Page 60 of Problematic Summer Romance

Next to me there are gasps.Oh my gods.Holy shits.

Avery is conscious as Conor carries her out of the ocean. Her coughing is chest-deep, but she’s breathing, her lungs forcefully expelling water. When I see her standing on her feet I feel a massive wave of relief. Everyone crowds around her, asking her if she’s okay, if they should call someone,What do you need?but she clings to Conor, who pulls the wet hair back from her face. When he bends forward to wrap a towel around her shoulder, I watch her laugh and hug him, arms tight around his waist.

My relief turns into something else—something sour that disgusts me.

Nyota’s voice makes me jump. “You think she faked it?” she asks, suddenly next to me.

“What? Absolutelyno.”

“Yeah. Me neither, sadly. Maybe the weddingiscursed, after all.”

We exchange a long look. Then we both laugh, a mix of nervousness, adrenaline crash, and incredulity at the absurd situation. A few feet away, everyone’s talking at once.

“Ny, I…This could have gone so bad.”

“I know.” Nyota pats my shoulder. “The thing is, it was prime romance material.”

“Was it?”

“Yup. Pretty sure I’ve read a book in which this exact scene occurs. The guy saves the girl, who happens to be his estranged former lover.”

“Yeah?” I swallow. I’m not—I don’t want to feel like I do now. If something had happened to Avery, I’d be devastated. What the hell is wrong with me? “What comes next? In the book, I mean.”

“I believe that the brush with death rekindles their love, and after a passionate declaration they celebrate the impermanence of life with several bouts of improbably orgasmic sexual intercourse.”

“Sounds like a good book. Maybe you should bring it on our next beach vacation.”

“Oh, I will.”

“Cool. We’re going to buddy-read it.”

“Oh, no, Maya.” She wraps an arm around my waist. “We’re going to buddy–set it on fire.”

We laugh again, a bit hysterical. Until: “Ma-da?” Something warm squeezes my hand. Kaede, pointing at the wave that rudely dragged her pail away.

I gasp theatrically. “What happened to your pail? We have to rescue it, don’t we?”

She nods urgently, and together we set out for the task.

The last thing I see before turning around is Conor, carrying Avery up the staircase toward the villa.

Chapter 19

Three years, two months, two weeks, and six days earlier

Edinburgh, Scotland

Of course, Conor’s staying at The Balmoral.

I would tease him about it, but there are two reasons why that won’t be happening.

The first is that I wouldn’t want to provoke him into dropping me. As it turns out, the alcohol-metabolizing enzymes I’ve been working on must be on vacation. I’m not drunk, but Iamtipsy, and I made the crucial mistake of tripping over a cobblestone as I animatedly explained to Conor that in the event of an apocalypse, I would lie down in the streets and let the zombies take me—because Icouldsurvive longer, but why would I want to?

He decided that I needed to be carried.

I decided not to protest too much.

Thesecondand most important reason is that I’m too concernedwith prying a story out of him. “What do you mean, your fatherhiredher?”

---