SENNA
The sky stretchesabove us with no clouds all the way to the horizon. Draped in light, the ocean glimmers, looking like a mirror of the sky.
“Anna... Anna.”
Taking tiny, rushed steps, Emma closes the gap between us. I stretch my arms to catch her.
She dives into me before I pick her up.
A scarlet dress with tiny ladybugs hugs her little body.
“It’s Senna... not Anna,” Jaden suggests, sinking into a lounge chair next to me.
“Anna,” she says, unfazed, curling her lips into a playful smile.
Jaden’s gaze shifts to me while I watch her, mesmerized.
“Anna it is,” he says when he locks my eyes.
We stay like that for a few more seconds with Emma’s arms wrapped around my neck and her face pressed against mine.
Slowly, I lean back into my chair with her, my cheeks warm with a blush.
“I love Anna...” Emma says, making me soft inside.
Jaden’s lips flash a knowing smile.
Trailing my collarbones with her tiny fingers, Emma tilts her head up to get a glimpse of my face.
She studies me the same way he does, her eyes becoming gray like his.
I put on a brave smile as Jaden winks at me.
“You’re a natural,” he says, amused.
“Am I?”
Emma’s hands migrate from my neck to my face and my lips.
“Emma wants to play,” she says.
“Who do you want to play with?” I ask.
“Anna,” she murmurs, her fingers threading through my hair.
I glance at Jaden.
Grinning, he shrugs.
“It’s her call.”
“Okay,” I say.
I push out of my seat, put her down on the sand, and kneel in front of her. She picks up her tools, and I begin to organize them before we start building a sand castle.
Jaden’s eyes burn holes into my face.
I glance in his direction.