The chilly water all around me is a shock to my system, banishing any last shreds of sleepiness from our lazy morning. When I break the surface, I slick my hair back, laughing and gasping as sunlight hits my face.
Chase pops up next to me. The water is still shallow enough here that my feet can find the sandy bottom, and the rolling waves hit my body at mid-chest. Ocean water darkens Chase’s coppery hair, making it gleam bronze in the sunlight. He steps toward me as the other three boys wade into the surf around us, reaching out to brush a wet strand of hair off my cheek.
Then his gaze moves lower, and his hand moves down to drift over the port scar on my chest, the pink line that serves as a constant reminder of my childhood cancer. He knows what it is now. All the guys do.
And River was right.
None of them look at me like I’m broken.
Unconsciously, my hand mirrors his movement, finding the scar from the bullet wound on his chest. It sits in almost the exact same place on his body as my scar does on mine, his own reminder of his brush with death.
Our hands slide over each other’s wet skin, tracing each other’s scars—and, okay, maybe taking the excuse to feel each other up a little bit while we’re at it.
Then Chase’s fingers move again, tilting my chin up so he can meet my gaze.
“Hey,” he murmurs, his smile beaming brighter than the sun that dapples the water with glittering points of light. “We’re alive.”
“Fuck yeah, we are.”
I press up onto my tiptoes to kiss him, letting the salty water help hold me up. His skin is cold from the water, just like mine is, but his lips are warm, and he smells like the ocean and peppermint toothpaste.
He’s alive.
So am I.
Death defined so much of this past year, but it’s not what has to define us going forward.
Iris, Judge Hollowell, Niles D’Amato—their lives were cut short. They’re all gone from this earth, frozen in time and existing only in memories, both the good and the awful.
But we’re not.
The kings and I are still here, moving and living and breathing. Changing. Growing together. Arguing and laughing and fucking and figuring our shit out.
The future stretches out before us, a blank canvas for us to paint on with all the messy colors of life.
But for today, we’ll just swim.
***
Thank you so much for reading the Kings of Linwood Academy series!
Hungry for more? If you like your romance dark and your men dangerous, check out my reverse harem series, Ruthless Games, starting with Sweet Obsession. Turn the page to see the cover and blurb…
I saved his life.
Now he’s invaded mine.
Two years ago, a split-second decision changed everything. I risked my life for a man I didn’t even know and nearly died for it.
I’ve tried to forget him. To forget that whole night.
But he hasn’t forgotten me.
He’s been watching.
Obsessing.
Craving.
And when he crashes back into my life like a wrecking ball, accompanied by two dark shadows—men he calls his brothers—the life I’ve been trying to rebuild for myself shatters into a thousand sharp-edged pieces.
He believes our souls are bound by blood, and he’s come back to claim what’s his.
Two years ago, I saved Marcus Constantine’s life.
Now I wish I hadn’t.
Read Sweet Obsession now!
***
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Books by Callie Rose
Boys of Oak Park Prep
Savage Royals
Defiant Princess
Broken Empire
Kings of Linwood Academy
The Help
The Lie
The Risk
Ruthless Games
Sweet Obsession
Sweet Retribution
Sweet Salvation
Fallen University
Year One
Year Two
Year Three
Claimed by Wolves
Fated Magic
Broken Bond
Dark Wolf
Alpha Queen
Feral Shifters
Rejected Mate
Untamed Mate
Cursed Mate
Claimed Mate
Kingdom of Blood
Blood Debt
Dark Legacy
Vampire Wars
