Page 42 of Persuaded

“No, no! Oh fuck!” She laughed. “Okay, I’m gonna jump a wave. It’s not that cold!”

“Liz, no!” Finn snapped the words, barked them like a command.

She spun around and stared at him for a beat. “I don’t do ‘no,’” she said, then set her jaw and took another step further out. “I’m gonna jump one wave. Crap, I can’t feel my toes!”

She staggered under the impact of the next wave even though the water only reached her knees, obviously alcohol impaired.The wave after that rolled in stronger; it swept up around her thighs, knocking her back a step and soaking the bottom of her heavy coat. Joshua’s stomach twisted anxiously as he retreated up the beach away from the frothing water. “This is stupid,” he muttered and saw an answering grimace on Finn’s face. “Liz, you’re too deep!”

“He’s right,” Lexa yelled. “You’ve won the dare, come back in!”

“No, fuck it, I’m doing this!” Liz shouted back, laughing and struggling to hold her coat out of the water as the next wave bowled toward her. “On three... One, two—”

With a triumphant yell, she jumped...

But something went wrong. She stumbled as she landed, her sodden coat dragging in the water. Windmilling her arms, she lurched backwards but couldn’t find her balance and with a shriek she went down. Under. The next wave rolled right over the place where she’d been standing.

Joshua’s heart pounded hard, his whole body freezing in panic. For a terrible, endless moment everyone stood staring, waiting for her to get up.

But she didn’t.

She didn’t get up.

And then Finn yelled “Liz!” and bolted into the water, falling to his knees as he reached her.

Ali screamed, Lexa cursed, and Joshua pushed past them both to reach Finn. The cold water hit like a punch, stealing his breath as it swirled up around his knees. Finn had dragged Liz’s head out of the water, dark blood blooming across her face, but they had to get her onto the beach. “Finn.” Joshua shook his shoulder. “Come on, move.”

Finn nodded, dazed, and between them they dragged Liz up onto the sand. Finn put his hand to her mouth. “She’s breathing,” he said, voice shaky. “Thank fuck.” Finn startedpeeling her sopping coat off and Joshua unzipped his jacket, handing it to Finn to wrap around her.

“We need an ambulance.” Joshua’s teeth clattered together. “Someone call an ambulance.”

Finn pulled out his phone and cursed. “No signal.” He jerked to his feet, looked up at Sean’s house. “I’ll go—”

“Wait!” Joshua grabbed his arm. “Lexa,” he said, “you can get a signal at the bottom of Sandy Lane. It’s closer. You know the way in the dark?”

She bolted along the beach, yelling, “I got it!”

“Oh God, it’s my fault,” Ali sobbed. “It’s all my fault.”

Joshua put an arm around her. “It’s not,” he said, his gaze fixed on Finn who knelt in the wet sand holding Liz close. His arms were wrapped around Joshua’s jacket, Liz’s head lolling against his chest.

Hardly the time for envy, but it intruded anyway. Stupidly, selfishly Joshua saw the devastation on Finn’s face and wished it was for him. It never would be, though, and he made himself think of Matt, asleep in Sean’s house, to quell his unworthy thoughts.

“Ali,” he said. “Can you get back to Sean’s on your own? Tell him what happened and to bring blankets.”

She nodded and wiped her eyes, gaze lingering on Finn. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, but Finn didn’t even look up.

Joshua squeezed her arm. “Go on. Fetch Sean.”

Once she was heading back to the house, Joshua crouched down next to Finn. “Any change?”

Finn shook his head. “God,Josh...” He sounded broken, looked up at last with horrified eyes. “How am I gonna tell her kid?”

“She’ll be okay.” He swallowed his own distress, focused on Finn’s. “The ambulance will be here soon—it’ll come right onto the beach. It’s what they do in the summer, if a surfer gets hurt.”

“It’s my fault,” Finn said, as if he hadn’t heard a word. “She was trying to—Fuck.”

Impress me, were the words he didn’t say. Joshua didn’t fill in the blanks. “Listen to me—it’snotyour fault.” He resisted the urge to reach out, to offer physical comfort. His wasn’t the touch Finn wanted.

It felt like they were alone on that beach forever, Finn cradling Liz close, his eyes shut and face pained, and Joshua crouching beside him shivering so hard his bones rattled. But at last he saw lights coming from Sandy Lane, a blue bar on the roof of a four-by-four flashing as the headlights threw everything into dancing shadows.

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