“Does the idea of never being with Declan again scare you?” she asks and I nod. “Then don’t let it happen, Abbott. Go to the bachelor party and talk it out. Fuck it out.Workit out.” She pulls me into a short, quick, crushing bear hug. “Andie and I will always land on our feet, no matter what. And we both want you to be happy, Abbott. Stop living for us and start living foryou.”
“Barlowe!” Finn bellows.
“Your wallet is in the bag with your toothbrush and all your favorite clothes.” She gives me a shove toward the door. “I already gave your board and wetsuit to Logan this morning. He’s driving up the boards and suits. And Declan.”
“You planned this?”
“Of course I did.” Aspen looks at me like my shock is pure ridiculousness. “I’m the most meddlesome woman on the planet. Geez, sometimes it’s like you don’t even know me. Now go. Javi is coming over and we’re having sex and pizza, in that order.”
I take a deep breath and wave goodbye to my niece, shoving my feet into some flip flops at the door. I open it, kind of panicked but also, maybe kind of hopeful. Which I hope I don’t live to regret. I have no idea if I can fix things with Declan. Aspen makes it sound so easy but it’s not. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to try though…
Gooch’s Beach is only forty minutes away, but it ends up taking us over an hour because Jake wants to stop at two different grocery stores for snacks and booze. It’s his bachelor party so everyone is keen on indulging him, which I get. But every five minutes we’re on the road I have to bite my tongue to keep from asking ‘are we there yet?’
I want desperately to get this over with, good or bad. I don’t know if Declan knows I’m still coming because I forgot to ask Aspen. When I text her the question, she didn’t answer, so I’m sitting in the passenger seat twitching with anxiety by the time we pull into the driveway of this magnificent two-story cottage. It’s all cedar shingles and crisp white trim with a wraparound porch on the ground floor and a widow’s walk on the top in center of the roof like a tiara.
“This is fucking sweet, Finn. Great job!” Jake says, getting out of the car and smiling. “Do you think we can get up on the roof? I bet the views are insane.”
“Don’t entirely thank me. Give Chloe some love the next time you see her because it’s the summer home of one of her design clients,” Finn explains as he climbs out of the car and I join them. “He’s giving us the weekend for free because she did some emergency design job for him. Anyway, yeah, we can access the widow’s walk.”
Finn starts hauling our bags out of the back and I grab mine, sling it over my shoulder, and grab two of the five grocery bags. Finn and Jake grab the others and their bags and we make our way to the front door. The inside of this place is just as amazing as the outside. The rooms are big and airy with high ceilings, wide windows, and furniture that’s rustic but chic. The kitchen is a chef’s dream. There’s a massive stone fireplace right in the center of the place that makes me wish it was cold so I could use it.
“Should we go upstairs and call dibs on bedrooms before Logan and Deck are here?” Jake asks, walking towards the wide staircase with the thick carved banister. “Someone’s gonna have to share since there’s only four bedrooms and five of us.”
“Yeah, Deck said that he and Abbott would share. Since they’re roommates anyway, he didn’t care,” Finn replies as he starts unpacking the groceries in the kitchen.
“He said that? When?”
He looks up as he walks over to the fridge with a six pack in his hand. “Like a week or so ago, at work. Do you object?”
“I think maybe we should draw straws for the shared room or something,” I suggest, hoping I sound casual and not panicked. Because I am, in fact, totally panicked. If Declan doesn’t know I’m coming, and then he finds out we’re rooming together, he might think I manipulated this whole situation. That would build an even higher wall between us. “Just between you, me, Deck, and Logan. Jake gets his own room because this is his party.”
“Sounds fair,” Jake says and continues up the stairs. “So I’ll go pick my room and, Abbott, you can find straws in here somewhere.”
Before I can move Finn replies, “Nope. Declan offered and there’s no take-backs. Sorry, rich, successful Stanley Cup winner. Pretend you’re a rookie because you’re shacking up with your bestie. Pray he doesn’t snore.”
Fuck.
Then the front door opens. And I hold my breath. Logan appears first. His smile is huge. “This place is un-fucking-real.”
“Your girlfriend is a keeper,” Finn winks.
“Yeah she’s getting some thank you sex for finding us this gem,” Logan replies.
“I can’t believe this place is a freebie.” Declan’s voice hits my ears a second before his angular, attractive face comes into view over his brother’s shoulder in the kitchen door.
His eyes find mine immediately and their icy color seems to darken. “What the fuck.”
It’s a whisper but I hear it and it feels like a skate blade to the heart.
25
DECLAN
How didI never even consider the fact that Abbott was invited to this? I honestly just never, in a million years, thought he would be bold enough to actually come. But I should have known better. Abbott has never backed down, never cowered or admitted defeat. Abbott does what Abbott wants.
I glare at him and then at Logan because he must have known Abbott was coming. Except Logan isn’t facing me so I’m just glaring at the back of his head and Abbott looks away. I want to scream. Jake is nowhere to be found and Finn is too busy shoving what looks like the contents of an entire grocery store into the fridge so he doesn’t see the look of pure tension on our faces. “Jake’s upstairs unpacking. You guys should do the same.”
“I’ll grab the boards and suits out of the car first and put them on the porch,” Logan says, dropping his overnight bag on the couch and heading back outside.
