her? I’m not a problem solver.
I’m not good at resolving conflicts or settling disputes, which are just a couple of the reasons I should never be queen, if I were making a list. But with Doe especial y I’ve always been at a loss.
Hopeful y Daddy can give me some advice. That’l be one good thing about going home.
Chapter 6
rody doesn’t want to leave his precious Camaro parked Bat the beach unsupervised, so Quince gives us a ride in his mom’s junker car to Seaview Beach Park—the same spot where I first told Quince the truth about me. As impossible as it seems, I think his mom’s car is even more of a death trap than his motorcycle.
Dosinia, of course, just has to ride along.
“We should be back tonight,” I say for, like, the fifteenth time. “Tomorrow morning at the very latest.” That is nonnegotiable. My interview is tomorrow morning.
At ten o’clock. If we have to stay the night, I’l stil make it as long as we leave first thing. The key to my future and helping my kingdom from land might be in that interview.
Nothing wil keep me from making the appointment.
Quince pul s out of the driveway and into our street.
“Don’t go getting any romantic ideas about Benson while you’re down there,” he says with a smile. “I want you coming back to me.”
“Wel …” I pretend to consider. “He does know how to swim.”
Unlike Quince. That was the first of many problems with our bonding. Imagine me, a mermaid, bonded for life with a boy who couldn’t even swim. The idea was ridiculous. Now I can’t imagine being with anyone else.
“I’m learning,” he says.
“You’re trying, anyway,” I tease.
We’ve had a couple of lessons, but they have been tough.
Whenever we get into the water, I feel a little sad. Even if he becomes an Olympic-class swimmer, like Brody, we both know he wil probably never be able to go home with me again. The magical separation Daddy performed—at my request—made sure of that. He’s immune to the mermaid bond.
I’m not sure if he senses my sadness. I think he feels that, by learning how to swim, he’s getting closer to me. But I can’t help worrying that he’l never be quite close enough.
I’m total y fine with my future on land, but stil … it would be nice to be able to bring him home for a weekend or two. I can’t help but hold out a teeny-tiny bit of hope that someday we’l find a way.
I shake off the melancholy thought. No use crying over something that can’t be undone. We’re together, and that’s al that matters.
“You’re right,” he says with a laugh. “Couldn’t pick a better human to race home with if you tried.”
Tugging one of his hands off the steering wheel, I lace our fingers together and squeeze. I know his laugh was forced.
As much as he almost always seems to sense what’s going on in my head, I’m pretty good at guessing his thoughts, too. Sometimes I think—or hope—that maybe our bond never got ful y severed, that we’re stil magical y connected, but I know that’s not true. We’re just real y tuned in to each other. Just how I like it.
The entire time we’ve been talking, I’ve been trying to ignore the sounds coming from the backseat. Even if Doe only bonded with Brody to get a window of opportunity with Quince, the selfish sea urchin sure doesn’t seem to mind kissing him. Again and again and again.
“When I get back,” I say over the smooching sounds, “after my interview in the morning, we can take our ride down the coast.”
“I’l have Princess al shined up and ready to go,” Quince says as he steers the car into the beachfront parking lot.
We al pile out onto the blacktop and head for the surf line.
While the sand squishes beneath my feet, I focus in on my transfiguration, mental y forming a finkini beneath my shorts. Quince walks with me to the water line, not caring if his biker boots get doused with salt water.
Up the beach a few yards, Doe and Brody are getting in one last
I’m not good at resolving conflicts or settling disputes, which are just a couple of the reasons I should never be queen, if I were making a list. But with Doe especial y I’ve always been at a loss.
Hopeful y Daddy can give me some advice. That’l be one good thing about going home.
Chapter 6
rody doesn’t want to leave his precious Camaro parked Bat the beach unsupervised, so Quince gives us a ride in his mom’s junker car to Seaview Beach Park—the same spot where I first told Quince the truth about me. As impossible as it seems, I think his mom’s car is even more of a death trap than his motorcycle.
Dosinia, of course, just has to ride along.
“We should be back tonight,” I say for, like, the fifteenth time. “Tomorrow morning at the very latest.” That is nonnegotiable. My interview is tomorrow morning.
At ten o’clock. If we have to stay the night, I’l stil make it as long as we leave first thing. The key to my future and helping my kingdom from land might be in that interview.
Nothing wil keep me from making the appointment.
Quince pul s out of the driveway and into our street.
“Don’t go getting any romantic ideas about Benson while you’re down there,” he says with a smile. “I want you coming back to me.”
“Wel …” I pretend to consider. “He does know how to swim.”
Unlike Quince. That was the first of many problems with our bonding. Imagine me, a mermaid, bonded for life with a boy who couldn’t even swim. The idea was ridiculous. Now I can’t imagine being with anyone else.
“I’m learning,” he says.
“You’re trying, anyway,” I tease.
We’ve had a couple of lessons, but they have been tough.
Whenever we get into the water, I feel a little sad. Even if he becomes an Olympic-class swimmer, like Brody, we both know he wil probably never be able to go home with me again. The magical separation Daddy performed—at my request—made sure of that. He’s immune to the mermaid bond.
I’m not sure if he senses my sadness. I think he feels that, by learning how to swim, he’s getting closer to me. But I can’t help worrying that he’l never be quite close enough.
I’m total y fine with my future on land, but stil … it would be nice to be able to bring him home for a weekend or two. I can’t help but hold out a teeny-tiny bit of hope that someday we’l find a way.
I shake off the melancholy thought. No use crying over something that can’t be undone. We’re together, and that’s al that matters.
“You’re right,” he says with a laugh. “Couldn’t pick a better human to race home with if you tried.”
Tugging one of his hands off the steering wheel, I lace our fingers together and squeeze. I know his laugh was forced.
As much as he almost always seems to sense what’s going on in my head, I’m pretty good at guessing his thoughts, too. Sometimes I think—or hope—that maybe our bond never got ful y severed, that we’re stil magical y connected, but I know that’s not true. We’re just real y tuned in to each other. Just how I like it.
The entire time we’ve been talking, I’ve been trying to ignore the sounds coming from the backseat. Even if Doe only bonded with Brody to get a window of opportunity with Quince, the selfish sea urchin sure doesn’t seem to mind kissing him. Again and again and again.
“When I get back,” I say over the smooching sounds, “after my interview in the morning, we can take our ride down the coast.”
“I’l have Princess al shined up and ready to go,” Quince says as he steers the car into the beachfront parking lot.
We al pile out onto the blacktop and head for the surf line.
While the sand squishes beneath my feet, I focus in on my transfiguration, mental y forming a finkini beneath my shorts. Quince walks with me to the water line, not caring if his biker boots get doused with salt water.
Up the beach a few yards, Doe and Brody are getting in one last
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