“Why now?” I can’t help but ask. “Because of me.”
“Yeah, Declan.” I can barely hear him over another clap of thunder, but I can see him thanks to the lightning. His face is earnest and his dark blue eyes wide. “Of course because of you.”
His phone starts buzzing. He doesn’t seem to notice so I ignore it too. “Abbott, don’t do anything because of me. Do it because of you.”
“Declan, I’ve done everything, every fucking thing, in my life for you,” Abbott says and steps closer to me. His voice is strained and he reaches out and grabs my hand as his phone stops buzzing and then starts again. “I know it didn’t always seem that way, but from the moment you let me kiss you that night on the beach, you’re the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night.”
I take a deep breath, trying to suck in non-existent courage that might be floating around in the stormy air. “Are you serious?”
His phone stops buzzing and he laughs. It’s light and feels so odd in this heavy moment. “Declan…”
He steps into me, his right hand cupping my neck and his lips land on mine just as his phone starts buzzing again. “Fuck!”
He pulls away and I lean against the closed glass door again. I’m reeling and standing on my own two feet feels impossible at the moment. He yanks his phone out of his pocket, looks at the name on the screen and swears again as the phone stops ringing. “Shit. That was Aspy.”
“Every call?”
“Yep. But she left a voicemail” He checks the voice mail, holding the phone to his ear as he eyes the storm outside the windows. I can sort of hear Aspen’s voice on the message and it sounds high-pitched. He hangs up and looks up at me. “She hates storms and Andie is teething and the power went out and she’s freaking. She says the maple in the back of the house is blowing so hard it might come down.”
“Go. I know what a panicked Aspen can be like,” I reply, and he frowns. Panicked he’s mad at me, I continue. “Terra used to hide in her closet during storms and make me hide with her. Ironic, really.”
Abbott grins, I think. It’s hard to see. But then he’s kissing me again, his tongue pushing past my lips into my mouth. I taste myself and nearly shiver with lust. “Give me a bit to figure this all out, okay? I have a meeting tomorrow with the coaching staff and the PR person for the Riptide. Then I’ll figure out how and when I come out.”
I hold open the door to the restaurant and he steps into the rain, which is falling a little less hard than when he came in. He steps out and I pick my keys up off the floor where they dropped when he barged in and step out after him. I lock the door with the speed and ease of habit. I’ve been locking this place up on my own since I was sixteen.
He’s still standing right behind me when I turn around, rain pelting both of us. The only reprieve is it’s warm. “Abbott…”
“No. Don’t say anything, just… give me some time, okay?” he asks. “Don’t go out with that guy.”
“What guy?”
“The one you met the other night.”
I had honestly forgotten Gael even existed. “I can do that.”
He smiles and runs to his car and I stand there in the pouring rain until his tail lights disappear down the street. I want to smile, but I don’t dare in case I jinx it. Something about this feels too good to be true.
11
ABBOTT
The drive homeis actually treacherous. There’re a couple trees down around town, which makes me panic more and more about Andie and Aspen. I should have done something about that stupid maple tree. Damn if that thing falls on the house, it’ll hit the back where Aspen’s room’s located. What if she’s in there? What if she brought Andie in there too?
I hook a right onto my street and heave a sigh of relief that the tree is still standing, although blowing violently. I park the car, and I sprint to the front door, not because I care about getting pelted with more rain, I’m already soaked, but because I want to make sure Andie and Aspen are okay. This is Andie’s first big Maine storm. I fling open the door and storm across the porch. The rain is falling sideways and pushing its way through the screen, soaking the pine floors. I promise myself the second call I make, after I call someone about removing that Maple, will be to the contractor who can winterize this porch. I open the door to the main house and step into the dark hallway. I flick on the light but nothing happens. The power must be out. I hear something coming from the kitchen. Drawers and cupboards opening and closing. “Aspy!”
As soon as I enter the dark kitchen I freeze. There’s a man by the coffee bar. He’s got a big imposing frame but it’s too dark to make out a face. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Uh…”
The non-answer doesn’t sound threatening but he’s backing away from me, toward the dining room and the back door. I take a step toward him, and he turns like he’s going to run and adrenaline shoots through me. I don’t know who he is or why he’s here or where my sister is but he’s not getting away until I know the answers. He starts for the back door, and I hurl myself at him. We both crash to the floor with a wall shaking thud.
“Aspen!” he screams as I straddle him and put my forearm into the back of his neck to hold him down. The voice sounds familiar, very familiar, but my brain is overwhelmed with fear and I can’t think straight. “Aspen!”
“Oh shit!” I hear from somewhere in the not-so-distant distance.
There’s a quick flurry of footsteps and then there she is. Her dog Major is by her side cocking his head quizzically between the intruder and myself, like even he’s confused with whatever is going on here. My sister’s face is illuminated by candlelight since she’s carrying two lanterns with thick white candles in them. It’s the ones we keep on the back porch, mostly for decoration. Her big blue eyes are wide and panicked, but in a different way than I’m panicked. She looks like she did every time Mom and Dad caught her sneaking in or out of the house. “Abbott stop! Let Javi up!”
Andie wails from somewhere upstairs, likely her room. “Shit! Get off him.”
