thing between us is real? Or is it just part of the magic of Rio?”
“I know it’s real.”
I tipped my head up and nuzzled my nose against his neck, inhaling the scent of salt water on his skin. He smelled so divine. I stayed there, with my lips against his throat.
“Don’t forget about me once you go back to London.”
He bent and dropped a kiss to my shoulder. “How could I?”
“Even if you escape from Caroline, there’ll be lots of fanciable girls pining after you once you go back home with six more gold medals around your neck.”
His hand cupped my neck, dragging it up and down and warming my skin. I hadn’t realized I’d started to shake against him.
“I only have four so far,” he said, mocking himself.
“Girls or medals?” I joked.
He smiled. “Will you call me after your appointment and let me know how it goes?”
“You’ll probably be racing.”
“How about later…”
I shook my head and skimmed my lips up to his mouth. “I don’t want to talk about later. Let’s just stay here in this ocean forever.”
He laughed. “We’d turn into prunes.”
I slipped my hand along the hard ridges of his stomach. “You don’t feel pruney to me.”
His sharp inhale told me how much he loved my touch. His head turned and he captured my mouth in a kiss so powerful, I lost track of my breaking heart. With his lips on mine, it felt like there was only us, the two of us standing in an ocean with our bodies wrapped up and our hearts on our sleeves. I loved him in a hopeless sort of way, the type of love you feel for what could have been. I wasn’t giving up on him, or us. I was giving up on the promise of more. In six hours, we’d be worlds apart.
“I don’t even know your middle name.”
“William.”
“Or your favorite food.”
“Spaghetti.”
“Or your favorite song.”
“Anything by Jake Bugg.”
I was crying, but he was kissing away the tears and answering my questions as if it would actually help. His hand pressed against my heart, trying to calm me down, but it didn’t work. I told him I didn’t want to think about the future. I wanted to stay in that ocean forever, but I knew life wouldn’t pause for us—the setting sun was a constant reminder of that.
When the night had turned black and the only light we could see was from the moon and the cafes along the avenue, Freddie carried me out of the ocean and into a hotel across the street. We took the last room they had, a shabby beachside suite for tourists on a budget. The carpet was old and stained. The drapes were stiff and smelly. The bed was small and hard, but Freddie stripped off the old comforter. We tossed the pillows to the ground and he pushed me down onto the sheets. The mattress dipped with his weight as he crawled over me. We hadn’t bothered with a lamp; he was hardly visible in the darkness, but half his face was illuminated from the light slipping through the closed curtains. I reached up to touch him, feeling for the features obscured in the shadows.
“I know it’s not much,” he whispered as his mouth traveled down my bare stomach.
I shook my head and clenched the sheet as his hands untied my bikini bottom. He pulled it off and cast it onto the floor with the rest of our mess.
“Freddie…”
I needed him to look up at me. I needed to tell him how I felt before it was too late.
“Freddie, I—”
“I know.” He glanced up to me, but I couldn’t make out his eyes in the darkness. His hands pressed against my thighs, pushing them apart.
MY PHONE BUZZED on the bedside table, jolting me awake. I blinked in the darkness and reached over to silence it before it woke Freddie up as well. Kinsley’s name flashed across the screen and though I was tempted to ignore her call, I knew she’d probably been trying to get ahold of me all night.
I pushed up off the bed and walked into the bathroom. Once the door was shut, I answered with a hushed tone.
“Kinsley, hey—”
“Where are you, Andie?” She sounded frantic. “We need to leave.”
I pulled the phone from my face to look at the time: 2:00 AM. How was it already 2:00 AM?
“I can’t leave yet, Kinsley.”
She sighed. “Andie, where are you? Becca and I already packed up all your stuff. We’ll come pick