“I didn’t know he lived in Starlight Cove. I just assumed—”
“That a father wouldn’t bail on his kids when times got tough? After they’d already lost one parent? Maybe most, but not mine.”
I resumed the soft brush of my thumb against his skin, not knowing how much longer I had before he clammed up, but wanting to find out as much about him as I could. Wanted answers so I knew how to help. Knew what I could say or do that would make him feel better. “Does he speak to your siblings?”
“Nope. He’s been nothing but a selfish bastard, but we still can’t leave him behind.”
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve all been doing little things for him, but I’m the only one who knows that particular secret.”
“What kinds of little things? You bring him groceries?”
“And pay any bills he has. Beck drops off food from the diner. Addison changes out the porch flowers and decorations every season. Aiden brings him fresh linens and takes care of his laundry, and Ford leaves him a new book each week.”
God, my heart ached for them. All of them. My parents had left me on my own for most of my life, encouraging my independence, but I never doubted they’d be there when and if I ever needed them to be. To know that your own father was right down the road but didn’t care enough to even open the door when you stopped by had to be the worst kind of rejection. The worst kind of heartbreak. And it was one Brady faced each week, without fail.
“What about Levi?” I asked.
“He’s the only one smart enough to leave Dad behind. I think he truly believes both our parents died when Mom did. Maybe one day, I’ll get smart like him and stop.”
I pulled out of his grasp and turned around, readjusting myself so I straddled his lap, his face held between my hands. His short beard scratched against my palms, his lips soft under my thumb as I swept it across his mouth. It was too dark out here to see his eyes, but I knew if I could, they’d be filled with pain and sorrow. Knew, too, that was why he’d shared this with me in the first place, out here, where I couldn’t see everything he tried so hard to hide from everyone else.
Everyone else but me.
“You won’t,” I said, pressing a soft kiss on his lips. “You won’t stop.”
“Don’t be so sure.” He slid his hands beneath the hem of my sweater, resting his palms against my bare back. “I’ve wanted to. Every fucking week, I tell myself that’s the last time. And every fucking week, I go right back. Even when I want to, I can’t break out of my goddamn routine.”
“It’s not about that.” After all, wasn’t this, right here and now, him breaking out of his routine? He sat on this beach, illegally, just because I’d asked him to. Wasn’teverythingwhere I was concerned him doing the very thing he claimed he could never do? He could, if he truly wanted to. Which meant only one thing. He didn’t actually want to abandon his father, even though it was clear the man had already abandoned Brady.
“What’s it about, then?” he asked, his voice gruff and filled with something I couldn’t name.
“It’s about you being a better man than he is. You not stopping has nothing to do with whatever routine you think you’re stuck in and everything to do with the fact that you won’t stop because you’re too good. You’re a good man, Brady. That’s why you keep showing up. Even for someone who doesn’t deserve it.”
He was quiet for long moments, and I rested my hand on his chest, feeling the soft, soothing thud of his heartbeat beneath my palm. Finally, he cleared his throat, his voice raspy as he said, “Thought I was a pain in your ass.”
I breathed out a laugh and wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him tight to me as I locked my ankles at his lower back. “The two aren’t mutually exclusive. You can be both, as you’ve proven.”
With my arms and legs wrapped around him, I rested my cheek on his shoulder, listening to the rhythm of the waves behind me. Brady held me snug to his chest, his hands under my sweater, arms tight bands of steel surrounding me, like he was afraid I’d disappear if he didn’t hold me close enough.
He’d laid himself bare to me out here, and I knew that hadn’t been easy for him. Knew, too, that he wouldn’t want me to make a big deal out of it or fuss over him or what he’d told me. That wasn’t who he was. So instead, I gave him the kind of distraction I knew he needed.
I shifted on top of him, canting my hips so I could slide against his length, and smiled as his fingers twitched on my back, his cock hardening beneath me.
He tucked his face close, his words a whispered breath against my ear. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing, lawbreaker.”
“What?” I asked with as much innocence as I could muster. Which, to be fair, wasn’t much. “I’m just trying to get comfy.”
He brushed his lips across my shoulder, and then he dug his teeth in sharp enough to make me gasp and grind down harder against him.
“Okay, that time I was trying to ride your dick.”
With a groaned laugh, he suddenly stood with me in his arms, his hands palming my ass as he walked us back the way we came.
“What the hell?” I asked. “Where are we going?”
“Home.”
