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Chapter Twenty Eight - You're Special

"Nick, stop and just talk."

"There's nothing to talk about."

"You're acting crazy."

"I was crazy before you met me."

"Not this kinda crazy..."

Rosie's voice dipped low as she stared out the window at the vast beach looming ahead. I whipped off my seatbelt, my fingers slipping clumsily.

"C'mon," I begged.

"I'm only going with you so you don't do something stupid. Like kill yourself," she yelled out as she reached for her seatbelt.

By the time she got out of the car, I already had my shirt off, jogging backwards.

"First tell me why we're going swimming," she said. She kicked off her flip-flops.

"Because it's something I've never done before."

The slight breeze picked up her dress as she walked towards me. I popped the button on my jeans and let them fall to my ankles.

"You've never gone swimming?"

"Of course I've gone swimming," I said. I hooked my finger along the top of her dress and tugged. "C'mon, Rosie."

"Then how can you say this is something you've never done before?" she asked. She pulled back from my touch. "I'm not doing anything until you talk to me."

Her voice was quivering slightly and suddenly I realized I really was scaring her. My body slumped and I turned towards the water.

"They put the beach on high shark alert this morning and I thought we could go swimming."

"Nick!"

"What?"

Rosie glanced at the water. I saw her heel dig deeper into the sand. "If it was daylight, I might say yes, but..."

"Do you think if you saw the shark that you'd be able to outswim it?" I asked. "I just want to be able to say that I swam naked with sharks."

"Naked?"

"Yes," I slid my hands into my boxers and shimmied them down. "Naked."

"I'm not gonna let you do this," she warned.

"Do what?"

"If you want to swim with sharks you hire someone and do it right. You don't just...just jump into the water and...and..."

"Of all people who'd understand, I'd thought it be you," I shot back. Rosie's chest rose and I knew she was sucking in a breath.

"Why is this so important to you?" she finally said.

"I want to do it with you."

"Why?"

I didn't answer. It was kinda hard to keep my rough edge when I was the naked one and she was fully clothed. She walked closer, her feet sliding in the sand. For a second, I thought she was going to slap me. Instead, she pressed her face into my chest.

"This isn't the way," she whispered. "It's not going to make it better. It's not going to make the flashbacks stop. The minute we go back home..."

Automatically, my arms wrapped around her waist. My head fell back, my eyes narrowing up at the sky. I bit my lip to the point where I almost tasted blood.

"Fuck," I whispered.

"I'm falling in love with you," she continued, her lips brushing against my upper abdomen. I could just imagine the soft blonde hairs tickling the pouty skin with every word.

"Because you pity me?" I asked bitterly.

She pulled away. It took her a second to get her hand up to my neck and drag my face back down. I stared into her eyes and saw the emergence of a smile.

"No," she said. "Because I believe in fate."

"Fate sucks."

"Fate plays by its own rules. And it left you stranded on the island for a purpose."

"Your..." I couldn't remember what relative Joshua was or even if he was really related. "That kid hacked my boat."

"Okay, I'll give you that one. But what caused you to come into the restaurant for breakfast?"

"My stomach."

Her face steeled. She wasn't going to give into my retorts that easily.

"Then why did you sleep with me?"

"Because I wanted you. Hell, I needed you," I said automatically.

"Those are a lot of things that end in -ed," she whispered.

A laugh rose in my throat. I pulled her closer. A fuzzy memory of me stripping down in the yellow flower fields of Germany threatened to pull me away, but I pushed it down. I fought against it. "Okay, let me try this without using the past tense. I love all the quirky shit you do. You make life interesting again and you make me want to be who I was before---I think you'd like me," I finished lamely. Her fingers splayed against my back and she tipped her head back.

"I think I will too. But can we get you dressed and forget about sharks? At least for tonight?"

"You want me to get dressed?"

She let out a sound that was half whimper, half moan. "I'm going to hate myself for this---but, yes."

"You're special, Rosie."

She wiggled out of my embrace, her eyes falling to my lower half and her face radiating its appreciation. Even so, she picked up my jeans and boxers and stuffed them into my waiting arms.

"So are you, Nick."

"So are you."