Love Me Never

27| Redo

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Redo

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Chapter 27: Redo (Ava's POV)

After breakfast, in the late afternoon, we decided to go out to the lake and sit out on the pier for a while. We both had our legs dipped into the water that flowed at a slow, lazy pace while the sun glimmered on the water, the light bouncing off in the form of light sparkles. We were sitting in silence, just listening to the water flow, and the birds in the distance, until he started laughing softly.

I turned to him, chuckling, "What are you doing?" 

"Do you remember that one summer we all came here? I think you were thirteen." 

"Rhys," I groaned, already knowing where he was headed with this. 

"And you screamed and panicked and nearly drowned because you thought a crocodile was trying to eat you but really it was just water plants," he laughed even louder while reminding me of that moment. 

"It could have been a crocodile," I mumbled. 

"No," he shook his head, "crocodiles don't exist in this lake." 

I shrugged. "You never know." 

"Yes, I do. They don't exist in Kilthorne." 

I clicked my tongue in frustration, elbowing his side. "Stop it. That really scared me." 

"Would it scare you now?" 

I shrugged again, looking from the water to him. "Why?" 

"Let's swim." He nodded toward the lake. 

"Right now? Like this?" 

"Yeah, why not? Come on," he encouraged while standing up. He started to unbutton his shirt before tossing it behind him as I stood up. 

"There is no way we aren't going home without getting sick. First, we stayed out in the rain, now you want to swim in the cold lake," I scoffed, working the straps of the dress off my shoulders, letting it fall to my feet before I stepped out of it and kicked it away. I sighed, turning to him while he worked his pants off, tossing them with his shirt. 

He stared at me, his eyes roaming down and coming back up ever so slowly. 

"What? It's nothing you haven't seen before." I tilted my head to one side. 

"You're certainly not eighteen anymore," he mumbled, forcing his eyes away while his tongue poked the inside of his cheek. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" I laughed, grabbing his arm and turning him to look at me. 

"Nothing, you just... you look different." 

"Different how?" 

"More of a woman." 

My eyes narrowed. 

"In a good way, Ava," he said as if it were obvious. "You look beautiful." He held either side of my face as I wrapped my arms around his torso. "I love you a lot," he whispered.