Page 128 of The Replay

My heart beats fast, and this time it echoes the results of a race I didn't want to run, but I'm in the middle of anyway.

He stares at me like he's deciding what to say.

"Dominic Wright," I say. "Tell me."

He looks away. "Your sister is coming to get you."

Cora approaches us, a little smirk on her mouth. He presses his lips together and gives me a small shake of his head.

"Tell me," I insist.

His eyes go to my sister, then to me, then to the party behind her.

The decision clicks in his mind. It comes with determination in his eyes.

He lifts his free hand, takes my face in it, and pulls me to him with hard fingers at my nape.

His kiss is short but intense. Punishing. My lips might get a bit bruised.

He locks eyes with me. "I want us to feel no pain at all."

"Woah," Cora says. "What's going on?"

"That's impossible," I reply.

"Maybe." He arches an eyebrow. "But shouldn't we try?"

"Mom and Dad are asking to leave," Cora says. "Whatever this is, wrap it up over the phone."

Dom narrows his eyes. "Really, really try to find out what you want. Then we'll choose— together. We'll find a way to get what we want and make it work. But if we're not on the same page about that, I don't want to misdirect you."

"As much as I would love to fill Mom and Dad's heads with questions about this," Cora continues, "I don't think it's what you want, hermanita."

She waves a hand at us in a circle, in a gesture that indicates she doesn't understand what's happening.

Well, she's not alone. I don't understand either. All I know is that urgency sizzles in my blood.

I stand and gaze at him. "I'll think about everything."

He nods. "I'll miss you."

His eyes express all the longing I had not seen as we talked. Gloomy Man on a Sunday, indeed.

"I'll miss you, too," I say.

Taking a step away seems impossible until Cora pulls me from my arm. Those stormy clouds surrounding him have latched onto me, and now they follow me as I walk away. When I really, really don't want to leave.

Right before we turn toward the tents in search of our parents, I turn to watch him one last time. Our eyes lock. He doesn't want me to leave early. Somewhere inside, these words mean more than simply departing early from the party.

How ironic, that my anxiety wants me to prevent things going wrong, and Dom is asking me to engage with exactly that. To think of how to prevent the pain that will come when we break up. And, for once, I'm not sure if I believe I can. And that this is the first time I'm not sure if I could ever manage.

Chapter 41

Mariana

The house my parents rented is magnificent. It's not so much its size, but the way it manages to both blend with and stand out from the landscape. Masonry in stone that seems natural in the environment contrasts with the wooden and white sections on the building. Large windows trimmed in black allow for views of forest and sea. Green pockets of lawn and natural growth fill the space between the house, the rocky ground, and the sea below.

I leave it all behind as I follow the flagstone path toward the private pier. A small boat is roped to the structure, but it's not my target. I sit at the end of the dock, where a larger boat may find its place at other times, but whose emptiness gives me a gorgeous view of the sunset.