Falling for Ocean Blue [BxB] ✔️

Chapter Forty

In the rush of love, perhaps I forgot to use that word. Jules was always so vocal about her feelings. She spoke for the both of us. I wanted him to put words into my mouth. To see my easel and pick out the colour palette, the brush, the stencils.

In the soft heat of the Mediterranean, bodies swim in the blue depths, or lounge in shades of low trees. I have my feet cooling in the chlorinated waters. I trace the line where light is diffracted differently. I kick gently, waves lapping over my knees. Kitty and Grace are playing card games on the porch. They're feet are tucked underneath them. Bare against the wooden deck.

Soren and Peter are messing around. Their laughter is a choir in the distance. I watch them haul themselves out of the water. No towels, so they spread their limbs into the sunlight.

The orange beams of dusk are brilliant. The citrus perfume permeates my pores as I inhale the memory.

Love is something I have yet to taste. My brother and sister love me. Mum might love me. Rebecca too. She was kind until she wasn't. I never blamed her, though. I expect they might.

"You guys want pizza?" Steven hails three boxes in one hand. He grins cheekily. The smell is enough to empty the pool and entice the company into the warm house. I almost follow, but a splash forces my attention to a figure wading beneath the waves. I watch, entranced by the rhythmic stokes when he finally breaks the surface.

He's a good swimmer, cutting across the length of the pool in four or five strokes. He dives under, kicking the wall a few inches to my left and makes it halfway in one breath.

Eyes shut tight.

I can watch in secret.

He does this over and over and over. Each kick against the blue tiles getting closer to my leg. When I think he's done, he turns for another lap. I'm almost bored by the time he makes it back to me. This time, he resurfaces in front of me. I feel him brushing against my thigh, forcing them apart. He uses my knee to hoist himself out of the water, panting forcefully against my hot skin. His wet hair soaks my right shoulder, the drops trickling into the waistband of my navy shorts, making me shiver. His lower half is submerged, only his head resting against the nook of my shoulder.

"How are you?"

"I'm okay."

His hair is slicked into clumped strands pasted on his temple. A halo that has been gilded and weighted so that it falls on his head. An angelic crown.

"How are you?"

"I'm okay." I whisper.

Fray smiles.

He kisses my jaw, exhausted. His arms are flexed on either side of me, holding himself up.

"This place is gorgeous."

"First time."

He quirks his brow.

"I thought it was a family summer house. It's famous in Woodstone. Never thought I'd get an invite."

I shrug.

"Neither did I."

"Come on. Your family love you. I'm jealous of how close you are with them. Not everyone has that."

I choose my next words carefully, sensing how important the subject is to him.

"They're making an effort which is more than I ever did. I'm grateful... but it's sometimes too much. Like they're overcompensating..."

Fray processes this like a priest in his velvet confession booth. His eyes dance in pensive waves.

"Maybe that's a good thing. They're making up for wasted time because they care about you. They miss you. My parents push me over state lines to be rid of me."