MARION

“What are you thinking?” I asked Demetria, watching her smile with her eyes closed and her head tilted up toward the sky.

The breeze lifted a few strands of her curls, and for a moment, she looked like she belonged to the ocean—soft, peaceful, glowing under the stars.

God… I could watch her like this forever.

This moment with her, listening to the waves crash softly, felt like a sweet dream that could be taken away at any moment. And that fear sat heavy in my chest more often ...