Page 23 of The Making of Jonty Bloom
“Fucking hell. I’m going to have bruises. Only do that if a shark’s coming to eat me. Right? No, in fact don’t w-wake me… Let losing my leg be a surprise… Though if you were being kind, you could get between me and the shark… Especially if you’re bleeding… Are you b-bleeding?”
“No.”
“Come here and let me bite you.” Jonty smiled as his eyes closed.
No way was Devan going to get a hard-on in water this cold but…but…
“You’re falling asleep. You should ride the board in while you still have the energy.”
Jonty opened his eyes. “What? Not leaving you.”
“Get back to shore and call the coastguard… They can come and get me.”
“Not leaving you.”
“Then we’ll both fucking die.” Yet, the thought of being out here on his own made his heart stutter.
“I don’t…” Jonty shivered. “Not that I don’t want to do the right thing…but don’t know what that is.”
“Go back in.”
“Leaving you doesn’t feel right… Anyway…too tired to do much more than breathe…talk and look semi-gorgeous. Limit to evenmymultitasking… You t-take the board and surf in… I’m…I’m not…important to anyone.”
Devan felt a wrench in his chest. “Of course you’re important to someone. You have friends…family…colleagues.”
Jonty shook his head.
“Major Bagshott and his little dog. Who else would offer him chocolate biscuits andPlayboy?”
“I’d have been stuffed…if he’d said yes toPlayboy…Do they still p-publish that?” Jonty sighed and his eyelids fluttered.
“Wake up! I’m not leaving you.”
Jonty sighed. “You say that now… Moment we get to shore, you’ll be like…Right, bye thenand waltz off into…sunset.”
What else did he expect him to do? “I’m sorry you’re stuck out here. You paddled out to warn me there was a rip and got caught in it… This is all my fault.” It was hard to stop his teeth chattering.
“It’s not. Sh-should have gone straight to shore when I knew what was h-happening… Phoned for help.Myf-fault, not yours.”
“Fine, it’s your fault.”
Jonty blinked water from his thick dark eyelashes, his chocolate eyes looking huge in his face. “Supposed to argue.”
All Devan wanted to do was stop him from falling asleep. “Okay, then it’s my fault. Sorry.”
“I forgive you.”
Devan scowled tiredly. “You are such a little shit.”
Jonty grinned.
“Let’s sit on the board now the sea’s calmer. We’ll be seen more easily. You get on first.”
“No, you.” Jonty shook in a violent bout of shivering. “Have to help me up. Arms are numb. All of me is numb except my mouth.”
Devan squirmed on and once he was balanced, he tugged Jonty over the board, then into a sitting position facing him, though he was shaking so hard, Devan wondered if he’d fall off.
“I don’t get a cuddle?” Jonty pouted.
