you?” Josh reaches further towards me and moves my arms from where I’ve subconsciously wrapped them around myself. I look up at him, and he’s staring at the sides of my waist where four swollen red strips stand out on either side. The merman’s marks are prominent on my skin. I look down at my legs, and Josh follows I listen to him gasp as we both take in the marks covering every part of me from my thighs to my toes.
“Are you ok?”
Josh’s face is full of concern for me. His fingers are still reaching towards me, but he stops himself short of touching my skin. I look at him sitting in only his swim shorts. The last of the water streams down the channels of his stomach to the small trail of hair that ends above the band of his shorts. I’ve never wanted him more.
“Erm … ” I struggle to speak at the sight of him, “yeh, I don’t know happened, something… erm… tangled me up. That’s why I went under.” I swallow hard and force myself to look away from his body and to stop imagining what could be. I need to downplay these marks, so he doesn't start asking too many questions and to do that I need to be focused.
Staring at his abs isn’t helping my concentration.
“You didn’t see what grabbed you?” he asks sceptically. He doesn’t look as if he’s buying my story but why wouldn’t he unless he knew what was under the water and wants me to admit it to him, or maybe he sent them so he could come to rescue me.
“Must’ve been sea weed or something” I suggest. What if he’s one of the merfolk and he’s done some sort of deal with Poseidon, so he got given legs to come on land, Ariel style? Is that even possible? I’ll need to try my theory out on Allana later if I get a later.
I start to look anxiously around the water, sure I'm going to find their eyes somewhere in the depths. But now I'm not too sure who I'm more scared of, them or Josh?
“What are you looking for” he asks, breaking my thoughts. I don’t reply. I can’t give him a straight answer, so I think staying silent is the best option.
“Let’s get you back to the beach then”
I nod, relieved he isn’t going to hurt me, but a part of me wants to stay out here with him alone and find out some answers. I'm too on edge from the attack, though, and I know they could come back at any moment.
I suppose I owe him really.
“Thanks for, you know, saving me.”
Josh laughs at my afterthought. “You’re welcome,” he smiles, the most relaxed smile I’ve ever seen. His eyes shine happily, but I can see his concern for me behind them. Josh thinks I’m human, that means he actually thought I was drowning, and he actually cared enough to come in and save me.
My stomach starts to do flips. He must like me, and he was watching me if he saw me go under. I'm not reading too much into any of our brief meetings. There genuinely is something here and maybe I should be brave and somehow co-ordinate myself down to the end of his surfboard and thank him properly for what he’s just done.
I lean forward, but he interrupts me. “My job is to rescue people. I'm a weekend lifeguard here”
Oh.
My stomach stops flipping with a thud. My image of our happily-ever-after shatters! He wasn’t watching me or worrying about me. He was doing his job. The weight of the waves seems to crash over me crushing me with his blow. Maybe I should hop off his board and swim back; being kidnapped by merfolk couldn’t be as painful as Josh pretty much spelling out for me that he was only doing his job.
I look at either side
“Are you ok?”
Josh’s face is full of concern for me. His fingers are still reaching towards me, but he stops himself short of touching my skin. I look at him sitting in only his swim shorts. The last of the water streams down the channels of his stomach to the small trail of hair that ends above the band of his shorts. I’ve never wanted him more.
“Erm … ” I struggle to speak at the sight of him, “yeh, I don’t know happened, something… erm… tangled me up. That’s why I went under.” I swallow hard and force myself to look away from his body and to stop imagining what could be. I need to downplay these marks, so he doesn't start asking too many questions and to do that I need to be focused.
Staring at his abs isn’t helping my concentration.
“You didn’t see what grabbed you?” he asks sceptically. He doesn’t look as if he’s buying my story but why wouldn’t he unless he knew what was under the water and wants me to admit it to him, or maybe he sent them so he could come to rescue me.
“Must’ve been sea weed or something” I suggest. What if he’s one of the merfolk and he’s done some sort of deal with Poseidon, so he got given legs to come on land, Ariel style? Is that even possible? I’ll need to try my theory out on Allana later if I get a later.
I start to look anxiously around the water, sure I'm going to find their eyes somewhere in the depths. But now I'm not too sure who I'm more scared of, them or Josh?
“What are you looking for” he asks, breaking my thoughts. I don’t reply. I can’t give him a straight answer, so I think staying silent is the best option.
“Let’s get you back to the beach then”
I nod, relieved he isn’t going to hurt me, but a part of me wants to stay out here with him alone and find out some answers. I'm too on edge from the attack, though, and I know they could come back at any moment.
I suppose I owe him really.
“Thanks for, you know, saving me.”
Josh laughs at my afterthought. “You’re welcome,” he smiles, the most relaxed smile I’ve ever seen. His eyes shine happily, but I can see his concern for me behind them. Josh thinks I’m human, that means he actually thought I was drowning, and he actually cared enough to come in and save me.
My stomach starts to do flips. He must like me, and he was watching me if he saw me go under. I'm not reading too much into any of our brief meetings. There genuinely is something here and maybe I should be brave and somehow co-ordinate myself down to the end of his surfboard and thank him properly for what he’s just done.
I lean forward, but he interrupts me. “My job is to rescue people. I'm a weekend lifeguard here”
Oh.
My stomach stops flipping with a thud. My image of our happily-ever-after shatters! He wasn’t watching me or worrying about me. He was doing his job. The weight of the waves seems to crash over me crushing me with his blow. Maybe I should hop off his board and swim back; being kidnapped by merfolk couldn’t be as painful as Josh pretty much spelling out for me that he was only doing his job.
I look at either side
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