Max holds his hand out to me and I take it, stepping into the wooden long boat. It rocks slightly under me and I fall forward into Max’s arms. He catches me but falls back onto his arse. Fortunately, neither of us end up in the sea.

“Shit, sorry,” I laugh, scrambling out of his arms. He squeezes me against him for a moment.

“I’m always here to catch you when you fall, Louisa. I distinctly recall doing the same in Alpe D’Huez. Do you remember? You nearly went arse over tit on the snow. It was like watching Bambi on ice.” He chuckles at the memory.

I shove my palm against his chest, giggling. “Shut up. It was bloody dangerous. As I recall, you were pretty smug that morning after a night of sex with some faceless woman.”

The smile slips from Max’s face. “Hey, that was before.” He holds his hand out to me and we both sit on a wooden bench. All the while the boat driver is watching our exchange with fascination. He gives us both a thumbs-up sign, then starts the motor. The boat lurches forward.

“Before what?” I ask, a smile pulling at my lips. I don’t hold his past sexual antics against him. He isn’t that person anymore.

“That was before I fell in love with you.”

“I know that, Max, I’m just teasing,” I respond, holding his hand. I lean my head against his shoulder, enjoying the feel of the sea spray against my skin as we cut through the water.

“You don’t mind? About my past, I mean. We don’t really talk about the relationships I had before you.”

I lift my head, not responding immediately as I try to arrange my thoughts. “You sought solace in the arms of women because you were searching for love. I can’t begrudge you that. Am I a little jealous when I think about you touching another woman, making love to them? Yes, I am. Frankly, I would have preferred it if you, Hudson and Bryce were all virgins before meeting me,” I say, only half joking.

Max’s laughs uproariously at that.

“Okay, so maybe that’s a little unrealistic,” I concede.

“Hey look, if it’s any consolation, the thought of you with other men has my blood boiling.”

“But not Bryce and Hudson? They are other men.”

“I mean other men who aren’t my brothers. I’m not jealous of your relationship with either of them. I know they love you like I do. I know you love them. I am more than happy you have a relationship with Hud and Bryce. Those two have looked out for me for years. They deserve your love.”

“But?”

He sighs. “Sometimes, selfishly, I just want you to myself. I don’t want to have to fight for your attention.”

“You think that you have to fight for my attention?” That makes me feel inextricably sad. I love them all, equally. Truly, they each give me something I need. I don’t have a favourite.

“Honestly? Yes.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Fuck, this conversation went serious all of a sudden, didn’t it?”

I bring my hand up to Max’s cheek and force him to look at me.

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to fight for my attention. I’m glad you told me, Max, because these feelings can fester. I need you to know that I love you. It isn’t selfish to want time alone with me. I want time alone with each of you too. That’s why I made the suggestion I did before we came away. We’ll figure this out together, okay. Thanks for being honest with me. But you need to be open with Bryce and Hudson too. I am fully aware that sometimes they can be a bit overbearing.”

“Bossy, you mean.”

“Yes, bossy, but you are the youngest. They look out for you.”

“I’m only six months younger than Bryce,” Max complains. “I can take it from Hudson, after all he’s the one who looked out for us, who took us in when we left the home, but that hairy beast, Bryce, can go jump.” He’s joking of course. I think he and Bryce have a very special relationship. They took care of each other when Hudson left the home, and those extra couple of years together made them incredibly close.

“Hey, I happen to love that hairy beast,” I say, tutting.

“He bloody loves you too. I’ve never seen him so cukcoo over anyone before. Fuck, even Hudson has turned a corner. I was always so worried about him. His heart was fucked up by the years of abuse. Now, he’s a different man and it’s all because of you. What you’ve done for us all…” Max says, his hand squeezing mine. He looks at me with such love, I feel my own love for him surge in my chest. “Christ, we’ve been waiting for you for so long,” he says, pressing a kiss against my mouth.

For the next ten minutes, we sit in comfortable silence as we make our way across to Railay Beach. The water is a deep cerulean blue, and above us a few powdery clouds float by. As we leave the open water and head closer to land, huge pieces of rock come into view. They are like teeth growing out of the sea. I can see birds nestled amongst the craggy rocks, wings flapping as they soar into the air. Max points in front of us.

“Look,” he says, delight lighting his eyes.

I follow his gaze, and just ahead and to the right of us I see something leap out of the water. “Is that a dolphin?” I ask, my mouth dropping open in surprise.

“Yes! Look, there’s more.” Max leans forward, clutching the side of the boat as we catch up with them. The dolphins are extremely fast swimmers, effortlessly keeping up with the boat as it cuts through the water.

“They’re so close, I can almost touch them,” I say, leaning over the side of the boat. Just beneath the surface I can see four dolphins swimming side by side. One is in the centre, the other three surrounding it. “Do you see that, Max?”

He places his hand over mine. “I see it,” he says in awe. The dolphin in the centre breaks free from the others and swims to the surface, leaping out in a spray of sparkling water. I can practically touch it.

“Oh my God, Max,” I exclaim. He laughs delightedly as the dolphin dives back into the sea. The other three break the surface, following after her. I have no idea whether it is a female or not, but I’m going with that. We watch them as they swim away, curving off towards deeper water as we head into the shallows.

“Well, that’s another experience to cross off my bucket list,” I say. I can’t stop smiling. “That has to be one of the best things I’ve ever witnessed.”

“Me too, Icy, me too,” Max says, his grin wide and carefree. He pulls me into his arms, and we sit in stunned silence, digesting what we’ve just witnessed.

A couple of minutes later, we are pulling up to Railay beach. The golden sand runs along the length of the shore and is flanked by huge rocks. Set amongst the lush green trees are huts selling food and drink. There are people milling around, some are sunbathing, lots are swimming in the ocean. I can hear laughter and happiness over the wash of the waves against the shore. It’s paradise.

“Tell me that isn’t Bryce and Hudson,” I say, pointing to a couple of figures climbing up the rock face.

“Could well be. Let’s go see, shall we.” Max pays the driver generously and asks him to wait for us before jumping into the sea and holding his hand out to me. He’s up to his thighs in the water and I can see tiny silver fish swimming around his legs.

“No falling over this time,” he laughs.

“Hey, I’m not that clumsy.” I take his hand and jump down into the water, just as a small wave lifts the boat forward. Of course I manage to fall forwards. Even under the surface of the water I can hear Max’s laughter. Firm hands wrap around my waist and pull me upwards whilst I cough out a mouthful of sea water.

“Don’t say a word,” I warn.

Max clamps his mouth shut, biting down on the laugh I can see he’s desperate to let out. I smooth my wet hair back, and with as much dignity as I can muster, stride out of the water and onto the beach.

“Hey, wait up,” Max calls, running after me. He wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me to his side.

“You have to admit, it was funny.” A laugh bubbles up his throat and he places his hand over his mouth to stop it from escaping.

“Don’t give yourself an aneurysm. Just let it out,” I sigh. He does, and after a while I can’t help but join in. We’re laughing so hard that we end up drawing attention from holidaymakers sunbathing on the beach. Eventually, we both calm down enough to have a conversation.

“So, now we’ve got that out of our system, is that really Hudson and Bryce I see climbing up there?” I ask, pointing towards two men who look suspiciously like them. We are closer now to the rock face and I’m almost certain from their physiques it’s them.

“Yup, pretty sure it’s them.”

“That’s really high, Max.” A sudden thread of worry creeps up my spine. “I hope it’s safe.”

“They’ve been climbing before. See those two guys there at the bottom,” Max says, pointing to two men holding the rope. “They’re called the belayers, they pull the rope in as Bryce and Hudson climb up, keeping the rope taut. In the rock face are bolts that Bryce and Max will clip onto as they climb. So even if they fall before reaching the next protection point, they will only fall back to the last point. They’re perfectly safe.”

Now that we are closer, I can see them both more clearly. It’s definitely them. Bryce is slightly lower down than Hudson, who is about twelve feet above him.

“Shouldn’t they be wearing helmets or something?” I ask, noticing they are decidedly helmetless.

Max laughs. “You’re kidding? Those two put helmets on? It’s like asking me to wear a helmet when I ski. That’s never going to happen.”

“Well, that’s just bloody stupid. If they fall they could crack their heads against the rock. They’re idiots for not wearing them just because they don’t look cool.” I cross my arms in indignation. “You wait until I get to speak with them.”

“Don’t worry about it, Louisa. They’ll be…” Max’s voice trails off, the sentence cut short as his eyes widen in shock. I follow his gaze and time seems to slow down as I see Hudson’s foot miss the next spot, just as his hand pulls free some loose rocks above his head. He doesn’t have enough purchase and he slips backwards. I watch in horror as he falls. The scream that leaves my mouth doesn’t register until a few seconds after my consciousness has caught up. Hudson’s body slams against the rock face lower down. The belayer on the ground pulls the rope taut but not quick enough to prevent Hudson’s head from smashing against a ledge sticking out of the stone. I swear I can hear the sound of his skull cracking.

“Hudson!!” Bryce shouts, now directly to the right of him. He moves across the wall, making dangerous moves to get to him. I stand in utter shock as Hudson hangs like a limp rag halfway up the rock face, saved only by the protector bolt eight feet below where he lost his foothold. Max sprints off ahead of me, and as the sound of people shouting and men running out from a hut on the beach comes into focus, the full impact of what has happened hits home.

“Hudson,” I scream, running after Max across the beach.