Beyond Boundaries

Chapter Twelve

Look in my eyes, they will tell you the truth,
The girl in my story has always been you.

~Shawn Mendes

Leilani

  The next morning, I’m doing my best not to fall face-first as I accompany my siblings to the stream.

  My head is pounding, but I think I’m doing a great job of not tripping over my own two feet.

  “And that’s why you don’t drink whatever shit you’re offered at a party,” my sister sings, and I glare at her from under my hoodie.

  “Don’t listen to her. You’ll feel better after a swim,” Jennie chips in, a basket swinging by her side.

  I don’t bother telling her that I have no idea how to swim.

  A loud mix of cheering and laughter drowns out whatever she says next as we draw closer.

  “Where’s that coming from?” my brother asks, tugging on my sleeve.

  I’m pretty sure it’s just my head, but Jennie says otherwise.

  “They’re probably having a swim competition. Pretty common.” She explains, walking backward.

  “Come on, Armani! You’re faster than that!”

  Wait—was that Christian’s brother?

  “Christian, please whoop their asses!”

  There’s my answer. My ears perk at his name, and suddenly, I’m walking faster.

  The stream runs under the bridge like a ribbon of glass, and beside the road, a narrow stone path veers off and curves gently down toward the bank.

  Four guys cut through the water, each of them were moving like they were born there, muscles flexing with every stroke.

  I immediately make out which one of them is Christian — partly because his brother is screaming at him from the bank, but mostly because I’d recognize that body anywhere.

  With a few more strokes, he reaches the pillar of the bridge I’m standing on and taps it. His brother goes wild, and I see Christian grin before flipping onto his back, arms folded behind his head, legs slicing lazily through the water in the most effortless backstroke I’d ever seen.

  The sun hits his skin just right, bronzing the water around him, tracing light along his shoulders and chest. He looks unreal — like something out of a daydream I shouldn’t be having.

  “Are you planning on jumping from there?”

  Travis’s voice snaps me out of my trance, startling me so bad that I jolt, almost losing my balance. I glance down and see he’s grinning up at me from the water, droplets clinging to his hair.

  How had I missed him?

  He does a little wave before turning to face someone else.

  When I look back at Christian, I find him already staring up at me, his easy grin gone. The look he gives me sends a ripple straight through my chest — hot, sharp, and way too intense for this early in the morning.

  And just like that, a flicker of memory surfaces — blurry and warm.

  “Ow, my head,” I’d groaned, sitting up.

  He’d been there, his voice low, steady. “Hey, stop. Don’t move so fast. You'd hurt yourself.”

  “But my head is splitting.”