Page 72 of Fighting With Light

He chuckles and helps me off of his legs before showing me how to move the image. “It updates every thirty seconds, so if someone has smoke from a fire, it will pick it up.”

“Cool. And you…own the company to this satellite?” I ask.

“Yep, tech security company and some other stuff.”

“Huh,” I mumble.

He kisses my temple. “Get to work. I need to finish waxing my board and catch some waves.”

“I don’t need to be there for that. I can keep working on this,” I tell him.

He smiles down at me and grabs my chin. “No, you could, but Iwantyou there. I think you’re my good luck charm.”

“Well, how can I say no to that?”

He smiles, stoops down to my ear, and says, “You can’t, princess. I only want to hearyescome from your lips.”

My pulse jumps, and my blood vibrates in my veins because it’s moving so fast. He skims his thumb over my parted, lips and then walks back out the sliding door, laughing to himself.

***

An hour or so later, Liam calls for me and I grab a towel, my hat, and sunglasses to follow him down the beach. The temperature is in the high eighties, close to the nineties, and I got too hot and ended up getting in the water to watch him from there.

Liam floats across the waves, pulling turn after turn. He said something about the surf not being that great, but it doesn’t seem to be bothering him much as he carves through the water.

My fingers are pruney and I wade out of the water to dry off, then Liam calls for me. “Aelia! Come out here!”

I sigh and begin swimming towards him. I’m not the strongest swimmer, but I’m decently fit and I meet him halfway. We’re in front of where the waves start to break, so the water is a bit foamy. He pulls me up onto the board to sit between his legs, and I lean against his back. “Why did you want me out here?” I ask him, pushing my hair back out of my face. He kisses my cheek and leans to the side, turning us.

“We’re going to surf together.”

I guffaw. “Liam, I can barely get up, let alone keep up with a professional surfer.”

He chuckles. “That’s why you’re going to stand right with me and we will ride together. Don’t worry about it. I’ve got you. Just follow my lead.”

28

Aelia

I’m grinning from earto ear as we walk back to the villa. I had a blast learning to surf with Liam. My stomach rumbles and Liam glances at me.

“Hungry?” he asks.

“Yeah, we didn’t really eat lunch. We’ve been out on the water most of the day.”

“I lose track of time when I’m out there. It’s part of the reason I fell in love with the ocean,” Liam says. I study his profile for a moment, hesitating to ask him what’s on my mind.

“Does it make everything easier to bear?” I ask him.

He looks at me as we walk through the hot sand and grabs my hand, linking his fingers through mine, while he carries his surfboard in the other arm. “Yes, but…you do, too.”

I startle at that, not entirely sure what he means and afraid to ask. I nod and we get to the back patio. Cool air hits my face and I sigh. I was sweating hard just walking from the ocean to the villa.

I glance at my phone and Ben’s; there are no messages. I’ve been keeping up on sending check-in messages like Ben would, so my dad is none the wiser.

Liam comes in through the slider and pulls it shut. “Should we order dinner, or do you want to go out?” he asks.

“Honestly, I think hanging out here sounds really nice. I’m just not interested in the party scene lately.”