“Aidan!” I yell, rolling onto my side, subsequently upsetting the ring and falling into the river. Water submerges my face as I fight for air and pop up out of the river. “You bastard!”

“Dollar!” Mila shrieks, sitting up with her hand outstretched.

“If she hears you cuss, you owe her a dollar.” Aidan shrugs. “You owe her a dollar.”

“I’ll get you a Popsicle if you forget that,” I bargain, meeting Mila’s eyes.

“Ummmmm,” she thinks. “Wed.”

“Okay,” I agree. “I’ll get you a red Popsicle.”

She grins. “Otay. No dollar.”

I flip Aidan the bird when Mila turns away, seemingly satisfied by my offer. He smirks, breaking into a gentle swim and pushing her away from me. I lift my tube over my head so it becomes a shade and kick my way across the river until I get level with him.

“You’re a pain.”

He looks at me, amusement all over his face. “I know.”

I cut my eyes to him, and although the awkwardness of this morning lingers between us, it feels like not much has changed. Almost as if our conversation hasn’t made a bit of difference. And I guess that’s right. One conversation doesn’t particularly change feelings, right?

Right.

“Vrooooooooooooom!” Aidan yells, running as quickly as he can through the water. He pushes Mila’s ring with him, and despite the fact that my toes are on the ground, I can’t catch him. They disappear from view until I turn the corner and see Mila being lifted out of her ring by Conner and Aidan being handed a double ring.

He jumps in one side, making a huge splash, and pats the other, much higher side. “Come on.”

“I’m good here,” I reply, using the side to spin my ring as necessary.

He sits up, and using the side of the river, moves. With a grin, he tips me up in my tube. I scream as I go over, the awful water filling my mouth. I cough and sputter as I resurface, my eyes burning from the chlorine. Aidan laughs, so I grab the empty side of his ring and tug it.

Hard.

His side slams into the wall, and when I tilt it, he falls backward into the water. He comes up almost immediately, roaring with laughter, and reaches for the ring. He grabs it easily by the handle and holds it steady. “Not so much with the lazy here, huh?”

“You think?” I raise my eyebrow. “Can I get in or are you going to try and drown me again?”

“You can get in, although I’m makin’ no promises on the supposed drowning attempt.”

I roll my eyes and flop on the inner tube on my tummy, then roll over so my butt dips into the hole. Aidan does the same thing, making me bounce up and squeal. When he’s rolled over, he grabs me by the ankle and tugs.

“If you tickle me, I will kick you,” I warn him, moving and hovering my foot just above his cock.

He puts his hand over it. “No tickling.”

I rest my feet on his lap, moving onto my side a little and resting my head on my arm on the ring. Aidan moves his hands so both of them settle on my lower legs, and his lips twitch as he looks at me.

Warmth spreads through me, and I beat it back. No—I don’t want this. I don’t want to want this, because twenty-four hours just isn’t long enough.

“What?” I say quietly.

He shrugs a shoulder. “You.”

“What about me?”

“Everything.”

I open my mouth without saying a word, because, really, how do I respond to that? So I don’t. I close my mouth again and give him a small smile in return, because I guess that’s how I feel, too.

It really is just everything about him.

I drop my eyes to my thighs and pick a small leaf off my right leg. Dropping it over the side, I watch it flutter aimlessly to the water before being swamped by the tiny waves pushing us around the river.

It’s crazy to think about how much our relationship has changed in such a short span of time. We’ve gone from hating each other to desiring to, well, really liking each other.

I say really liking each other isn’t bad.

Although I know in my heart I more than really like him. He’s surprised me at every turn, even when I thought I couldn’t be surprised. Even when I’ve yelled like hell at him and he’s pissed me off by smiling through it, I liked him. A lot. A lot, a lot.

Jesus. I can’t even think the word.

If I think it, it makes it real, and if there’s one thing this relationship has taught me, it’s that reality sucks.

Aidan’s finger trails down my instep, and I jerk my gaze upward. “Stop,” he says softly, holding my foot. “Stop thinking, Jessie.”

“I’m not,” I reply honestly with a lame smile. “I’m wishing.”

“About what?”

“If I tell you, it won’t come true.”

“That only counts for birthday cakes.” His lips curve up. “And shooting stars. Because everyone knows that wishing on those is just something made up for kids so they can have a little magic.”

“It doesn’t matter what you wish on. Wishes are nothing but magic anyway, and since I’m still waiting for my Hogwarts letter, I know magic isn’t real.”

“I really wanted a Hogwarts letter.”

“Me, too.” I smile.

His chest heaves as he takes a deep breath. “Maybe that kind of magic isn’t real, but some kinds are.”

“Like what?”

“Like . . . when Mila laughs. That’s pretty magical, you know? And music. And sitting on the beach watching the sun go down.”

I look down again.

“And you.”

I laugh, but my heart isn’t in it. No, my heart is currently stuck in limbo between skipping a beat or breaking.

It goes with breaking.

We’re back at the point where I got onto the river with Mila, and as my throat closes up with emotion, I swing my legs from his lap. I jump off the ring and avoid Aidan’s outstretched arm trying to catch me.

“Jessie.”

I shake my head and go up the steps. I can see our things on the lounge chairs by the kids’ pool, where Mila is toddling around trying to catch the jets of water spraying up from the ground. She’s laughing, and Aidan was right, it is magical. So is music and the sunset, but me?

No.

“Jessie!” I wrap my towel around my body and grab my bag as Conner, Sofie, and Kye look over at me. I turn around, clasping my towel closed at my chest, and smack straight into Aidan.

He grabs my arms. “Where are you going?”

“I can’t do this,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut so the tears don’t escape. Moving, I shrug his grip off and take a step back. I swallow and look up at him as my chest clenches tightly. “That was my wish. I was wishing that everything could be different.”

“What if it could be?”

“But it can’t,” I remind him through the lump in my throat. “Like . . . does it matter what you say? I’m just a marketing tool, remember? Just something to put you in the papers.”

Guilt flits across his face, pain flickering in his eyes. God, I’m such a bitch, but reminding myself of that makes it better.

“Don’t,” he says, coming toward me. “You know that wasn’t me. You know I had no choice but to agree to that.”

“No, you do. You always have a choice, Aidan. I had a choice, and I made the wrong one. I have a choice right now, and I’m choosing to say that this is enough before you say something that might actually make me believe you.” I blink harshly but it isn’t enough, because I feel the tears finally push through and fill my eyes. I turn and walk away, my eyes burning, and he’s calling my name, but I ignore him.

He’s following me. I can hear his voice but not what he’s saying. My eyes sting and my ears buzz and I think my heart is breaking into a thousand tiny little pieces and pushing the pain through my veins.

“No.” The word cuts through me as I’m grabbed by his hot hands. They slide up my arms to cup my face. “No.” His voice cracks a tiny bit as he wipes at my tears. “Look at me, Jessie,” he demands.

I shake my head, looking to the side. God, why won’t the tears stop falling?

“Me.” His words are a demand. “Me, Jessie. Look at me!”