The Point

ANNA

I wanted to take it back the moment I said it, but it was too late.

“I would believe that you care deeply for me as I do for you,” he murmured.

“What’s the difference?” I asked him.

Rather than answer, he pulled himself up onto the raft with me. It sank a little under his added weight, and he quickly spread out to steady us. He bracketed my shoulders with his hands, and his knee landed between my slightly parted thighs.

“Love is an illusion,” he affirmed. “It fades.”

“It doesn’t have to.”

I stared up at his serious face as water droplets beaded on the ends of his hair and the tip of his nose.

He sighed and ran a thumb along the curve of my jaw. “The contract—”

“Is already signed,” I told him. “It doesn’t mean we can’t have more.”

“More doesn’t always mean better.”

“Says the billionaire at one of his mansions,” I pointed out.

He grinned ruefully before sobering. “I don’t want you to be hopeful for love if it gets in the way of our promise to stand by one another. Love opens us up to heartbreak.”

“And living as married friends who like to fuck lessens that heartbreak?” I asked in frustration.

He leaned in and spoke directly in my ear.

“You like to fuck me, Ms. Miller?” he asked in a low voice.

I rolled my eyes, even as heat ignited in my veins. “That wasn’t my point.”

He smirked. “Okay, what’s your point?”

I looked away from him and bit my lip. “To me, sex is love, Gavin. It is a physical manifestation of what two people feel for one another. That’s why I’ve been celibate and why I’ve only had sex with two guys.

“I don’t think I can sleep with you and keep things platonic between us. You need to know I’m not that girl. If that’s what you want, then you need to find someone else.”

His eyes darkened as he stared down at me. I squirmed slightly under him.

“I know it’s old-fashioned,” I continued anxiously. “But I’m not going to lie to you and promise to keep my feelings out of it. I don’t know if I can.”

“Which is why Chelsea bothers you so much,” he reasoned and cupped my cheek. “Well then, we have quite the predicament, Ms. Miller.”

I braced myself for what would come next. Surely, he would send me on my way now that I had told him I couldn’t give him what he wanted. I closed my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat.

Suddenly, his lips were on mine, and our bodies were pressed ever closer. His touch, his smell, his taste—all of it surrounded me and engulfed me fully. His hands pulled gently at the scrunchie I’d tied in my hair to keep it up, and it fell in loose waves.

“I like it down,” he said as he kissed along my jawline. The deep rumble of his voice sent a shiver down my spine, despite the warm water surrounding me.

I was acutely aware of the fact that both of us were practically naked. The only things separating us were my flimsy bikini and the thin material of his boxers. As his tongue slipped in to meet mine, I resisted the urge to grind against the leg he still had pinned at my apex.

Instead, I ran my hands up his back and over his chest. Every delicious ridge of him was firm against my touch. A low growl sounded in his throat as my fingers trailed down his taut stomach and to the V just above his low-slung boxers.

“Careful,” he said, but I could hear the smile in his voice against my ear.

“Or what?” I asked defiantly.

He leaned back to stare at me with a wicked smirk. I tilted my head at him before suddenly pushing hard against his chest. A look of shock came over his face before he lost his balance completely and fell into the water.

His head hadn’t even broken the surface when I felt his hand wrap around my ankle and tug me off the raft. I yelped and tried uselessly to grab onto something before I plunged into the water. Instead of going under, Gavin pulled me to him, but I wiggled free.

“Crap, I had my phone and earbuds,” I said, desperately searching the bottom.

“Shit.” He dove down and surfaced with all three a moment later. My still-shattered phone screen had a grainy image that looked like a water droplet, and I assumed the headphones were equally damaged. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it.”

“It’s my fault,” I told him, treading water. “I was trying to be funny. I forgot about my stuff.”

Gavin set my electronics on the edge and swam back out to where I was. He was so tall that he could reach the bottom easily. He grabbed me and wrapped my legs around his waist before kissing the tip of my nose.

“We can replace them tomorrow,” he promised.

“Okay,” I sighed.

“Is that okay?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah.” I waved him off. “It’s silly. I just feel disconnected without it.”

“Hmm,” he murmured.

“It’s not like I was using it or anything,” I said, trying to convince myself as much as him. “Besides, it’s nice to unplug sometimes.”

He looked at me skeptically but nodded. “Have you checked any of your social media lately?”

“What do you mean?” I frowned.

He shrugged nonchalantly, but I could tell it was forced.

“I haven’t logged in, and I don’t receive notifications,” I admitted. “Is there something I should know about?”

He took a deep breath. “It seems news of our engagement has surfaced. Your profiles are receiving a lot of attention.”

I thought about it for a minute. “To be honest, I don’t know that I care what strangers are saying. The people important to me know who I am. I’ve spoken to a few of my friends, and they are all supportive.”

Gavin’s jaw tightened, and I frowned.

“What is it?” I asked.

He sighed and seemed to hug me a little closer. “Your stepmother and dad gave an interview,” he explained.

I stiffened. “I haven’t spoken to them in years. They don’t know a thing about me.”

He nodded. “That’s pretty much what they said. I’m working on getting the article down, but…”

His voice trailed off.

“Just tell me,” I encouraged him.

“Before I do, please know that my publicist is preparing a statement to refute everything,” he said. “Like you said, nobody who matters would believe it for a minute, anyway.”

I nodded hesitantly.

“The journalist took some liberties with the information from your parents,” he explained.

“Without saying it directly, he made you out to be a gold digger who turned her back on her grieving father. He tracked down some of the men you dated, and a few of them gave unflattering quotes.”

“I hardly ‘dated’ anyone,” I argued. “I went on dates. I mean—I guess a lot of them, but I was looking for the right guy. My dad—his wife kicked me out—”

My voice was rising several octaves, and Gavin hugged me closer. I rested my cheek against his bare chest and listened to the steady thrumming of his heart.

“I know, Annalise.” He stroked my hair gently. “None of it is true, and it doesn’t matter.”

No part of me thought I would care what some random article said about my character. I was naive to think even my on-the-whole quiet, normal existence couldn’t be spun into something dark and disgusting.

More than anything, it hurt that my dad was part of the reason it was written.

“I need to read it,” I whispered past the lump in my throat.

“I would prefer you don’t,” Gavin answered.

“If I don’t, I’ll assume the worst,” I told him. Not knowing would drive me crazy. I wouldn’t be able to sleep or eat. It was better to just rip off the Band-Aid.

“Fine,” he grumbled. “I’m actually surprised you didn’t see it. Although, I was calling you nonstop, and you didn’t see that either.”

I shrugged. “I mute all my notifications when I’m trying to relax. It’s easy to get distracted when five million apps or texts are trying to get your attention. Plus, I fell asleep to my music.”

He chuckled. “Falling asleep to music blasting in your ears. You are a talented one.”

“Drowns out my thoughts,” I said and sighed as I let myself sink further into his hold. I loved it there, wrapped in his arms as if the rest of the world couldn’t reach me.

I looked up at his profile, haloed in the afternoon sun.

“It’s strange how quickly I’ve come to like being this close to you,” I told him.

He snorted. “Yeah, four years just flew by.”

“We’ve known each other for four years,” I pointed out. “It’s not like we’ve been together for that time. We’ve never looked at each other that way.”

He pursed his lips thoughtfully.

“Honestly, Annalise,” he said slowly, “I’ve always looked at you this way. From the first moment I saw you, I wanted to touch you like this. I wanted to taste your kiss and run my fingers through your hair.

“We may not have been together, but I’ve always wanted to be.”