Aris
“We should have spent more time here growing up,” Roman quips, sprawled on the smooth wooden deck of the sailboat, the sun relentlessly beating down on him, but he smiles under the shade of his hand.
“Neither of us had access to our wealth until recently. Even just visiting Gem Lake is expensive.” I gently bank the boat to the left, gliding just close enough to shore to see the houses peeking out over the treeline. We’re one of a few boats on the water this morning navigating the wider areas of the interconnected lake systems and narrow passageways. Small towns and villages rest along the shore every couple of miles, but private homes and pack communities are abundant.
Veiled Valley has thrived when other kingdoms have not. That’s clear as I scan the shore, watching ancient architecture blur against a wash of modern homes and businesses. Magnolia trees hang heavy with blooms over the water, their white petals dappling the shore. The air is heavy, humid, and stifling hot, and I know for a fact the water is the perfect temperature for swimming.
“Are we still going to Ruby?” I ask over the gentle snapping of the sails. There’s barely a breeze, and the engine hums beneath me as I squint through my sunglasses at the curve of the shoreline where the forest grows heavy and the lake narrows significantly. “There’s a cove I want to check out before we get lunch.”
No one answers. Roman sits up and takes off his shirt, tossing it onto the growing pile of discarded clothing as the heat rises. Willow’s head whips in our direction from the far end of the boat. She slides her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose and stares appraisingly at Roman, but I’m staring past her, just for a moment, just to peek at the woman behind her.
Posey has her legs dangling over the side of the boat, her toes barely skimming the water while she hugs the railing, her cheek pressed to her arm while she smiles and chats with Tate. I can’t hear their conversation, but he’s gesturing enthusiastically about something, and her smile keeps growing. She’s never smiled at me like that, that’s for damn sure.
I turn from the scene, rolling the tension from my shoulders just in time to guide the boat through the narrow channel connecting this inlet to the next one. Trees tall enough to cast shade over the boat stretch their branches overhead, vines dangling from the limbs. The mingled conversations die behind me as the boat is swallowed by cool shadows, and the busy center of the lake fades to forested solitude and the sound of cicadas singing.
I feel Posey’s presence before I turn to see her. She kneels beside me, her fingers curling over the railing as she looks up at the vines brushing the sails.
“Scared?” I ask with a cool smirk.
“Of what? You steering this ungodly expensive boat into the bank? The water’s only a few feet deep here. I doubt I’ll drown.”
That smirk angles into a frown. I turn from her to look out over the water again, quickly guiding the boat right, then left again, following the increasingly narrow water channel through the woods.
“Do you even know where you’re taking us?”
“I sure hope so because I can’t turn around here, so if we get stuck, we’ll have to shift, and… seeing as you can’t…” I arch a brow, stealing a glance in her direction, but her expression is stoically blank, “you’ll have to ride on my back.”
“How do you think Roman would feel about me riding you? Having to grip you with my thighs?” She cocks her head to the side. “I doubt he’d like it very much.”
Goddess above. I didn’t think she had it in her.
“I think he’d be the only one feeling that way.”I resist the urge to bite down on my lower lip when that blush paints her skin a deep, rosy pink. What the fuck is my problem?
A chorus of gasps ring out behind us, and the moment dissolves as quickly as it came. Posey rises to see the new startling view of the lake. Rocky cliffs overlook the water, the forest continuing above us rather than on all sides, and I angle the boat to continue riding the shore until the cliff edge splits, revealing a cove of pure, glassy water.
Willow’s sharp inhale cuts through the air as she gasps, shouting, “A waterfall!”
Ours is not the only boat taking up residence in the cove this morning. Two other sailboats bob in the shallows, and blurred shadows dot the cliff face, where a trail to the lowest of the falls has been etched out of the dark stone. The same note of astonishment from Willow punctuates each splash when people leap off the cliff behind the falls and into the water. Then, she begs and pleads for one of us to go with her.
“Oh, come on, Posey! Please? I have to do it. If I don’t, I’ll be thinking about it forever, regretting it for the rest of my life!”
“I’m not a big fan of heights.” Posey laughs, but I can tell she’s doing her best to let Willow down easy without having to give her an outright no.
Roman ignores the conversation and takes over the rudders while I strip down to nothing but my swim trunks and jump over the railing, the water only chest deep, and guide the boat as close as I can to the shore to tie it off. Tate jumps in next but with much more drama. His splash rocks the entire boat, and Roman snarls while Willow titters, but Posey remains clutching the railing like her life depends on it.
“Does she know how to swim?” I ask Roman, squinting up at him, then wincing when Miles follows Tate’s lead with a backflip.
“Who? Posey? Of course she does.”
Willow leaps gracefully, giggling the whole four feet down, and lands without a sound, but Posey remains glued to the railing, watching everyone else with marked skepticism.
Roman looks at his sister, shrugging a shoulder. “What’s your deal?”
“I don’t have a deal. What do you expect? A flip?”
I take a few steps away from the boat and float on my back for a moment, observing the bickering above. “Come on, Posey. The water feels great. You’re missing out!”
She disappears from view, walking to the far side of the boat. Roman sighs before climbing over the railing and jumping in but swims past me to where Tate, Miles, and Willow are nearing the shore–a soft, gently sloping beach with shiny taupe sand. Music drifts from the dunes, flowing against the constant hum of the waterfalls, but I wait forever for Posey to reappear.
“Posey!”
“What!?” She swims around the boat, obviously having scaled the ladder on the far side, her hair piled on top of her hair and eyes narrowed into cat-like slits. I can just make out the blue swimsuit she’s wearing beneath the gentle waves. Her skin is a rosy alabaster against a wash of deep blue.
I suck my teeth, remembering again the conversation at the bar when Roman was, thankfully, outside of earshot. Cool pearls of fresh water slide between her breasts, which are… exactly as Mile’s described. Fuck me.
She stares at me for a moment, her rosy-blonde eyebrows arched in a look of pure annoyance.
“I was just making sure you weren’t eaten by a shark.” That's all I can manage.
She stills, huffing, obviously struggling to touch the bottom. “There’re no sharks here. It’s freshwater.”
“I’ve seen a shark here before.”
“You haven’t. You’re not a very good liar, Aris. You never have been.”
She gracefully glides past me while the others call out to us. Willow is already on the beach, tugging Miles to go to the waterfall with her.
“I don’t want her jumping off that,” Posey says, finally reaching a spot where she can stand with ease. The water laps against her shoulders. She tucks rogue strands of hair behind her ears and pushes her sunglasses up on top of her head. “She’ll break her neck, and I’ll be responsible for it.”
“Oh, please, what makes you responsible for anything she does?”
“I’m her tour guide while she’s in Veiled Valley.”
“Does that mean you’re her bodyguard?”
“I’ve just always kept her out of trouble. That’s been my job, I guess. Dragging her out of frat houses and driving her home when–”
“Do you even like her?”
Posey startles, looking up at me like I just slapped her across the face. There’s only a foot of space between us as it stands, and I can see the water droplets on her skin, shining like liquid sliver in the sunlight. The same color as my eyes. “Of course I like her. I love her. This is the last time we’ll be able to see–” She abruptly shuts her mouth, her lips pinched.
“Your last, what?” I walk closer to shore until I can sit down in the water without it rolling over the top of my head. Waist deep, the cool, fresh water is a welcome relief from the heat. The sun has crested directly above us. Posey remains in the shallows, watching Willow scale the cliff–alone–while everyone below cheers her on.
“The program I’m starting is going to be grueling, and I–I likely won’t see her for years.”
“Why not? She could visit. Hell, you can just go to Crescent Falls–”
“I don’t think… I’m… what… I’m trying to do–” Posey goes silent, her eyes following a body flinging off the cliff as the woman seems to fall in slow motion.
“Shit!” I jolt upright, sprinting through the tide line. Roman is leagues ahead, his body careening off the beach and into the water in a smooth dive toward Willow, who just landed head first and hasn’t reemerged. The shore beneath my feet drops off abruptly. Posey is right behind me and unprepared for the depth. She resurfaces, choking, and I snatch her arm, pulling her against my chest in an attempt to keep her chin above the water just as Roman dives beneath the surface and is under for several aching seconds before breaking the glassy glow of the water with Willow in his arms.
Posey clutches my shoulder and takes several deep breaths, but I can feel her heart pounding rapidly through the single slice of fabric between us.
“She’s fine. See?” My voice shakes despite my best effort. “She’s exactly where she wants to be.”
Willow’s arms are wrapped around Roman’s neck as he bobs in the water, trying to juggle her and swim back to shore. The crazy woman is smiling, her eyes shining with triumph. She waves to the shocked onlookers on the beach.
“She wasn’t hurt in the slightest, Posey. Everything’s fine,” I continue with a sigh, but Posey’s still clutching my shoulder like her life depends on it. I tread water, turning with her in my arms. “Are you in shock or something?”
“No, I just–” Her grip tightens. “I just need a moment. Stay still, please.”
She fumbles between her chest and mine, her cheeks burning with a blush edging on blood red.
“What’s going on?”
“My bikini top,” she growls. “It’s falling off, I can’t–” She shoves off me, barely able to keep her face above water as she grips her bikini to try to keep in place while treading water in the deepest point of the cove. The straps that should be tied along her back are floating on either side of her.
I roll my eyes, taking her by the elbow and pulling her through the water until her feet touch the bottom again.
“Turn around.”
“I can do it!”
“Chill, for fuck’s sake. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” she murmurs, huffing with frustration when I grow tired of her pouting and whirl her to face away from me. “You only have to worry about your swim trucks falling off. I only have strings keeping me clothed as it stands.”
I skillfully redo the straps, securing the top tighter than necessary, but she… needs the support.
I clear my throat; my fingers brush over her soft skin. “Do you like anything, Posey?”
“What kind of question is that?”
“Do you enjoy anything in life other than complaining about it?”
“I like being inside,” she says without skipping a beat. “Alone, preferably. I like quiet, and dim lighting, and… everything you’d find boring.”
“Why’d you come?” I turn her around. “I don’t get it. Why come if you were going to hate it this much?”
“I don’t hate it. I just don’t have–Look, I–”
Roman calls out Posey’s name. My hands drop from her upper arms. and I find myself taking a step away from her without meaning to, like just the sound of her brother’s voice is enough to drive a wedge into what should have been an innocent moment.
“Are you okay?” I ask her, and for a brief moment, I see a flicker of raw emotion behind her normally trained green eyes.
“I’m totally fine, Aris. Why does everyone always ask me that?”