Nineteen

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Yeah." Is all he says.

By this time it's dark outside. I have no idea what time it is, but I don't care. This is by far the nicest gesture anyone has ever done for me.

"I'm going to go touch the water," I say as I stand up and dust the sand off of me.

He doesn't answer and I begin to walk to the water.

It's so beautiful and clear, even in the dark I can see right through it. I walk in until my ankles are covered and I splash around a little. I wish I would have came here earlier.

I feel water drip onto my head, and I turn around to see Collin flipping his hand at me. He's laughing.

His face looks much better like this instead of twisted into a snarl all the time. He looks good regardless, but like this he looks—happy.

"Quit," I say as I laugh. "Now."
I point my finger at him.

I walk a little farther into the ocean until my knees are almost wet.

He takes a handful of water and throws it at me, soaking my shirt. I take my good hand and do the same to him.

I feel happy and I don't care that I look like a mess, running around the water with a black eye and broken hand. I feel like I could enjoy Miami.

I run toward him to kick a wave of water at him. Right as I begin to kick, a bigger wave slaps my legs and I fall.

I'm completely under water before Collin takes a hold of me and pulls me up. "Are you okay?" He looks at me and takes in my expression, before his own softens a little.

I look down at my hand. "My cast is wet," I say.

"Can it not get wet?" He asks.

"No, it'll irritate my hand." I start to unstrap it to set my hand free.

"Come on, you're soaked anyway." He begins to lead me out of the water right as I get the cast off.

My hand lights up with pain as the force is taken through it. This was a bad idea.

I can tell the expression is covering my face and Collin can see it. He gathers the blanket and bowls and throws them into his bag.

"Let's go." He reaches out to take my hand, the non-broken one.

Whenever we reach the truck he lays his bag into the back seat. He takes off his shirt and hands it to me.

I just look at him. "Take yours off—put mine on." He gives me instructions like I'm a child learning how to do a simple task. I still look at him.

"Please," his face softens.

It's completely dark now. I could just change right here and he'd never see me. So I nod and agree.

I turn around and hide on the other side of the truck before changing shirts. I throw the wet one over the vehicle.

He folds the blanket and sets it in the passenger seat for me to sit on. He grabs a different shirt from the backseat of his truck.

"Couldn't I have worn that one? You didn't have to literally give me the one off of your back."

He doesn't respond, instead he climbs inside the vehicle.

I do the same, and groan at the pain my hand is in. I'll never make it tonight.

Tonight. Just as the words come into mind, I realize Collin is spending the night with me again.

This gives me plenty of time to question him. To ask him what the heck he is trying to do with me.