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are rock-hard—it almost feels like touching concrete. I put both palms flat on his leg and rub harder. His jaw tightens against the pain, but he makes no sound. “They taught us how to do this at my old swimming camp,” I say, barely breathing. I’m massaging Sebastian Crane. Any second now, an anvil is going to fall out of the sky and flatten my head. “ If we loosen the muscle and then stretch it, I think you’ll be able to walk.”
    He says nothing, just watches the movement of my hands as I alternate pressure, first pressing down hard and then returning to a near-caress. My heart is beating almost as fast as it was when I was rescuing him. He’s so close I can feel his breath on my neck, warm. Water drips from his chin and lands on my hand. And just like that, several bursts of electricity run down my spine, heating me up so fast I have to jerk away.
    It’s just his leg, May.
    He doesn’t notice how quickly I’m breathing. He stretches his leg, his muscles straining, and tentatively tests it against the ground. It’s shaky, but it holds if he keeps most of his weight to the side. He rolls his shoulder and winces. Then he glances up at me. For a second our eyes lock, the moonlight reflecting in his. He looks away . “Don’t tell anyone about this,” he says.
    “Sorry?” I guess I was expecting something else. Maybe a thank-you.
    “Are you deaf as well as a moron?” It’s the same thing he said earlier, and it jolts me until I realize he’s said it quietly, without malice, as if acknowledging the last time we spoke. “Don’t tell anyone about this. That’s all.”
    He starts to limp gingerly toward the pathway to campus, leaving me standing openmouthed. Sebastian Crane has got to be the strangest person I’ve ever met. But there’s something I can’t stand about the sight of him walking off alone at three in the morning. He almost died, and it’s not like he has any friends to check in with. Nobody will know what he went through. And I seriously doubt he’s going to do the smart thing and go to the hospital.
    I run to catch up and, before he can stop me, slip under his arm and wrap my own arm around his waist. “Lean on me. It’s probably really painful to walk on that leg, right? We can go back like this.”
    “Why—” he starts, but I talk over him before he can say anything else cutting.
    “It’s not safe to go swimming by yourself this late at night. Don’t do that again, okay?” I’m rambling. He’s a lot taller than me, but I stand on tiptoes to support him. At first he refuses to put any weight on me, but when he stumbles I catch him, and eventually he relaxes a little, though I can still feel how incredibly tense he is. Screw the thigh massage—he needs a full-body.
    The feeling of the side of his chest against mine sends a few more of those electric tingles down my back. This is not the time for that.
    “ Will you be okay by yourself tonight? I have a roommate, but I think my friend Tanner’s roommate is out tonight, so you could crash in his bed. Or—I mean—if you still don’t want to tell anyone else and you’re worried about being alone, I could stay with you. Like, I could sleep on the floor. I brought a sleeping bag—”
    We’re halfway down the path and I’m still talking panicked nonsense when he pulls away so suddenly I nearly fall over. It’s still dark despite the million stars, and I stumble to find my footing. “Um—Sebastian?”
    He coughs sharply. “I don’t understand. Why do you care? I snapped at you earlier today.”
    “Well...” I say hesitantly, starting to shiver as the breeze quickens. I’m still soaked. “ That’s not really a big deal when you almost drowned. That must have been awful for you. Don’t you need…” I’m not sure what I think he needs, but I know if that happened to me, I would need a hug.
    “I don’t need anything except you to swear you won’t spread the word about this. It could damage my reputation.” His