Page 76 of Touch Me

That fire I’ve spent years admiring is peeking its head above water.

“I’ll stay right by your side. You fall, I fall.” I feel like there’s a parallel to draw from that, but I have no time to dwell on it since Cassie’s already paddling.

“Wait for me. I’ll tell you when.”

She nods and keeps paddling. I look back just as the wave starts to raise the back of my board.

“Get your knees up,” I instruct, watching her do as I say, and I pull my knees up as well as the wave crests our boards. “Now.” I pop up to a crouch and check my balance, then look to my left to see Cassie’s empty board.

Shit.

I dive toward her board and kick as hard as I can. The weight of the tether tugs at my ankle, and I reach down and release the strap and kick toward the flashing glow stick bobbing in and out of sight. All I can see is the one attached to her board. I can’t see the second one she hung around her neck.

Where is she?

Did her strap fall off when she fell? Did she get separated from her surfboard? Is she a strong swimmer?

Why didn’t I ask her that before?

I break through the water just before I reach her board and she’s hanging on with the biggest smile on her face. Glow stick still around her neck, lighting up her face from below.

“Jace, that was incredible. Did you see me? I stood up for a second.” She’s beaming from ear to ear and kicking her feet behind her to splash in the water.

“You did great.” I smile on the outside while my insides shred to pieces.

I didn’t see her.

By the time I had my own balance, she was already in the water. Trying to swallow my stomach that’s now lodged in my throat proves difficult. I look back at Cassie and see her teeth chattering through her smile.

“You’re cold.” I tread water next to her board.

“I’m fine. That was so much fun.” She seems to notice I’m treading water and looks around us. “Where’s your board?”

“Hopefully making its way to shore. I kicked it off when I couldn’t see you.”

“Oh shit, Jace. I’m sorry. I should've yelled that I was okay.”

“It’s fine, really. I’m just going to swim toward the beach and try to find it.” Before she can protest, I dive underwater and start kicking.

This was quite possibly the worst idea I’ve ever had. Cassie could’ve been seriously hurt. And I couldn’t even find her in the dark if she had lost that glow stick that’s hanging loosely around her neck.

I point myself toward shore and kick and paddle with everything I’ve got. My arms and legs ache and my lungs burn with my efforts. I glance back every other time my head breaks the surface to breathe to make sure I see her behind me. I make it to shore and stalk up the beach. My breathing is labored and my brain is spinning out of control.

Jogging to our bags, I grab a towel while Cassie drags her board out of the water, and I meet her halfway, taking the board from her. She looks exhausted.

The least I could do after almost letting her drown is accompany her back to shore and carry her board. But my brain is so frazzled I can’t even think. I hand her the towel and turn away to walk the board back to where our belongings are.

Cassie walks up behind me, but I don’t turn toward her. I grab another towel to dry off and throw my t-shirt over my head. I repack my bag until she appears in front of me, eyes assessing my aggressive packing.

“Jace? Everything okay?”

Before my brain can filter my mouth I spin on her. “No, everything's not okay. You could’ve drowned and I would’ve been too late.”

Out of any response I could have predicted, I get the one I least expect. She throws her head back and laughs.

I turn back around and resume packing the bags and gathering our bottles. I spot a garbage can and stalk over to throw the bottles away, Cassie following me the whole way.

“Jace.” She giggles. “Jace.” She laughs. “Please stop.”

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