He pushed her back down on the couch, so he was on top of her. He held himself up with his arms, but she felt the slight weight of his body against her, the firmness of his chest and stomach against the softness of hers.

As he kissed her deeply, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer to her. He felt so much different than he had before. Through his shirt, she felt his muscles, warm and solid under her fingertips. His back and shoulders were broader than she’d remembered, and his kisses more demanding.

When she tried to pull him to her, Alex didn’t move. She’d have to use her siren strength to get him to budge, and she didn’t want to let the monster out. Alex was still kissing her. He had one hand on her side, gently squeezing her.

He seemed to want to take things slower than she did. The hunger inside was flaring up, and the flutter was running across her skin. Not to mention the heat in her belly, spreading like a flame down her legs.

Putting her hand on his chest, she pushed him up so she could catch her breath, and she felt his heart hammering against the palm of her hand.

“Is something wrong?” Alex asked, his eyes searching hers.

“No.” She smiled up at him. “You’re stronger than you were before.”

“Sorry.”

“No.” Gemma laughed. “It’s just … strange. I got used to the way you felt in my arms, and I’ve been kinda clinging to that memory. And now you’re different.”

“You’re different, too.” He brushed back a hair from her forehead. “You feel the same, but your eyes…”

“What?”

“I don’t know. They look older somehow. You’ve been through a lot this summer.”

“We both have,” she said.

He took a deep breath and in a low voice, he said, “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

When Alex kissed her again, Gemma decided that she didn’t care about the monster. In that moment, all she wanted was to feel Alex and be as close to him as she could be. She’d missed him so much, and she wanted to feel him, holding her, touching her, encompassing her.

With her lips still pressed to his, she reached down and started pulling up his T-shirt. Alex tried to mumble some kind of protest, but her mouth on his silenced him. They separated long enough for her to pull his shirt up over his head, then they were kissing again, his bare flesh pressed against her.

Alex had slid his hands up her shirt, preparing to do the same thing, when a loud clearing of the throat interrupted them.

They both looked up to see Alex’s dad standing in the living room. His expression was unreadable behind his glasses and graying beard, but both Alex and Gemma hastily proceeded to sit up and scramble to straighten out their clothes.

“Dad, I didn’t think you’d be home until later,” Alex said as he pulled on his shirt, muffling some of his words. He’d moved to the other end of the couch, putting as much distance between himself and Gemma as he could. “I thought you were at the school all day.”

“And I thought you got your job back, Alex,” Mr. Lane said in the same emotionless voice that Gemma had heard him giving lectures in at the high school.

“Uh, yeah, I did, I don’t start at the dock again until tomorrow.” Alex smoothed out his hair as Gemma combed a hand through her own.

“I haven’t seen you around in a while, Gemma.” Mr. Lane took off his glasses and began to clean them with his shirt.

Gemma laughed nervously. “Things have been crazy lately, Mr. Lane.”

“Are you looking forward to being a junior in a couple weeks?”

“Yeah, I guess.” She smiled at him because she wasn’t sure how else to respond.

“Alex could’ve been enjoying college, too, if he hadn’t gotten all turned around,” Mr. Lane remarked once he put his glasses back on. That was the first time his tone had taken on anything really disapproving.

“I’m getting myself back on track, Dad,” Alex said with a heavy sigh.

“I should probably get going,” Gemma interrupted, since the situation only seemed to be getting more awkward and tense by the minute.

“Yeah, I’ll walk you out,” Alex said, getting to his feet before Gemma even had a chance to.

He ushered her out to the door and held it open for her. She stepped out on the front step and turned back to face him.

“Sorry about my dad,” he said.

“No problem.” She chewed her lip and stared up at him, waiting for him to say something or kiss her good-bye. When he didn’t, she said, “So … I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Definitely.”

Alex gave her a small wave, then shut the door. Gemma turned around and walked back to her house, wondering what had just happened.

The brief makeout session had been nice, but she had no idea what it meant. Especially with the brush-off he’d given her at the door. Admittedly, they were both flustered, but everything felt more confusing than ever.

She still cared about Alex so much, and she wanted to believe that he still cared for her. But maybe Alex was just trying to get back to normal, and he thought kissing her would help.

Which brought up another concern. Why was Alex back to normal? Was it the kissing, and if it was, why would that even work?

Or was it as she feared? When she used the siren song on him, she’d broken his heart. He didn’t love her anymore, so the negative effects of the song were fading.