Page 71 of The Clinch
Her fingers are still at the base of my hairline—not pressing now, just resting. Like she said the thing and then forgot to take her hands back.
The beach keeps going around us. Waves. Finn’s voice. The smell of sunscreen and salt and her.
I stay facedown and breathe.
Her thumb moves again. One small sweep across the back of my neck, slow enough to be deliberate, light enough to deny.
My whole spine registers it.
I don’t turn. I tighten my hand in the towel until the fabric creases and hold absolutely still, because if I move a single inch toward her right now, she’ll feel what that cost me and we’ll be somewhere neither of us has agreed to go.
Her hand lifts away.
The absence of it is worse than the touch was.
“Fuck.”
The word gets out before I can rein myself in. I force my face toward the sand and order myself to stand down.
Dmitri’s voice cuts in from the chair, dry and unhurried. “Hey, Liz. This is a family beach.”
Finn makes a choking sound into his elbow. Nate mutters something that sounds a lot like. “Jesus.”
“All done,” Liz says evenly.
She sets the bottle down by my elbow and reaches for her earbud again, smooth as if nothing happened.
I push up onto my forearms before she can retreat. Sand sticks to my skin.
Everything in me is still burning.
“Liz.”
She pauses. Doesn’t look at me. Doesn’t pull away either, just stays perfectly still, as if eye contact would make it real.
That alone almost breaks my teeth.
My voice comes out low. “You can’t say that to me and then walk away.”
Her breath catches. I hear it.
“Watch me,” she says defiantly.
She stands, shakes sand from her hands, and walks toward the water without looking back.
17
FALSE OPENING (LIZ)
Idon’t realize I’m almost running until the sand turns dark under my feet, packed tight by the tide. I stop at the edge and pretend I came here for the ocean. Water licks over my toes, cool and sharp in the hot summer air.
Behind me, the beach keeps moving. Laughter. Voices. The steady, relentless percussion of waves.
Then I feel him behind me. Want lands fast and stupid.
“Liz.”
His voice is barely human.
