BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Also by Silas House
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Part One
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. Part Two
  27. 1
  28. 2
  29. 3
  30. 4
  31. 5
  32. 6
  33. 7
  34. 8
  35. 9
  36. 10
  37. Part Three
  38. 1
  39. 2
  40. 3
  41. 4
  42. 5
  43. 6
  44. 7
  45. 8
  46. 9
  47. 10
  48. 11
  49. 12
  50. 13
  51. 14
  52. 15
  53. 16
  54. 17
  55. 18
  56. 19
  57. 20
  58. 21
  59. 22
  60. 23
  61. 24
  62. 25
  63. 26
  64. 27
  65. 28
  66. 29
  67. 30
  68. 31
  69. Part Four
  70. 1
  71. 2
  72. 3
  73. Epilogue: The Everything
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. About Algonquin
  77. Copyright

He parts his lips to holler out but no sound comes; his tongue feels like a rusty jar lid.

His arms are leaden, too much weight to move so he can sweep away the swarm overtaking his head and neck.

His eyes are so heavy he has to conjure up all of his strength to pry them open and as soon as he does the world is all whiteness until finally he can make out the white ball of sun and the sky around it and the lifting fronds of palm trees above.

Then he feels the sand biting into him, being driven at him with such force by the ocean’s wind that each grain feels as if it is boring into his skin. The sand clicks at his teeth, gathers in little whirlpools at the base of his nostrils, burrows into the corners of his eyes.

There is a split second of relief when he realizes the ants are only sand, but then Asher thinks of Justin and draws in such a quick breath that he is choked by the grit he has sucked down his throat.

He rises up and sprints down the beach for Justin.

Asher doesn’t see him anywhere. He is looking this way and that, his head darting about like a scared bird. He has no idea how long he had been asleep but everything looks just the same: the volleyball game, the shape of the sky, the startlingly pale family with the baby, the ocean kicking little tufts of waves in the wind. He can’t have dozed off for more than five minutes from the looks of things, but maybe it has been longer.

He feels as if he’s been punched in the stomach.

I’ve lost him.

Asher turns around and his eyes fall on the very spot where he has been sleeping. He sees that Justin and Shady have been lying on the throw next to him the entire time. Shady raises his head and cocks his ears. Justin is sound asleep, but Asher is so scared and glad that he shakes him awake, barking out his name.

“What is it?” Justin says, cowering away from Asher, his eyes suddenly wide.

“How long was I asleep?”

“I don’ know.” Justin rolls over onto his side. Shady crowds in as close as he can get to him and tucks his nose into the nape of Justin’s neck. “Twenty minutes, maybe.”

A wave of relief sweeps over him. He bends to kiss Justin’s forehead—he hasn’t done this in months—and then lies beside him on the throw again, despite the pounding sand. They have not taken a nap together in so long.

Asher fixes the top of the throw up around their heads so the sand won’t get into their ears, and he rests.

4

4

Sky huge and tight with blueness.

Wind.

Ocean.