Chapter 38

No, I couldn't risk it. I didn't want to give my father any reason to escalate his beatings further this time, as that would be the inevitable consequence if I arrived home long after the bus.

"Damn," he was attractive, I thought as I watched him pull himself up onto the dock. He resembled a sculpted statue of the ideal man. Every contour beneath his olive, sun-kissed skin moved with elegance, until he abruptly turned to look at me.

Seated on the dock, he regarded me with amused astonishment. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing."

"No, I'm pretty sure I heard you say 'damn,' Sophia," Xavier said, a playful smile spreading wider on his lips.

"No," I blushed, my mind scrambling to concoct an excuse other than admitting that my thoughts had condensed into a single expletive while gazing at him. "I saw a duck over there, so I said 'duck.' You must have misheard me."<