“Did you bring his floaties?” she asks, pulling me from my haze of lust.
“Erm, yeah. I think I left them in the truck.” Tearing my eyes off her, I jog to the truck, finding them in the flatbed. When I get back to them, they are paddling hand in hand in in the shallow water. I stand and watch them for a few minutes, laughing when I see Jacob kick his little legs in the water, splashing Aria. The section of the river they’re in is like a small lagoon, edged with large rocks making it almost like a pool. The water is calm and crystal clear.
“Let’s get these on,” I say as I walk up behind them, slipping the floaties on his arms. With Aria on one side of him and me on the other, we each take a hand and walk with him into the water. Despite the blistering hot sun, the water of the river is cool, and he squeals as the cold water hits him. I pick him up, allowing him to get used to the temperature before letting him go.
“I’d forgotten how cold this river is!” Aria exclaims, her voice breathless. “Best to get your head under and get it over and done with,” she says before disappearing completely under the clear water. She reappears seconds later, dragging her hand down her face to wipe away the water.
“Better?” I ask with a chuckle.
“Not really! I’m sure I’ll get used to it in a few minutes.”
She’s right, and within a few minutes, we’re all acclimatized. After tossing Jacob into the water what feels like a hundred times, he’s happy on his own, splashing anyone who tries to get near him. Keeping an eye on him, I swim over to Aria, who is floating on her back, her eyes closed.
“How’s the hangover feeling?” I ask.
She stands up and treads water in front of me. “I think this is the perfect hangover cure. I was planning on a bath and bed before you invited me here, but I think this is much better.” My eyes drop to her bronzed smooth shoulders, glistening from the water, and I can’t help thinking I’m glad she decided not to opt for the bath-and-bed option. She clears her throat when I don’t respond, and I realize I’m staring. My eyes flick to Jacob, and she follows my gaze.
“He really loves the water, doesn’t he?”
“He does. He’s going to be disappointed when we go home and there isn’t a pool or a river in the back garden to swim in.” I laugh, but the laughter dies on my lips when I see her face. Tears fill her eyes, and she turns away from me, disappearing under the water. Following her, I wait for her to surface.
“Aria, what’s wrong? Talk to me, please,” I beg, my hands going to her waist. She gasps as my fingers touch her bare skin.
“Nothing’s wrong.” She pushes my hands away and swims to the shore. Making her way out of the water, she sits down on the blanket. I frown and swim over to Jacob, coaxing him out of the water with the promise of a cookie that we brought as part of the picnic. Picking him up, I carry him the short distance to the blanket, pull off his floaties, and wrap him in a towel. I give him the cookie, and he eats it quickly before putting his head in Aria’s lap and promptly falling asleep. The sun and the swimming have clearly worn him out.
There isn’t much room on the blanket, and Aria and I sit pretty much shoulder to shoulder. “I know something is off, Aria. I feel it. I wanted to talk to Zara this morning, but she’d left for Austin before I could. Everyone just acts like everything is fine when I know it isn’t.” Her hand strokes Jacob’s hair as he sleeps. When I don’t say anything else, she looks up. Her steel blue eyes fix on me, and I can see she’s torn. She wants to tell me something, but she’s holding back. “Please, Aria,” I beg. “I feel like I’m living someone else’s life.”
“Jack… I.” Her eyes drop to my lips before meeting my gaze again. “I so want you to remember…”
“Strawberries,” I whisper.
“What?”
“You smell of strawberries.” I’m so close to her, her scent invades my senses, and I’m overcome with a feeling of familiarity.
“It’s my shampoo.”
“I remember.” Her face lights up with a smile.
“You remember?”
“I remember the smell.”
“Do you remember anything else?” she asks, and I can hear the excitement in her voice.
“No,” I say sadly. “But I want to, Aria. So much.”
“Maybe it means your memories are starting to come back?” She sounds hopeful and I don’t want to bring her down.
“God, I hope so.”
The sun has moved while we’ve been in the water and the canopy of the tree no longer provides the full shade it did when we arrived. My eyes go to Aria as she tilts her head back, lifting her face to the sun. The movement exposes her neck, and it takes everything in me not to lean over and press my lips against her skin. I’ve tried to push down these crazy feelings I have for her, but what if I’m not meant to push them down? What if we’re meant to be together? But how can we be? My mind swirls with unanswered questions and I wish to God someone would just tell me what I’m meant to feel.
We spend the next hour talking. She tells me all about her childhood and her move from Vermont to Texas when her dad left. I get the impression she’s told me all this before, but it’s new to me, and I soak up every word, desperate to know everything about her.
“I’m guessing you already know a lot about me?” She nods. “Do you know what hurts the most about not being able to remember?”
“I think I can guess,” she says sadly, her eyes dropping to a still sleeping Jacob.