Page 105 of Try Me

Reno Morales jogged over. “Let me help,” he said. Slinging Declan’s arm over his shoulder, he carried him to a grove of trees where they were hidden from the others.

“Can you fix him?” Reno asked.

Pearl glanced up sharply from Declan’s pale face. “What do you care?” she asked.

Reno’s lips thinned as he looked Declan over. “I need to beat him,” he said.

Pearl squinted at Reno, unsure whether to be angry or impressed. “I’ll do my best,” she said.

“We don’t have much time,” Reno said.

Pearl glanced down the beach to where the contestants in the exhibition were starting to line up. “I know,” she said, sighing. “Go find his board, will you?”

Reno took off down the beach, and Pearl sat down beside Declan. She rubbed his back as he started to shake. He muttered something she couldn’t understand.

“You’re okay,” she whispered. “You’re going to be okay.”

His skin was icy cold and clammy. She stroked his hair away from his face, and his eyes rose to meet hers. He seemed to see her for the first time, and he blinked in surprise. “Pearl?” His hand closed over her wrist as if he couldn’t trust his vision.

“I’m here,” she said.

Declan covered his face with his hands, pressing his palms against his eyes. “I can’t do this,” he said. “I thought I could, but I can’t.”

“It might be the hardest thing you’ve ever done,” Pearl said. “But you can do it. You can win, Declan. The only person who can beat you is yourself.”

He shook his head, moaning. “I can’t. I don’t deserve it.”

“You can.” She shook him hard. “You must.”

Declan dropped his hands and looked up at Pearl. She saw a glimmer of understanding and she hoped she’d gotten through to him at last.

A horn sounded on the beach, and Pearl realized they were calling everyone for the exhibition. If she didn’t go now, she would miss it.

Declan clutched Pearl’s hand so hard that her fingers ached. She squeezed him back, remembering how he’d held her hand on the plane when they hardly knew each other. Even then, he’d been her rock. Their eyes locked, and the noises of the beach faded into the background. Pearl stroked Declan’s cheek with her free hand, cupping his face.

“When you left this morning, I thought —” he started.

Pearl cut him off. “Shh. I’m here now.” She wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, God, I thought I’d lost you, and I couldn’t bear it. Don’t ever do that to me again.”

His arms circled her waist, and he pulled her so close that she was no longer sure who was comforting whom.

Their heartbeats synced. Their breaths fell into rhythm with each other. They were two halves of a whole that could never be divided.

She was going to miss the exhibition, but Pearl realized that it was only a contest. There would be plenty more contests in her life, but there was only one Declan Bishop — the man who spoke to her without saying a word, who moved with her on the waves as if they were one person, the man she loved.

“Declan.” Taking his face in both hands, she looked deeply into his eyes. “I love you.”

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were shining with laughter. “Took you long enough,” he said. He grabbed her face and kissed her mouth. “I love you, too,” he said against her lips.

Declan leaned forward and touched his forehead to Pearl’s. Heart to heart, soul to soul, they were united.

A horn sounded from the shore, announcing the start of the exhibition.

Declan startled at the sound. “The exhibition,” he said. “You’re going to miss it.”

Pearl held back tears. “I think I already did,” she said.

Declan raked a hand through his hair and muttered a curse. “I won’t ruin this for you,” he said, scrambling to his feet. Declan’s brow creased, and he scanned the beach as if the answer lay on the sand. Suddenly his face brightened and he grabbed Pearl’s hand, yanking her to her feet. “It’s not too late. Get your board and be ready,” he said.

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

He gave her that smile, the one that lit her up inside and made her knees turn to butter. “You’ll see,” he said, and disappeared into the crowd.

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