If I were them, I’d hate me for that.
She deserved an apology. So did Lewis.
I was well aware if I waited too long, I could lose them forever.
There was a part of me, though, that thought maybe that’s what I deserved.
Eilidh bared her soul to me, gave me something precious—something I knew for a fact I did not deserve—and I’d rejected her and said something fucking stupid when I did.
That beautiful girl … how could I have done that to her?
I sat up in bed before my alarm went off.
The truth was, I wasn’t sure I was ready to face Eilidheverbecause my apology would be to soothe my own guilt as much as it would be to offer her my regrets. Plus, she was right. It was selfish of me to plead with her to be my friend after she’d told me she was in love with me.
Yet Lewis … I had to believe he and I could get over this. If I left things between us any longer, we might not.
Before I could back out, I reached over for my phone and hit Lewis’s number.
I was about to hang up on the sixth ring when the line clicked open.
“You better be dying,” he bit out hoarsely, sounding half-asleep.
Wincing, I glanced at the clock on my phone. In my sudden decision to do this, I didn’t think of the time. “Thought you’d be up with Harley,” I replied quietly.
“I have been up with Harley. I’d just fallen back asleep when an arsehole called.”
“Lewis.” I heard Callie’s whispered admonishment in the background.
I winced at Lewis’s words and Callie’s kindness.
“Well, are you going to speak or just call me before the crack of dawn to irritate the fuck out of me?”
“Can we meet, Lew? Please.”
He was silent so long, I squeezed my eyes closed against the emotion boiling within.
“Meet me at Isla’s Point in thirty minutes.” He hung up before I could say anything else.
I felt a flicker of hope. Lewis’s place was not far from mine, and Isla’s Point was a hidden spot on the coast, right between my house and Lewis and Callie’s, where you could access the beach. Most tourists missed it, but locals knew of it.
Thirty minutes later, I’d showered and dressed and stood on the beach at Isla’s Point. My car was parked behind the dunes.
I waited with my hands in my jacket pockets, staring out at the calm North Sea. It was a chilly but beautiful spring morning, the rising sun spilling across the water in ripples of sparkling light.
A gentle but cold breeze ruffled through my hair as I watched the seemingly never-ending horizon. There was no one else out here on the small cove. It was a tiny portion of sandy beach compared to Ardnoch Beach. Another reason it didn’t attract many visitors.
I didn’t hear his footsteps in the sand. Lewis just appeared at my side. His long hair was tied up in a messy bun, his beard needed trimming, and he looked knackered. Yet the fury I’d seen on his face the last time we shared space was gone.
The words, the apology, it stuck inside me for so long, Lewis sighed and flicked me a look. “This is Callie’s day off from the bakery, which means I could be in bed with my wife right now, so if you’re going to speak, speak.”
“I’m so sorry, Lewis.” The words were out, but my voice was like gravel, like I’d had to force them out.
We turned to face each other now. Lewis’s gaze was searching. “Did you apologize to Eilidh?”
It hurt too fucking much to think about her, let alone speak to her. I shook my head. “What can I say to her that will help? Nothing. I asked her to be my friend after she told me she loved me. Selfish bastard that I am.”
“You really don’t love her?”
