Page 16 of Falling Into Forever
I swallow my shame because I did. She had Ainsley. She had Hope Hollow. But she didn’t have me.
CHAPTER5
SAYLOR
“Come here, fishy-fishy.”
Tossing another piece of bread over the railing, I lift onto my tiptoes and rest my belly against the wood to get a better vantage point.
I’m not a swimmer. Well, more accurately, I don’t know how to swim. And the thought of having my face in the water with all these squiggly, slimy-looking things terrifies me. But I can’t deny the beauty of their bright colors and the graceful way they glide through the water. They seem so peaceful.
What would it be like to live with that kind of peace?
My sisters tried to teach me to swim throughout the years, but nearly drowning when I was six and not being able to save my sister as an adult makes the endeavor impossible now.
And I’m okay with it.
Mostly.
But the lake was my sister’s favorite place on earth. This is where I can feel her, and when I’m desperate, talk to her, so it calms me instead of scaring me now.
I lean over a little more and toss another piece of bread into the water in case they’ve swum under the dock. I thought I saw a red one earlier, and I need him to come back—he’s my favorite.
“What are you doing?” the deep, masculine voice of my heartache asks.
Before I can utter a single word, I fall headfirst into my sea of fish and bread.
“Swim,” he barks as my head sinks below the water.
My body freezes in panic as I stare up through crystal clear water at the man who left me behind.
The razor’s edge of panic muddles my brain, and my head sways when the lightheadedness hits. I close my eyes when the urge to inhale is too strong to fight, but then a disturbance in the water shakes me around. Oh God! Is that a shark? I’m going to be eaten by a shark.
I open my mouth to scream, but water silences me. It fills my mouth and throat until everything burns. I kick and thrash and jab the monster with my elbow, but the white light is drawing near, and my end has come. When the warmth reaches me, everything goes black.
* * *
“How long was she under?”
A warm mouth lands on mine as strong hands land on my breasts. Oh, God. His lips coax mine apart. This is, without a doubt, the best kiss I’ve had in years. Then he pulls away. No!
“Not long. I watched her go under but thought she was messing with me. I thought she was pissed that I’d startled her and was waiting for me to walk away. But then she went eerily still, and I knew…”
He kisses me again, and I lift my arm to wrap around his neck.
I blink slowly and then lock on a pale version of Dante, and everything comes rushing back.
I try to push him off me and sit up, but when I do, I vomit lake water everywhere.
Dante kneels over me with a leg on each side. “Calm down,” he says gently while brushing my hair off my face. “Don’t move.”
I turn away from him as another wave of nausea hits and find Kate watching me with the same worried expression.
Closing my eyes, I focus on breathing and Dante moves to my side, so I roll over and place my cheek on the cool grass.
I’m an idiot.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
