Nova

I stopped, hating that he knew me so well.

He was so close to my back that I could feel the heat radiating off him through my thin top.

“I’m not going to be easy to avoid, not when I’m putting myself in your path at every possible moment. In fact, I’m going to make it impossible for you to ignore me, Rachel.”

His breath ghosted across the shell of my ear, and I barely suppressed a shiver of pure awareness. Remember what he did to you. Remember watching your phone, packing the boxes, begging Dad. Remember what a broken heart and trampled pride felt like.

I straightened my shoulders and focused on the exit. “Watch me.”

Chapter Five

Landon

At Sea

“Hey, is your head in the game? Because I’m already down Penna, and I can’t exactly afford to lose you, too,” Pax snapped two days later as our boat hit another wave.

The sun was bright and the weather clear. If this went well, we’d be back on ship in time for this afternoon’s classes. That, of course, meant I’d be with Rachel the rest of the afternoon. It was slightly funny to me that the stunt I was about to pull off wouldn’t be the most dangerous thing I did all day—trying to get Rachel to talk to me could possibly end in way more bloodshed.

I pulled my focus from the Athena sailing ahead of us and, more importantly, who was on her. “Yeah, I’m here,” I said as I walked the short distance to the back of the ski boat. The sea was relatively calm today, which made this possible.

Rachel made this possible.

When her brain had started cranking away at the problem, and I saw the light come on, realized she’d found a solution, I’d remembered how easily I’d fallen in love with her that first time. How perfectly we’d complemented each other.

“Landon!” Pax yelled.

“I’m here, stop fucking yelling,” I said as I buckled my parachute harness on over my life jacket. Little John maneuvered the speeding boat closer to the Athena, the hull bouncing as we hit the largest of the wake. I steadied myself on the back of the passenger seat and slipped my feet into the wakeboard boots, fastening the soft closures.

The neoprene was soft against my skin, and I mentally high-fived myself for wetting it before we’d left the small island just north of the Maldives that had served as our refueling stop.

“You sure you want me to go first?” I asked Pax as I lifted my ass to the side of the boat where the tow bar had been positioned.

“You scared?” He grinned.

“Hell no. I’m just wondering if I’m already on that ship, who’s going to push you out of the boat when you chicken out.”

“You’re an asshole.” He laughed. “And I’m not an idiot. You’re better than me on anything that involves a board. I’ll be watching you to see what the hell I’m supposed to do.”

The camera came around now that I was buckled in and got all the shots Bobby would need of our equipment.

“You ready for this?” Pax asked.

“Hell yes,” I answered. I was about to be the first to do this, which was a bigger rush than the adrenaline alone.

He nodded and slapped my shoulder. “Okay. I’ll see you on board. And don’t forget to send the rope back down once you’re up there,” he joked.

“I got this,” I assured him, seeing the small flicker of apprehension in his eyes. That had never been there before Nick’s accident. He’d never questioned our gear, our safety, our motives. Now, since the sabotage, was a whole different ball game.

This would be the first stunt we’d completed since the shit with Brooke went down.

“Be careful.”

I nodded. “Always.”

He stepped back, and I took two deep, steadying breaths. “You know this is pretty fucking insane, right?”

Pax’s grin returned. “Our specialty.” We passed the Athena at a safe distance, and then Little John killed the engine.

“This should do it. You ready?”

“Ready,” I said.

A fist bump later, I swung the board over the edge and jumped into the Indian Ocean. The water was warmer than I was expecting, but seeing that we were just north of the Maldives, I shouldn’t have been surprised.

Little John maneuvered the ski boat so that the tow rope made it to my hands, and I gripped it tight. We’d moved the tow bar to extend off the side of the boat so it would allow me to wakeboard parallel to the ski boat until I could get hold of the handle on the tow rope that was attached to the Athena.

As I bobbed in the water, careful to keep my board flat against the surface, I glanced behind me to see the Athena coming up on us. If I didn’t know I was about to be yanked out of the water to the exact speed she was going, I might have been a little freaked out.

Okay, there was a giant fucking cruise ship bearing down on me and at least seven cameras catching every angle of my possible demise. I was a tad apprehensive.

“Here we go!” shouted Little John behind the wheel of the boat. I heard the engine kick up as the Athena came along beside us. There were maybe fifty feet between me and the hull.

Holy shit, did I feel small.

The ship passed, and I rose and fell with the ski boat beside me as we rode the large waves of her wake, needing the ship to pull ahead before we could launch.

“Now?” Little John asked.

“Go!” I answered.

The engine responded with a roar, and the ski boat leaped forward. Adrenaline flooded my system like a shot of nitrous oxide to a finely tuned engine. Pulling the tow rope to my chest, I kept steady pressure against the water until we were moving fast enough for me to get onto the surface. Then in one smooth motion, I stood, the water gliding beneath my board as we kept pace with the ship. I motioned toward the back of the Athena, and Little John obliged, turning us toward the rear of the ship, where another rope dragged through the water about fifty feet behind it.