The Fishermen (Infidelity #2)

by C.P. Harris

“Wait,” I called out against my better judgment. Leland reached back without looking, wiggling his fingers. “You’re such a child,” I said as I caught up and took his hand, because “things are less scary when holding hands.”

“Because you somehow feel different. A possible exception to my rule. And because I’m lonely,” he admitted softly, opening something in me and leaving me speechless.

I never tried for anything more than what I had, because there was safety in the predictability of my mundane life. I’d rather die in the meadow not knowing that something better waited for me, than to reach for the stars only to come crashing down.

“Me too,” he whispered back. “But maybe one day we can both be daisies.”

“Okay,” I whispered, even while knowing that this would be the moment I lived to regret. The moment I stayed.

“I wake up early every morning to watch you drink tea on the dock as the sun breaks past the horizon,” he said. “I love how the sun looks when it rises around you, when it makes room for you.”

“See,” I whispered. “You’re a daisy after all.” His grin was boyish and bashful as he whispered back, “So are you, Leelee Bear.”

“That didn’t look or sound like a man who plans on never seeing you again, Leland. I believe his exact words were ‘He’ll be coming home with me.’”

“You’re more than complicated. You’re a stick of fucking dynamite, Franky. Capable of blowing me to pieces, but I want you anyway.”

“Truth is, the only time I’m not lost, the only time I have a clue about anything, is when I’m with you.”

“I can’t breathe when I’m not with you, Leland. My heart doesn’t beat the same. It took being without you for a day to realize I’ve taken being here with you for granted. I couldn’t wait until the house was quiet, until everyone had fallen asleep, so that I could race back to you. No one can compete with you. No one.”