Crazy For You by Alexander, S.B. (best ebook reader ubuntu .TXT) 📕

to save me from a downward spiral. My BFF knew me so freaking well. It was time to let the cold water from the Atlantic jar me out of my Colton haze and kick-start my heart.

I stood slowly, just in case the trembling in my legs got worse and made me collapse. Hell, I would probably fall just from the warm breeze blowing.

Grady was saying something in Mia’s ear again, and given how she leaned back into him with the shyest of looks, I suspected it was both mushy and rated R.

Yeah, I was not ready to watch the show Mia and Grady were about to put on. Once on my feet, I adjusted my bikini bottom so my ass cheeks weren’t hanging out.

I was waiting for a jab or snark from Grady, but nothing came. Maybe he was changing.

Georgia hopped up. “I’ll come with.”

As we headed down to the shore, Georgia glanced behind her. “Colton is watching you or checking you out.”

A slight shiver blanketed me, and I was afraid to look. “Is he still in soldier form?”

“He’s sitting on the sand.”

“I hope he’s okay,” I said as the waves broke over our feet. The cold water was a welcome relief to both my skin and my torn emotions.

Georgia walked into the water until she was waist deep. “He will be. Grady talked to him in depth, according to Mia.”

I followed her through the surf. “I hate to say this, but maybe Grady is good for Colton.”

She dragged her fingers through the water and giggled. “I agree.” Then she dove under.

Again, I followed suit. I needed a distraction. I needed to put out the inferno blazing through me. I swam out just as Georgia surfaced.

“God, I needed that,” she said. “The tension was too much back there.”

I needed more than an ocean of cold water, but I had to agree on both counts. We swam around before floating, letting our bodies go with the current and the ebb and flow of the waves. For the briefest of moments, I cleared my mind, staring up at the wispy clouds. After a minute, I sighed, feeling like my world wasn’t in a state of unrest, as if my heart wasn’t racing because of the guy who was a blend of confusion and chaos.

Georgia tapped on my leg. “Colton is watching.”

And just like that, I was back to the present. “So?”

“Maybe you should rescue him. He needs to be rescued.”

I giggled as I flipped over, ducked under, and resurfaced, combing my fingers through my hair. “He isn’t a stray dog.”

She splashed water at me. “You know what I mean.”

Grady and Mia were making out. “Ugh. How can he stomach those two?”

“He’s got willpower. For sure.”

“No shit. He told me that very thing last night.”

She grinned. “Ooo. Tell me more. I’ve been dying to hear the play-by-play.”

I treaded water. “Best damn moment ever. I’m not going to last one second around him, not after he held me in his arms.” I quivered at the memory, almost feeling like I was back in his arms.

“He so likes you.”

“He has a funny way of showing it.”

Treading water with me, she said, “Look, Skye. Mia is right, in a way. Make the first move, but don’t throw yourself at him. Go sit next to him. Let the silence direct you. Let the space between you and him speak louder than words ever could. He needs a friend. He said you were the one that talked him down last night. Whatever you said, say it again.”

I watched Colton pick at the sand. It was clear he wanted to be anywhere but where he was. “I told him he was a good person. That’s all. And he doesn’t want a friend. His words, not mine.”

She playfully pushed me. “One, when do you listen? Two, since when do you give up? That’s not who you are. And three, he does need someone other than Grady. While Grady might be good for him, he’s probably telling him to find a random chick and get laid.”

I mumbled a swear word at her last sentence, but she was right. I didn’t give up easily. I was a fighter. I had to be careful, though, of where the line ended as a fighter and began as a whiner or beggar. If Colton didn’t want anything to do with me, I had to come to terms with that.

“The minute I go up to him, he’ll run,” I said. “He did that at the cemetery yesterday.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Just try again. I want to see you and Colton together. You deserve to be happy.”

I flung myself at her, or at least tried to. The ocean had other plans for us, and a wave threw us in.

We both laughed.

“I appreciate the advice, Ms. Love Therapist. And I love you.”

“I know,” Georgia said. “Let’s go. The tide is coming in.”

The wind was picking up and the water was getting a bit choppy.

Georgia swam ahead of me. I wasn’t in a rush. I needed as much time as possible to find the courage I’d had last night, the thing that had made me run out of my house in the middle of the night.

Georgia was just getting out of the water as I dove under to gain some ground, and when I surfaced, I broke into the breaststroke. My parents had sent me to swim classes when I was a toddler, and Dad had taught me as well. Living around the ocean, he thought it was imperative to know how to swim, to know the good, bad, and ugly of what could happen in the ocean. He’d always said, “Swimmers are at the mercy of water that can be powerful and commanding. In a blink of an eye, anything can happen.”

I thought about Colton’s brother as I swam, wondering about the details behind his drowning.

I was getting closer to shore when the sea sucked me out, erasing the distance I’d made. I let myself go with it. No