Page 21

Breaststroke

Haley

“ H old up.” Calvin’s calling to me.

I don’t know if I want to hold up. He keeps doing these things that put himself and others in danger.

His elbow rubs up against mine. “Haley.”

“You went back into the quicksand to get your shoe? It’s a shoe!” I’m furious at him. Easton gave me the quick version of what happened while he was scrubbing himself in the surf.

“It was mud.” He runs his fingers along his ear, and clumps drop off.

“Mud, sand. Doesn’t matter what it is if you get sucked under.” I gaze out at the water. Easton’s paddling out past the breakers, and I just want to get back to him.

“It wasn’t going to suck me under.”

“Easton said you were sunk in up to your knees.” I peel off my shirt; my bikini’s on beneath it. I’m going to go in and be with Easton. He’s upset. He says he’s not, but it’s rolling off him.

“I was. But I wasn’t stuck. I was contemplating what to do, and he overreacted.”

I cock my head to the side. That’s the thing with Calvin: any sign of emotion is overreacting. “Was he? Or was he just being kind and worried that you might fucking kill yourself over a shoe or a machete?”

I push on his arm, but he doesn’t move. He just stares at the spot where I touched him.

“I don’t want to lose you. Okay? We can figure out how to make shoes.

Heck, I’m sure there are plans for a forge and a smelting operation up in there.

” I mean to touch the side of his head gently, but I end up giving it a good smack.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to.” I shake my head as my hair flies in the wind.

“It’s just that you... you make me so gosh darn frustrated.

I keep telling you that you don’t have to take care of everyone, that we can take care of you, too. But you don’t believe me, do you?”

“I do,” he says, his low voice floating off into the wind.

“Do you REALLY, Calvin?” I say. “Because I need you to know, understand, how much you mean to me, and if something happens to you, it would just completely gut me.”

He tilts his chin up to the sky. When he looks back at me in the twilight, his blue eyes shimmer. There’s almost a tear. It’s like he can’t possibly believe that anyone could truly care for him.

“I told you I love you, and I mean it. Please don’t do things like that anymore. Just because you don’t believe that we’re gonna get out of here doesn’t make it true. We could still find a way home, even without the Rock Candy.”

He is quiet, his jaw firmly tilted to the sky. He shakes his head. “I love you, Haley... But forget it. We can enjoy what we have now. That’s what this whole Festival Island Day is about, right? Enjoying what we have, thanking nature and this hunk of rock for letting us live?”

I blink at him. “I suppose you’re right.

That is what we’re supposed to be celebrating tomorrow.

But it’s more than that. I just... I know you can’t make someone have hope, Calvin.

I know you aren’t gonna change just because I snap my fingers.

I don’t want that. I don’t want you to change.

I love you for who you are. You’re empathetic.

You’re kind. You’re smart. You’re intuitive and a wizard with motors.

But you’re careless. You’re careless with your own self, and that hurts those of us who care about you.

You mean something to us. What would you have done if I had gone back into the mud for a shoe? ”

His neck bends, his head facing the sand, but he glares at me. “I would have gone in and gotten you, ripped you out of the mud, and let myself drown in it instead.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. You can’t do that. You’re just as important as we are.” I point back to camp and out at Easton in the water. “You need to understand how much we care about you. Love you. Not just me. All of us here need you. You’re important.”

He glares at me, his hands on his waist.

“You are an integral part of all of us, Calvin.” I stand on my tiptoes and run my hand over his beard. Bits of dirt and leaves fall out. I run my hand down his arm and interlock my fingers with his.

He takes my other hand, pulls me against his chest, and I take him in. He’s so tall and big, and being surrounded by him is like nothing else. Normally, it makes me secure. But right now... not so much. I tilt my head up. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

He sweeps me off my feet and we’re into the waves in two steps. The water’s up to his shoulders when I wiggle out of his arms and swim over to Easton. Calvin doesn’t spend time scrubbing his skin with sand. Instead, he swims out with me.

“Hey.” I wave. Being here has done lots of things for me.

It’s changed both my insides and my outsides.

I’m down a few clothing sizes, but I don’t even care about that.

I’m fitter than I’ve ever been. Fitter than when I was in high school, back when I was a benchwarmer for the girls’ lacrosse team. I swim out to Easton.

Easton smiles at me. “Your stroke is getting better.”

“Thanks.” I bob next to him. “I’m trying to follow what you said.”

“I can tell.”

Calvin’s a good ten feet away, floating.

“How are you doing there? You look like a leopard,” I call over the waves. His skin is tinted with mud all over his arms and back.

“More like a house cat,” Easton says.

“A house cat?” I ask.

“Yeah, they do what they want and don’t come when called.”

I’m floating next to him on his right side. The spot where he was shot isn’t as red as it was before, but it’s puckered and shiny. I touch his elbow below the spot. “How is it?”

He paddles around me, turning his left side to me. I don’t think he even knows he’s doing it. Hiding a wound that can’t be hidden.

“Stiff. But fine.”

“You’ve got some mud in your hair still, right there.” I brush over his ear, and he cocks his head, letting me wash it away. “Stiff?”

“Always, when you’re around.” A wiry smile slips onto his lips.

“You’re sounding more and more like Dante. Want me to scrub your scalp?”

“Yes, please.” Easton lies back, and I try and figure out how I’m going to do what I offered without drowning.

But I manage. Dirt loosens and drifts away in the waves. He’s making noises like a German Shepherd being petted. Little grunts and groans. He closes his eyes, and for a moment, I think he might have fallen asleep. I lean over him and gently kiss his forehead.

Easton grabs my shoulders and twists me around into his arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist.

“Is this okay?” I lean back and use my arms to help keep us afloat.

“More than okay.” Easton’s naked, and I can feel his cock pushing against my shorts.

“I think I got it all out.”

“You, sure? You could check for more.” He tilts his head to me, and I laugh.

“I’m sure. We should get out. You must be hungry.”

“I’m hungry, all right.”

“You really are turning into Dante.” I rest my hand on his chest. “I’ve eaten already, but I’m hungry again.

” And now I’m not sure if I’m talking about Dante’s meal or what I did with him by the clump of flowers standing on the rock.

I’ve done a lot of crazy things since being on this island, but that was one of the most.

.. When the orgasm took me, it was like I was the bird flying out into the sky.

“It’s getting late.” Calvin’s snuck up behind us. His fingers skate down my shoulder and back. His lips pause on my shoulder blade.

The three of us float for a while. Their hands roam over my skin.

Until Easton tosses me on his back and takes off, swimming the butterfly.

It’s like I’m riding a dolphin. His powerful strokes take us along the shoreline before he turns and heads for the beach.

Up and down, his breaths blowing out with every few arm motions.

I’m holding on, my legs clamped around his waist. It’s exhilarating, how fast he’s going, and I want more.

I’m laughing so hard that when a wave hits us from the side and water slides down my throat, I’m coughing, but I’m still laughing as he dives, taking me under with him.

The tweak of his ribs gives me a nanosecond of warning that he’s going to dive under the water.

I get my mouth closed before I become a water balloon.

A few good strokes and we’re close enough to shore that he can stand.

He cinches me up with his right arm, but it gives way and I fall back into the water.

“Chiefie.” Calvin high-steps through the water.

I spit and cough a bit when I stand on fawn legs. The waves crash against the back of my legs, but a few steps and I’m free on the hard-packed sand of the tidal line. Calvin reaches me first. I’m bent over and coughing.

“I’m good. No worries,” I say into the sand.

He frowns and stares over me at Easton coming out of the waves.

“My arm locked up. Shit. I haven’t done the butterfly stroke since?—”

“Since you were fucking shot. I told you to be more careful.” Calvin growls.

“Right.” I put one hand on Calvin’s chest and the other on Easton’s. It’s like a flashback to the first day on the beach when I got in between the two of them when they were getting ready to fight and my ankle ended up twisted.

It’s a lot different now. Things are a lot-lot different. Then I was going to flash them. Now I have more powerful weapons in my arsenal.

“Don’t.” I point at Calvin.

Easton’s naked, so he’s the easier target.

I drop to my knees in a fluid motion. I don’t just suck his cock—I inhale it.

Taking him quickly to the base of my throat, I cup his balls with one hand and the other, I’m not sure who the hell I’m becoming.

I thrust it in my swim shorts. My thumb easily finds my clit.

It’s still enlarged from the round with Dante.

Calvin hoists my hips up, pulling my shorts down with a quick tug.

I hold on to Easton. Calvin’s hand replaces mine, his cock nestled between my butt cheeks.

He grips my left hip and, with his other hand, his fingers rub my clit.

He thrusts into me. I moan around Easton.

Calvin thrusts into me from behind, but I keep my focus on Easton, who’s now holding my head still as I suck him off.

The waves crash against my ankles. Calvin’s trembling thighs and the way Easton grips my hair send me higher.

“Haley,” Calvin groans, and I explode around him. My head jerks back, and it sets off Easton’s release. His toes grip the sand, and he loosens his grip in my hair. I swallow the last bit of him. Easton’s blue eyes twinkle in the low light.

“Love you,” I say up to Easton. Calvin’s grip of my hips loosens, and he slides out. I flick my head to Calvin. “Love you too.”

“Love you,” the two of them reply back. Easton helps me to my feet and cradles me in his arms, back into the water to clean up, again.