The internet here likes to take its time. While I’m waiting for the page to load, I glance over the lid of my laptop and watch Otis play with his action figures.
A miracle has landed on our doorstep. As soon as the bank processes this money, we’re gonna move out and start a new life away from here. Otis will have a garden surrounded by a white picket fence,notbarbed wire, and our friendly neighbors will have a son his age so he can make friends.
Despite all of this, I look at my son and still feel guilty—I saw his father last night and he doesn’t know it.
Is it fair for Otis if we move to a new state and start fresh?
Seeing Carter again has opened up a can of worms. A can way too big for a single mom to handle alone.
Why wasn’t he an asshole last night? Why did he drop me home and say goodbye this time? He’s probably trying to make up for last time…but if Carter Trescott was truly an arrogant ass who only cared about himself, he wouldn’t feel the need to make up for anything.
I shut my eyes and exhale an irritated sigh.
Why did he have to get a wardrobe change?
Why did he have to have manners this time?
Why did his friends have to be so equally fucking hot?
I sink into the couch with the laptop on my lap. A message pings through to notify me that the money has successfully been deposited—I can expect to see it in my account shortly.
But can I expect to see Carter and his deviously handsome friends again?
8
SKIPPER
At any given moment,there’s a high chance I’m thinking about one of two things: the sun or the sea.
This morning, I’m thinking about Carmen. Naked.
She caught my attention long before she took off her clothes, though. I’ve traveled to many countries, seen many ludicrous things, but I’ve never seen a woman running around stage flaying her arms, bleating like a fucking sheep.
She has a mouth and she’s not afraid to use it.
Brave women who stand up for themselves deserve awards. Sailors name their boats after women like Carmen. Women who are beautiful, fierce, and way too good for you.
They have to be admired from a distance.
But can I keep distance after breaking it?
Carter bursts through the door and lets out a sigh loud enough to be heard down under. A place I haven’t been back to since setting sail from the eastern shore three years ago.
“How was it?” I ask.
“Fine.” Carter drops into a seat beside Vex and me. “Except she didn’t want dropped off at her doorstep.”
Vex scoffs. “Get over yourself. She’s obviously not gonna want you to see where she lives. She doesn’t trust us, and I don’t blame her. Look at us.”
“Doesn’t matter what we look like. I don’t think Carmen’s the trusting type.”
I sit forward and stare at Carter’s face, waiting for him to return my gaze. He’s changed a lot in the year I’ve known him. Last week marked his first year in the club.
I remember when he first showed up for initiation, suited and booted in Louis Vuitton. The cologne was so artificially strong it made my eyes water. He demanded a place here, but his millionaire status made Grizzly very hesitant.
I don’t know how much money he paid to become a prospect, but it must’ve been a lot. Grizzly’s a tough Prez.
If Vex hadn’t mentored him, Carter and I probably wouldn’t be this close.
