Chapter 118: Madeline
The water is freezing.
Like knives-on-skin cold, the kind that bites all the way to bone even with the sun blazing high above. Welcome to Northhaven. Pretty, but merciless.
Still—I’m laughing.
Laughing and sputtering as I splash Finn in the chest. “You took me away from the best brownies I’ve ever had in my life!”
He grins, pushing a wet strand of hair off my face. “Worth it though, no?”
“No!” I shout, but I’m still laughing, still half choking on seawater.
I turn toward the shore where Charlie’s still in the shallows, arms crossed, her black bikini glinting in the sun like some siren armor. “How are you not freezing?” I demand, gesturing at her barely-there swimsuit.
Charlie shrugs. “Because I wasn’t kidnapped and thrown into the Arctic without warning.” Her glare slides over to Finn.
He just laughs, smug, unbothered.
Then—arms, solid and cold, snake around me from behind. “Here, I’ll warm you up,” Liam says, pressing me into a hug.
It’s… warmer, I’ll give him that. But the sudden press of his chest against my back, the slick slide of water between us—it makes my stomach flip in a way that’s not all comfort. I gently peel myself away and say, smiling, “I meant every single threat I said.”
Finn laughs. “What, that a crab and a starfish are gonna come for us?”
“Yep,” I say, deadly serious.
“I bet you can’t even find a crab or a starfish here,” Liam teases.
I gasp, hand to my chest in mock offense. “What? Of course I can!”
“Prove it,” they say in unison.
“Oh, you’re on,” I grin, holding up a finger like a general issuing orders.
I start wading deeper, the water climbing my chest, my neck. My skin is prickling and numb, but my pulse is loud in my ears. I shuffle my feet through the sand, searching by feel, a hunter in familiar territory. Then—there. The faintest movement under a boulder.
I turn back to them with a mischievous grin, then dive under.
The world goes muted. Salt burns my eyes, my hair floats around me like silk. I move slowly, carefully, feeling along the rock. I go over gently, taking more than a few seconds. My fingers brush something small and smooth—then something rougher. My grin widens underwater. A crab. And a starfish.
The little crab scuttles against my palm, ticklish and light. The starfish clings stubbornly to the stone until I wait, patient, for it to ease free. I know better than to yank—it could hurt it.
When I finally push back up to the surface a minute or two later, lungs burning, I come out with water streaming down my face—crab in one hand, starfish in the other.
Every single one of them is staring.
Finn’s mouth is hanging open.
Liam’s eyes are the size of golf balls.
Charlie’s jaw literally drops.
Even the twins—standing just at the edge of the water now, tall and still and unreadable—are staring like they’re not sure if they should be impressed or alarmed.
I narrow my eyes at Finn and hold up my trophies. “So,” I say sweetly, “which one should come at you first?”
Finn just stammers. “How the fuck did you—”
Charlie screams, “WHAT!!! How did you even find those?!”
“And how the hell do you hold your breath that long?” Liam adds, still stunned.
I can’t help but laugh. It bubbles out of me, bright and giddy. I dive again to return the little creatures safely to their home and then swim back toward the group. The cold feels less brutal now.
I shrug, flicking wet hair out of my face. “I’m a marine biologist,” I say with a grin. “The sea animals are my friends.”
Charlie’s already wading out to meet me, laughing. “I love you, you absolute weirdo.”
Behind her, Finn leans into Liam and whispers, “Should we actually be scared of her now?”
“Probably,” Liam mutters.
I just smile, pushing my hair back over my shoulder—and that’s when I catch sight of Jake and Reid again, still standing just beyond the surf.
Their faces are unreadable. Half amusement, half… something darker.
Jake’s arms are crossed, jaw tight.
Reid’s gaze hasn’t moved from me once.
It isn’t pride.
It isn’t disapproval.
It’s something in between—like concern wrapped in something hotter, heavier. Something that makes me want to look away and can’t at the same time.
And when Reid’s eyes drop briefly to the place where the water drips down my stomach, I swear I feel the cold all over again.
I’m still laughing, rubbing water from my eyes when I hear his voice—low, firm, cutting right through the sound of the waves.
“Charlie,” he says, and it’s not a request. “You and Madeline should get out of the water.”
Charlie turns toward him, hands going straight to her hips. “And why is that, Captain Buzzkill?”
He doesn’t answer right away. Just jerks his chin toward me.
Charlie follows his line of sight, her playful expression dropping in an instant. “Oh. Shoot. Yeah, okay.”
“What?” I ask, blinking between them.
She comes closer to me, squinting at face. “Your lips are blue, Mads.”
I shrug it off, hugging my arms around myself. “It’s normal—it’s cold.”
“Yeah,” she says, glancing back at Reid, whose expression could freeze the ocean around us, “but before he gets mad, maybe just… get out.”
I sigh dramatically but start wading back toward shore anyway. The sand burns my feet again when I reach it, but at least it’s warmer than the water.
Charlie stays where she is, still knee-deep in the waves, grinning at me over her shoulder.
“You’re not coming?” I call.
“Nope,” she says, lifting her chin defiantly. “I don’t have to listen to him!”
Then—just to drive it home—she points straight at Reid and sticks her tongue out.
Reid doesn’t move, doesn’t say a word, but his jaw flexes once and his eyes narrow—half warning, half disbelief.
Charlie laughs so hard she almost loses her balance.
And I can’t help it—I start laughing too, water still dripping from my hair, watching Reid watch us like he’s the only sane one surrounded by maniacs.