Page 89 of Begin Again Again

Beth gave him the finger and he laughed.

She reached the shore, relieved she’d taken the long way down. She tested a toe in the billabong and gasped. The water was chilly. On instinct she glanced up and found Byron staring at her with open hunger. She put aside her discomfort and waded into the water. Silt squished between her toes and gooseflesh broke out across her body. When the water was up to her waist, Beth inhaled. This was always the hardest part. She bent her knees and dove. Cold kissed her scalp, separating every strand of her hair. Water rushed into her ears and mouth, tasting of earth and minerals. She kicked as hard as she could, swimming downward until pressure built in her ears. Then she let herself surface like a cork, popping up metres from where she thought she’d been.

“Good?” Byron called from somewhere behind her.

Beth pushed her hair out of her face. Byron was floating on his back like a lily pad, looking more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. The wind whistled around the rocky bowl, exaggerating birdsong and lazy insect hums, making the whole place sound like a noise therapy recording.

“It is good,” Beth said. “This place is so… Australian.”

“Yeah, it is. Come over here.”

“Are you going to dunk me?”

“Take the risk, Horoscopes.”

She swam toward him, a slow frog crawl. Byron reached out before she got there, wrapping her up in his arms and infusing her with his warmth. “Hi.”

“Hey.”

He raised a palm to her head, as though to dunk her.

“I will murder you.”

“Well, in that case.” He lifted her to the warm rock of his chest and held her there. Beth let him cradle her, almost bursting with happiness, and listened to his heartbeat. Bump-bump. Bump-bump.

“I’m so glad I’m here,” he said.

Beth smiled against his chest.

“It’s been ages since I’ve come out to the pools. I’ve missed it.”

She didn’t know what she’d been expecting him to say, but it wasn’t that. She felt her face heat and slid off him into the water.

“Everything okay?”

“Of course.” She treaded water, avoiding his gaze. “So, you’ve been here before?”

“Heaps,” he said, looking a little puzzled. “I love swimming. Prefer the coast though.”

Beth pictured him cruising to the beach in his Hilux, a big board strapped to the roof. “Do you surf?”

“Nah, always wanted to learn though.”

Beth smiled. Every guy did. Though she could imagine Byron might actually be good at it. “How’s your balance?”

“Pretty decent. It’s important for footy.” He turned away, his jaw tight, and Beth didn’t understand until she did. She gave him a sympathetic smile. “You mean when you used to play for the…”

Fuuuuuck.

He raised a brow. “When I used to play for the…?”

A beat of silence.

“So, you know?”

“I mean, Laramayhave researched you and that researchmighthave led to me knowing that you played for the Hammerheads?”

Byron stared across the billabong. It couldn’t have been clearer he wished she hadn’t done that. Beth wished she hadn’t either. And she wished she hadn’t pinned looking him up on Lara—that wasn’t fair. She’d chosen to read the iPad article. She crawled a little closer to him in the water. “Sorry, I should have waited for you to tell me yourself.”

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