wave.

“Oh well,” I sigh, standing up and holding a hand out for Levi. “Can you stand up?”

There’s redness across his arm and stomach, probably from hitting the ocean floor too hard, but he grins at me as his hand slides into mine and he stands. “I’mfine, Lo.”

I roll my eyes at him, dropping his hand to look along the edge of the ocean for my shorts. I find them in a soaking wet and sandy pile about five feet away, and once I’ve rolled them up and squeezed the water out of them, I turn to look at the boys again. They’re laughing, both Carson and Hayden slapping the redness on Levi’s side and making fun of him, and I chuckle to myself as I walk back to them.

The rain is getting lighter, and the sun is breaking through some of the dark clouds in the sky, and when I slide my hand into Carson’s, he squeezes my fingers tight.

“All right,” Hayden says. “Let’s go pay for these boards, then go inside.”

I shake my head, keeping my hand in Carson’s, and we follow behind Hayden and Levi toward the tiki hut. A smile pulls up my lips, even with the rush of emotions still burning through me, and something inside my chest feels full and lucky. Lucky that Levi is okay, and full because I’m completely happy with these three idiots that I get to call my best friends.

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