Mattie: No, the fucker. He keeps fighting over more time with Trace, which we all know he’s only doing to make himself look like a good dad.
Mattie: Which anyone who actually knows the situation knows he wasn’t.
Me: If his team wouldn’t miss their goalie, I’d take him on a boat ride he wouldn’t come back from.
Mattie: But they would, and the cops would subpoena these texts, and you’d go to jail. Forever. I can’t have Trace’s uncle in jail. Gotta run, going on the air in 10.
Swiping to a missed text from West, I tapped on the picture and choked on my spit. It was of him, in bed with the sheets tented by his massive, hard dick.
West: Last night only made this fucking worse.
West: You need to get on board with us three fast, asshole. That was so damn hot I’ll be hard for the rest of my fucking life.
Me: You have one good hand. Use it.
West: Come home and make me.
“Excuse me.” I slid my glare up to the asshole interrupting me. “Are you Langston Allen from Uplift?”
A somewhat confirming grunt escaped as I pocketed my cell phone.Time to work and earn my pay.I moved to the front of the boat and leapt off, rubber soles slamming onto the wooden planks.
“All this is yours?” I hooked my thumb toward the four bags waiting beside them in a neat little row. “For two days?”
“We overpacked just in case we decide to stay longer. I’m Eric Adler.”
I eyed the man’s extended hand before running an assessing eye over his pressed khaki shorts, wrinkle-free polo, and wide fake-as-shit smile. There was something behind the overly friendly mask he wore that I couldn’t read, which only added to my suspicion.
Smile faltering, he slowly lowered his hand, realizing I wasn’t the hand-shaking type. At least not with this asshole.
Grabbing their luggage—all matching, of course—I tossed it onto the boat with little care and gestured for them to climb on board. He cautiously stepped onto the bow before heading to the cabin, finding a spot along the row of seats protected from the elements by the surrounding glass. With a disgusted headshake, I turned to the woman attempting to board the boat without help, one wrong step from slipping into the freezing water.
“Here,” I grumbled, jumping onto the bow and extending a calloused hand to help her board.
She offered a soft smile before sliding her much smaller hand into mine. A squeak of surprise sounded over the lapping waves as I hauled her off the dock and safely onto the boat. “Thank you. I’m sure he would’ve helped; he’s just distracted.”
I cast a dubious glance at the man who clearly didn’t give two shits about anything other than the phone in his hand.
She shrugged. “Work is busy right now. You know how it goes.”
Not waiting for an answer, she ducked into the cabin and sat beside Eric, who quickly tucked his phone away. Seemed suspicious as fuck if you asked me.
After untying the boat, I climbed into the cabin and cranked the engine, eager to get back to Anchor Bay. I debated how to talk to them, ask the questions about Juno I needed answers to, but came up blank. I wasn’t the outgoing, friendly type, and actually starting a casual conversation was way outside my comfort zone.
Not far from Anchorage, my plotting was put on pause when the two behind me started talking, their voices barely carrying over the engine’s whirling hum.
“I’m just not sure this is the best idea. You know she hates surprises,” Stephanie said.
“You’re overthinking this, babe. She loves surprises. Remember, I know her a little better than you.” I tilted my head to the side at that remark, hoping to get a better angle to hear more clearly. “And I know it might be a shock for Juno, but she’ll understand. We deserve to be happy, Steph.”
“It’s just the way things ended, how she found out about us and how hurt she was?—”
My knuckles went white around the wheel. What the fuck were they talking about?
“Steph, we’ve talked about this. You know things between her and me weren’t great, neither of us happy. I don’t understand why we have to keep coming back to this. We’re together, and happy, and I bet she’s fine now. Can you let the past stay there and stop bringing it up? It’s done.”
“Okay, yeah. Sorry, you’re right.”
Anger thrummed through me at not only the asshole’s words but the condescending tone he took with her. Those bits and pieces of their conversation consumed my thoughts the rest of the ride home, making me wonder what the hell they did to Juno.
