Inside, I fire up the controls and ease us out of the slip.The yacht hums as we glide through the black, rain-slicked bay with only the sound of water curling off the hull and the low rumble of the motor.
She sits in the passenger seat, arms folded, watching the shoreline fade into mist.Her fingers twitch in her lap like she’s counting something.Maybe all the things she hasn’t said.Maybe all the things she never will.
I don’t push.I just steer.Back to the island.Back to more silence and loneliness.
Her phone buzzes in her pocket.She checks it.
Not me.
“Everything okay?”I can’t keep the resentment out of my voice.I don’t want to fight.I want her to talk to me.Look at me.Be with me.
“Yeah.”That’s it.One word.Short.Flat.Nothing behind it.
“You mad about something?”
“No.”She looks out the window.
“Well, I am.”I press my tongue to the roof of my mouth, staring hard through the windshield.The rain makes it easier not to look at her.I feel my heartbeat in my jaw, in the back of my neck, in the way I grip the wheel too tight.“You didn’t answer a single text.”
“I was working.”
“You could’ve said that.”
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
I flinch.
She might as well have kneed me in the nuts.
When I reach the island, I dock, kill the engine, and sit there.My fingers drum the wheel.She doesn’t move to get out.
“I’m not your past.”I roll my neck.“I’m not Jag.Or your piece-of-shit ex.Or any of the assholes who made you feel like you have to avoid men to survive.I’m here.I show up.”
“I didn’t ask you to.”
That hits harder than anything she said—or didn’t say—all day.
“Yeah.”Blood throbs in my ears.“You’ve made that clear as fuck.”
For several minutes, the only sound is the ping of the engine cooling down.
“I know you show up.”She exhales and rubs her hands on her thighs.“I don’t know what to do with that.”
I study her features.She looks exhausted.Haunted.
“You don’t have to do anything.”I want to touch her, but I don’t.“Just let me be near you.”
“I’m not good at that.”
“Neither am I.”Dragging a hand down my face, I bark a humorless laugh.“Holy frozen hell, you have no idea.I’ve lived the most abnormal, fucked-up life.I’m not here to compare shitty experiences.But if anyone can understand what you’re going through, it’s me.”
A small smile dimples the corner of her mouth and quickly fades.She finally looks at me.Really looks with those honey-warm eyes.“I didn’t mean to ignore you.”
“Yeah, you did.”
I lead her to the guest house, shrouded by a dense mist, the windows fogged and lights low.
Inside, I spot a pizza box on the counter, still warm.Someone dropped it off.Kody, probably.Ever since he took over the distillery and expanded into culinary service, he’s been feeding everyone like it’s part of his job description.
