Page 36 of Crossing Arizona

Arya shoves him in the chest, splashing water into his face as she swims after her friend. “You’re such an ass, Christian.”

He throws his hands up, bewildered. “What did I do?”

“Well, this is going great,” I mutter, my eyes finding Xed’s across the water. “Anyone else want to start a fight?”

“Thank fuck our fighting days are over,” Huckslee chuckles, nuzzling into Taylor’s throat and licking the dragonfly tattooed there. “Remember when that used to be us?”

“I mean, you still choke me out,” Taylor drawls, “but now I like it.”

The group’s banter fades into the background as my focus shifts to Hannah and Xed. She clings to the edge of the dock, her small hands gripping the wood as she looks up at him, her dark eyes filled with unshed tears. He’s shaking his head, his face carefully blank, but I know him well enough to see the tension in his jaw and the stiffness in his shoulders.

When Hannah slumps back into the water, her expression crumpling, I gently pry Val off me again and swim over to them.

“What’s wrong, jelly bean?” I pull her into my arms, kissing the top of her head as she buries her face in my chest.

“Xed won’t swim with me,” she mumbles, her voice small and hurt.

I glance up at him, taking in the familiar leather jacket he’s been wearing daily for as long as I can remember. It’s more than just clothing—it’s armor—protection from the stares, the questions, the judgment.

“I didn’t bring swim clothes,” he mutters, tugging at his sleeves and avoiding my gaze.

Christian scoffs from nearby. “Neither did Taylor. He’s in his chonies. Nobody here cares, fool.”

“H-he forgot how to swim,” I lie, seeing the flash of panic in Xed’s eyes as he glances at me sharply.

Hannah gasps, her head snapping up as she wriggles out of my arms. “I can do it! I’ll show you, Fungus. It’s easy!”

Xed looks torn, his hands curling into fists at his sides as he swallows hard. His eyes dart between Hannah and me, the vulnerability written across his face almost too much to bear.

“Let him be, Hannah. Come swim with me and Mom.”

She starts to cry as I pull her away, her little body shaking with each hiccup. Even with her shark floaties making her look utterly adorable, the sight of her tears twists something deep in my chest.

“It’s okay, jelly bean,” I murmur, brushing her damp hair from her face. “Fungus just doesn’t feel like swimming right now. Come on, we’ll go have fun anyway.”

But her gaze stays locked on him, her voice cracking through her sobs. “But I wanted to show him.”

We get a few paces away before Xed’s voice cuts through the air.

“Wait. Stop.”

Glancing over my shoulder, I catch him frozen there, perched on the edge of the dock, hands flexing at his sides. Our gazes meet briefly before he shifts his focus to Hannah.

“Okay,” he says softly, the word barely audible over the gentle lapping of the water.

Hannah’s head snaps up, her tears slowing as she watches him stand.

For a moment, he just stands there, caught in his own internal battle, before he reaches up and slowly slides the jacket off his shoulders.

I hold my breath as he glances down at the dark, long-sleeved shirt covering his torso, his fingers curling at the hem. The pause is long, agonizing, before he grips the fabric and lifts it.

My eyes catch on his soft stomach first, the dark fuzz of hair disappearing under the waistband of his jeans. A smooth chest, two dusky nipples that I know he loves sucked, the sounds he used to make—

I cut off that train of thought when he fully slips his shirt off, arms and scars exposed to the sunlight.

“What the fuck happened—" Taylor starts, but Huckslee quickly claps a hand over his mouth and whispers something in his ear.

Jenna looks horrified at the marks, big blue eyes growing misty as Devon looks away uncomfortably. Even Valerie and Christian are speechless.