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The crease didn’t unfurl from his brows; in fact, it only deepened. He looked contemplative, completely engrossed.

My skin heated, despite the chilly water lapping at my skin. “I’m getting carried away,” I said through a chuckle. “I just love moments like that, but in real life. I wish I could solidify them. Prolong them. Make them last forever.”

Reed drank me in, the glimmer in his eyes brightening with tenderness while he seemingly mulled over my long-winded dissertation on blips. “What about journalism?”

I shrugged hopelessly.

That would never happen—I had no money for college and I wasn’t good at doing hard things.

Becoming a journalist would be really damn hard.

“Putting thoughts into words isn’t my strong suit. As I’m sure you’ve noticed.” I shot him a weak smile. “My Nana always wanted me to pursue business, but my heart was never in things like numbers and quotas.”

“Sounds like your heart already knows what it wants. Go with the blips.”

“I wish it were that simple.”

“It is. People always overcomplicate shit.”

“That’s because life is complicated,” I countered, peeking up at him through water-dotted lashes.

“Is it, though?” He held my gaze. “Life is living. If you’re not living exactly the way you want to live, then what’s the fucking point?”

My chest fluttered.

I thought about my sad life that lacked the vibrancy and purpose Reed was so well-versed in. Everything was hollow. Everything except for my heart. And having an abundant heart in a hollow world was an affliction I was helpless to overcome.

I chewed on my cheek and fidgeted my feet back and forth.

And somehow…our toes touched.

My naked, wet toes brushed the leather of his boots, and I realized we were a mere waterline apart. Within the interplay of words and the stretch of frozen-in-time seconds, he’d moved closer to the water, and I’d moved closer to the sand.

Reed’s gaze flickered over my body, scanning up my lightly bronzed legs, soaked denim skirt, and landing on my band tee. He swallowed again, blinking up to meet my eyes. “You like the Gin Blossoms?”

Nodding, I licked my lips that were sheathed in my favorite color of lipstick—Copperglow Berry. The makeup, paired with my five-foot-seven height, made me look older than I was, which was always the desired intent.

I thought maybe Reed liked the way I looked. He kept studying me in a way that made my skin itch. But not like spiders crawling down my spine in the same way Father’s voice boomed through me and tangled me in cobwebs, but like little fireflies with streaks of light skittering across my chest.

I rubbed my bicep, glancing down at my T-shirt showcasing the New Miserable Experience album cover. “Found Out About You is my favorite song. Have you ever listened to the lyrics? They’re beautifully tragic.”

“Huh.” He tilted his toes forward, pressing them to mine. “Can’t say that I have.”

Do you like tragic things? Are you drawn to the ghosts in my eyes?

Stupid, fruitless thoughts.

If he ever sat down with my ghosts and had a heart-to-heart, he’d be running for the hills.

“Are you going to join me on the shore?” He leaned back on his palms and tipped his face skyward, squinting at the stars.

“Nope. Are you going to join me in the water?”

He shook his head. “No.”

A few quiet drumbeats rolled by, our toes still touching, our connection simmering and awaiting the strike of a matchstick.

I rubbed my lips together. “What’s your daughter like?”

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