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I don’t know what to say. My emotions tie my throat shut. I want to tell him I feel the same way, about knowing him, about our friendship, about the life I’ve built here, but words can’t express even a fraction of the way I feel about him. Instead, I take a chance and lean against him, slipping my arm around his back with a squeeze.
“Clearly, you’re not human,” I whisper. “Too good to be true.”
His head presses against the top of mine, arm circling around my back. “Now you know my secrets.”
“I knew you were an alien.”
“I figured that’s why the government sent a spy.”
“Obviously. I’m supposed to bring you in for testing.”
“How about we thwart their plans and just hide out on this beach instead?”
I smile at the thought. “Much better plan.”
That warmth in my chest grows with every second he’s close to me. Too good to be true may be right, and yet he’s here, steady as the ocean’s rhythm.
Rhett
I can’t believe I said all that. I can’t believe she didn’t freak out. My heart must be tapping out morse code loud enough for them to hear me by the fire, but no one has said a word. The weight of her head against my shoulder, it’s playing with my mind, making me wonder what it would be like to act on this like Carl suggested. There’s never been a time that I didn’t find her attractive, but at the same time, our bond has been based on friendship for months. To push it beyond those boundaries, I’d be risking everything, and for what? Carl has had a half dozen girlfriends in the last year alone. They glow hot and then fizzle to nothing without notice. Once it’s over, I never see her again. I don’t want that for us.
As it stands, Sunny could leave at any moment, that guy Monroe showing up just proved it. If Dad hadn’t scared him off, Sunny would have left. I don’t think she feels like she has a choice in it. If my time with her could be limited at all, I don’t want to risk it on a relationship that could burn out without warning.
“Do you know any of the stories?” Sunny’s voice snags my attention, drawing me from my thoughts.
“Stories?”
“The stars. You were saying your Dad taught you about the stories sailors and cowboys used to tell.” Her arm shifts from around me to loop through my arm. Two inches, that’s all it would take to thread our fingers. Does she know that? Was it intentional?
“Look up there,” I point at the sky almost directly above us, “See those stars ? They kinda look like a W. It’s Cassiopeia.”
Sunny sinks a little deeper against my shoulder. “What’s her story?”
“Well, it’s actually her daughter’s story.” I point to the faint stars below Cassiopeia. “See that grouping there? It’s harder. They’re not that bright. It goes up at an angle and then comes back down, like a lopsided V.”
“Mmm-hmm.” The sound vibrates through my arm, tripping over my heart and rattling my senses.
“Well, Cassiopeia claimed she was the most beautiful out of all the gods. Of course, the rest of them got upset, so they captured her daughter, Andromeda, and chained her up.”
“That’s rude. Her daughter didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I always thought the same thing, but that’s how it happened. She was chained up and sentenced to be dinner for the sea monster, Cetus.”
“This is a terrible story.” Sunny’s fingers tickle against the inside of my palm. “It better have a good ending.”
“Well, there’s a guy.”
“Of course, there is. He better hurry though. That sea monster looks hungry.”
I follow to where she’s pointing in the sky. “I don’t know what you’re seeing, but it’s not a sea monster.”
“Sure, it is.” She points from star to star. “See, there’s his teeth, and his big belly, and a long tongue for scooping up innocent princesses.”
“Anyway,” as usual, she has me smiling and forgetting half of what I was saying, “Perseus, her true love, shows up to kill Cetus, but the sea monster is too strong.”
“You said this would end happy.” I don’t miss the tinge of warning in her voice.
“It wouldn’t, except Perseus was on his way back from killing Medusa, and he still had her head in his bag.”
