Page 33 of Anathema Codex

“Not all of us jump headfirst into absolutely everything,” I snark, taking my time as the water reaches my hips. My plan is to wait here so I can adjust to it, but Aftyn suddenly bursts out of the water next to me. Before I can stop him, he scoops me up and tosses me farther out into the lake. I scream something at him just before I go under, the chill pushing the rest of my air out as I bounce back up from the bottom.

“Dammit, Aftyn!” I shout as soon as I get my head above water again, but he’s just laughing, floating on his back a few yards away. “God, you’re such an asshole.”

“We don’t have all day for you to be a princess about the water, Willa.”

Splashing him, I roll my eyes, but I know it’s a mistake the second he looks at me. Aftyn is upright in a flash, that sly grin tilting his lips just before he swings his arm across the top of the water to send a wall of water at my face.

“You ass!” Wiping my face, I lean back and float so I can kick water right back at him. Soon enough we’re in a full-on water war, but Aftyn is definitely winning. He keeps going under just so he can pick me up and throw me.

If I had any make-up left before this, it’s definitely gone now… but as our laughter winds down, I don’t even care. It’s been way too long since Aftyn and I just hung out together without some alternate agenda for one or both of us.

Of course, I’m already driving him to Arizona in my car… but it’s still nice.

Both of us just floating, his hand reaching out to find mine so that we can link our fingers and stay together while the clouds roll by in a never-ending heather gray blanket.

This moment—this moment right now—makes the entire shitshow of a trip worth it, because for once Aftyn isn’t putting on a show or trying to be the biggest asshole in the room. It’s just us.

Like it was always supposed to be.

TWENTY-THREE

Battleaxe pt. 2

AFTYN

Being in the lake alone with Wills, away from the absolute mess that is Daphne, feels a lot better than it should.

I know that eventually we’ll be able to ditch her and I’m hoping that it’s before we get to Lakyn’s.

I’m still not entirely sure how I’ll react to seeing him in person, but I’m sure it will be better than how I would react to seeing Mom every day.

“What’s wrong, Aftyn?” Wills asks, pushing my damp hair away from my forehead.

“Huh?” I ask distractedly.

“You’ve got that Meyer scowl happening so…”

I chuckle as I do my best to force a smile onto my face, though from the way she squeezes my hand, I know that I’ve only deepened the scowl.

“Thinking about Mom,” I tell her as I look back up at the sky.God, I wish it would rain. Drowning in the lake right now with my best friend would put Romeo and Juliet to shame.

“Well don’t,” she says as she moves closer to me and wraps an arm around my waist. Wills places her head against my chest, and I breathe her in, completely intoxicated by her scent and the freshwater all around us. “She always puts you in a bad mood, and I think we’ve both had enough attitudes on this trip to last the rest of the way.”

Normally, when I make a move on Willa, it’s calculated and there’s been plenty of thought put behind it. The bitch packs a mean swing and I know that I always have to be in a position to dodge it, but…

“Hey,” I say softly.

Willa looks up at me with a curious look in her eyes, and a smile on her lips. I get it; she thinks that she’s already calmed me down, but just once I’d like to know what she tastes like without having to fight for it.

Taking a deep breath, I lower my lips against hers and hold her against me.

The sliver of time between us brings forth a maelstrom of emotions in me that I didn’t even know I had for her.

“Fuck off, Aftyn!” she barks, shoving me away roughly and destroying the moment before I’ve even had a chance to fully embrace it—and her.

I throw my hands up in the air before I turn away from her and swim a few yards away. Turning on my back, I decide to float for a little bit, glancing up at the sky when I know that the only way to get Willa to understand that it’s always ever been us—and should be—is to tell her a story.

A smirk creases my lips as I begin.

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