Page 4 of Say You Love Me

“Ouch.” Ava attempts to lean against the pillar. She misjudges the distance and ends up stumbling toward the water.

The man reaches out with another frustrated sigh, stopping her from falling off. “Go home, Ava. You’re drunk.”

“I might be drunk,” she starts to lecture him, wagging her finger in the air, “but at least…” She stops, a confused frown passing over her pretty face. “I’ve forgotten where I was going with that, but you’re drunk too, Hudson James, and don’t you try denying it.”

I’m deadly still, trying not to alert them to the fact that I’ve been here, listening in on their conversation the whole time.

There’s a shout in the distance and another man appears on the dock. “Liam!” Hudson yells, catching his attention. “Your sister needs to go to bed.”

Ava pouts heavily, narrowing her eyes and glaring at Hudson before walking toward her brother. “This could have been the best night of your life, but you just fucked it up, Hudson James.” She sways unsteadily so Hudson reaches for her again, balancing her before she rips her arm out of his grasp and hobbles toward her brother.

“Fuck,” he curses quietly and runs his hand through his hair.

He still hasn’t noticed me sitting in the shadows.

He doesn’t strike me as handsome. Not then, anyway. It’s too dark to notice the way his eyelashes turn bronze at the tips. Nor do I see the patch of gray hair just above his left ear, remnants from a childhood injury. And he hasn’t yet pinned those eyes on me. Those eyes which, in the years to come, would go from looking at me with longing to looking at me with loathing.

Rifling through his pockets, he pulls out a cigarette. He turns away to light it, shielding it from the slight breeze. There’s a splash and he jolts, quickly hiding the cigarette behind his back before a bird takes flight. He chuckles and brings it to his lips again, inhaling deeply before blowing the smoke out in a long stream. Then he coughs. He coughs, and he coughs again. Hesitantly, he brings the cigarette to his lips and inhales more gently. Once again he coughs. He looks at the cigarette as though surprised, and then holds it at his side, content to let it burn unassisted.

I clear my throat. “You’re not very good at that.”

He doesn’t startle at the sound of my voice. He merely turns his head, leaning around the pillar to peer at me.

“At what?”

I nod to the cigarette burning in his fingers. “Smoking.”

His brows lift. “No, I’m not.”

Now the two bare feet appear on the other side of me before lowering into the water as he sits down. He sits close enough that his thigh presses against mine.

“How long have you been sitting here?” He tilts the cigarette my way, but I shake my head.

“Long enough.”

He takes one more puff before flicking it into the water. The red ember burns briefly before getting extinguished and disappearing into the darkness.

“I don’t actually smoke.”

“Sure.” I nod and glance at him sideways. “That’s why you just had a cigarette in your mouth.”

“I thought it might help.”

“With what exactly?”

He shrugs. “Life.”

“I think it does pretty much the opposite of that.”

He chuckles. “You might just have a point there.” Tucking his hands beneath his thighs, his right wrist presses against my hip. For some reason, this sends a jolt of excitement through me, as though his touch alone holds power. He peers into the darkness of the water. Silence stretches between us but he doesn’t seem to notice, or if he does, he doesn’t care. He just sits there until I’m the one who speaks.

“Well, that was rather awkward.” I nod back to where the girl had walked down the dock.

He sighs. “Awkward doesn’t begin to explain it. She’s my best friend’s little sister.”

“Oh,” is all I say.

“She’s had a crush on me for years.”

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