Page 81 of Weathering The Storm

“Is that the ice?” I ask.

Nick hums, his smile broadening. “This is one of my favorite spots in the whole inlet.”

“See?” I huddle closer. “The cold has its benefits.”

He immediately pulls away. “Are you cold?”

Wrong choice of words. I should’ve learned my lesson.

“I’m good.” I chuckle. “I didn’t mean—”

“I’ll be back.”

I’d argue that I reallyamfine, but I know there’s no talking him out of it. In all honesty, it’s nice to be coddled a little too hard. It’s not the sort of feeling you ever get to experience as a rambunctious young boy, or a greenhorn working for grizzled old Captains, or a man who’s used to coming home to take care of things for his family—not tobetaken care of.

But Nicky comes back with a big, fluffy blanket and two cups of hot chocolate that I can smell from six feet away because of how deliciously rich he makes that shit. He wraps the blanket around my shoulders, plants a warm paper cup in my hand, and sits back down.

“Better?”

I open the blanket and fold him inside with me. “Yep.” I take a sip of the cocoa. “Better now.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about the ice. I mean, I did. But not like…” he trails off, hugging me.

“Hey, don’t.” I take hold of his chin and bring his eyes to mine. “How boring would life be if we never took risks?”

He watches me for a moment, as if he’s trying to read how much I believe in my own words. He won’t have to look far. The ice, the lightning. The wind, water, and wildlife. Fishing the Bering Sea may be one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, but danger means you get to see the rare pockets of beauty—like this—in corners of the planet everyone else will never see.

“You’re unreal,” Nick says.

“How’s that?”

“You’re so… fearless. I know you don’t remember everything, but the memories you do have must be awful. Everything leading up to the jump. The ice piling and piling, and… I know you had to know something was wrong. You could tell, couldn’t you?”

“Yeah.” I say softly. “And I wasn’t fearless. I was fucking scared that night, Nicky. More than I’ve ever been, but not because of the boat capsizing or the hypothermia. I spent four years falling in love with you, thinking you’d never love me back. Thinking I was meant to be your person, even though you could never be mine in all the ways I needed. And when Ifinallygot to have you, I thought… that was it. I wanted so much more time with you, but maybe that was all I got.

“So no. I’m not fearless. My fear just makes me wanna enjoy the time I get with you for as long as I can. Andyourstrength is what makes the rest of it easy on me. Because I know that as long as I have you… everything else will be okay.”

He kisses the top of my head, falling quiet for a moment. “I think I’m finally starting to understand what that’s like. I wasn’t sure if everything would be okay again for me, either. But maybe I’m doing better than I ever was before.”

I smile at him, getting ready to say something at least halfway sentimental before I catch movement out of the corner of my eye and shout, “Oh shit!” instead.

“What?” he asks frantically before he sees where I’m pointing. The distinct white fluke jutting out of the water, and then another.

“You weren’t kidding about the belugas. Think you can call them over here, my little whale?”

He breathes a laugh into his hot chocolate cup. Turning his attention to the pod as they travel away from our anchorage, leaving with the tide. He wets his lips, the corners of them pulling tight as his brows bunch together and he does that insane trick again. The man’s a living, breathing human with echolocation.

“I have no clue how you do that,” I say. “But I love it.”

He shrugs. “It’s not so different from whistling. Just requires more throat control.”

“Mm. I guess I dohave a clue then.”

It’s a shame there’s not enough sun left to see Nick’s blush.

The last of the light disappears on the horizon, and so do the beluga whales, leaving us alone beneath the wide-open night sky. The kind of isolation that makes it feel like we’re the only two people who have ever seen this exact pattern of stars.

Nick snuggles a little closer, and I can smell the rich chocolate on his breath. Taste the sweetness in the air as it sweeps past my lips. Feel my hair catching on his stubble as I turn my head.