Page 40 of The Tides Between Us

“What are you doing?”I mouthed to him. With the amount of time we had been spending together, he was getting better at reading lips.

He tilted his head to the side. “Do you want me to let you go, princess?” A smile pulled on his lips. “Do you not want anyone to see us like this?”

My throat bobbed as I swallowed roughly. I mulled over his words for a moment while pulling my bottom lip between my teeth. This was different for me. In a way, I was like Wes. I knew all eyes were on the two of us right now because I had never brought a guy around everyone. No one was ever serious enough to introduce to my friends or family.

Is that what we were?

Were we something serious?

I shook my head at him.“No.”I paused for a moment as I wrapped my arms around the back of his neck.“Don’t let me go, Declan.”

Instead of signing the letters of his name, I signed the letterDand held it to my heart.

“What was that?” he questioned me as his eyes widened in surprise.

I swallowed roughly.“It’s the way I sign your name… you know, so I don’t have to sign the letters every time.”

His golden brown eyes shimmered under the sun hanging in the sky above us as emotion swirled within his irises. “I’ll never let you go,” he assured me as he pressed his forehead against mine. He pulled the two of us deeper into the water until neither of our feet could touch the bottom.

He didn’t break his promise. He didn’t let me go. Not until he finally walked us back to the beach, and only then did he let my feet touch the sand. But his hand still found mine as we walked back to everyone waiting for us on the beach.

I didn’t mean just in the ocean…

I didn’t want him to ever let me go.

CHAPTERTWENTY

DECLAN

Jumping up in the air, I caught the football Malakai hurled at me. I knew he was a professional golfer, but he surprised me with the strength of his throw. A part of me was wondering if he did it intentionally. He didn’t want to play with us, but we needed a fourth player. Nico and Wes declared themselves as the dream team, so that left me with this moody, broody guy instead.

I began to run through the sand, ducking past Wes as he dove at me. Malakai was deliberately slow as he moved away from Nico, yet he effortlessly caught the ball when I threw it back to him. He glanced at Nico and quickly shifted away from him. He stepped closer to the line drawn in the sand for a touchdown and at the last minute, he threw it back to me.

Wes tackled me, effectively knocking the ball free from my grip. I rolled across the rough surface with a twinge of annoyance nipping at my nerves. Wes laughed loudly and tossed the football to Nico. He held his hand out to me. “Sorry about that, man,” he said with a chuckle as he helped me to my feet. “Sometimes I play a little too aggressively. Blame it on the ice hockey.”

“I know what the three of you are up to,” I told him matter-of-factly. “This is like a hazing in a way. You’re all protective of Giana, which I don’t blame you for at all. I can take it.”

Wes winked. “Smart one, aren’t you?”

“Well, I’m not stupid.” I paused for a moment, nodding my head at my teammate. “What’s his deal, though? He’s, like, self-sabotaging by playing against me while he’s on my team.”

“Kai?” Wes said as he glanced over at my teammate who was walking over to Winter instead of continuing the game. “He’s a peculiar guy. Unless you’re his girlfriend, you’re relatively insignificant in his life.”

I watched as he dropped down onto the chair next to her. He only had eyes for her. Winter glanced over at him with a soft smile, her hand instinctively reaching out for him. “I can see that.” There was a part of me that realized that was what I wanted. I wanted what they had… and I couldn’t imagine it with anyone other than Giana.

Wes walked back over to where the girls were. My gaze followed him for a moment before landing on Giana. She was sitting on a chair and Harper was on a blanket by her feet. The two of them were deep in conversation, signing to one another. A smile danced across my lips as I watched them. I studied the side of Giana’s face, my eyes trailing over the perfect curves of her body as my gaze moved down farther.

She was absolutely breathtaking. The most beautiful thing to ever grace my vision.

“She’s pretty fucking special, isn’t she?” Nico questioned me as he stepped up behind me. I didn’t even hear him walking through the powder-like sand. I slowly turned around to face him. He was staring at his sister before directing his attention to me. “Mind if we have a word?”

“Not at all.” I shook my head, knowing this was coming. And I was fully prepared for this talk.

Nico motioned for me to walk with him and we headed down to the water. I stared out at the horizon, watching the way the ocean disappeared where it met the sky. It was as if it went on forever and ever.

“Tell me about yourself, Declan.”

I turned to face Nico. “There’s not much to tell. I grew up on the West Coast in Malibu. Grew up surfing and went professional when I was in my late teens. Haven’t looked back since.”

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