“Hey, my summer Skye. You need a hug?”
“How’d you know, Beanpole?”
“The universe spoke to me.”
Their psychic bond was the single constant in her life.
She grinned. “What are you smoking this week?”
Praying only weed held sway over him had her holding her breath. He’d smoked, ingested, and injected every form of mind-altering substance at one time or another. As far as she knew, he’d weaned himself off the more harmful stuff.
“Hey! I stopped.” He hated when she got on him about his drug use.
Like her, Forest had a long, complicated history, but they medicated themselves differently to forget the past. He’d use drugs. She’d bury herself in work.
“Stopped? When?”
“My sixty-day mark is coming up.”
Her stomach dropped, fluttering with excitement. He’d never made it half that long before.Could this be it?
She allowed a moment of hope that he’d finally be free of the drugs. “How?”
“Just decided it was time. I get my coin in ten more days.”
He’d relapsed so many times in the past. She had little faith, but a never-ending well of hope remained.
“I’m going to make it,” he said, proving their thoughts traveled the same airwaves.
She wished she’d had the same confidence in him as he had in himself.
“Don’t worry, my summer Skye. I’m on a yacht in the middle of the Pacific. No drugs on board. I’ll make it.”
She breathed. Maybe he would, but what would happen when the boat docked and all the temptations were back in front of him? “Be safe, Beanpole. You with anyone?”
Knowing Forest, he wasn’t floating out in the Pacific alone.
“New guy. Cute. Fucks like a bull.”
Forest would dump lovers like they were last season’s style. It wasn’t worth asking for a name because Jack would become Mike in two weeks’ time.
“Send me a pic, but keep it clean.”
He’d sent too many X-rated photos in the past. Forest had difficulty with understanding the need for boundaries, not when there had been a time when there’d been none.
“Did you buy the yacht, Bean?”
He was a Frivolous Frank with money where she was a Frugal Fanny.
“Nope!” His snicker had her smiling. “This time, I caught the shark. He’s taking care of me.”
“Be careful!”
Forest would take too many risks with drugs, alcohol, and unprotected sex.
“Talk later. Lover’s getting frisky.” He cut the line without a good-bye.
Whoever this new lover was, the man had Forest distracted because, while he’d sensed her distress, he never asked why. It was unusual for him not to dig for details.
