I’m already in the fire, I think, watching the wake spread out behind us. Already burning up from the inside out with lies and deception and feelings I was never supposed to develop for these men.
We’re quiet for a moment, just the sounds of the struggling motor and the slap of waves against the metal hull. A seagull cries overhead, circling, probably hoping we’re fishermen who’ll toss scraps.
I need to change the subject, to think about something other than Reed, Slater’s disappointed face, and the business card that feels like it’s burning a hole in my pocket.
“So,” I say, forcing Ash’s deeper voice even though it feels increasingly wrong in my throat. “What about you and my sister? Is it serious? You and the other guys?”
Jasper’s entire face transforms in an instant. The serious, almost stern expression melts away, replaced by a grin that’s wide and genuine and reaches all the way to his eyes. He appears younger when he smiles like that. Happier. “You have no fucking idea how smitten we are with her.”
I find myself grinning too, unable to help it, but then catch myself, trying to pull it back into something more neutral. More brotherly.
“I mean it,” Jasper continues. “She’s incredible, Ash. Smart as hell. Funny in ways that catch you off guard. Gorgeous,obviously, but it’s more than that. It’s the way she looks at the world and challenges everything. The way she fits with us.”
He adjusts the throttle slightly, navigating around a larger swell. “It’s as if she was made for our pack, and I guarantee you she’ll be treated like nothing but the queen she is. None of that Reed bullshit about Omegas needing to be controlled or dominated or trained.”
My chest is so tight I can barely breathe. My heart is thundering.
“Which is why I don’t know what the hell you were up to back there with Reed,” Jasper adds, his tone shifting back to serious. “Because I bet Anita would be pissed as hell if she heard you spouting that garbage. She doesn’t seem like the type who’d put up with that kind of thinking.”
I laugh despite everything, despite the guilt eating at me from the inside. “God, yeah. She would absolutely lose her mind. Would probably throw something at my head.”
“Good.” Jasper grins again. “A woman with fire. That’s exactly what?—”
A loudclunkcuts him off mid-sentence.
The motor makes a terrible grinding sound. It sputters and coughs like it’s sick. Then dies completely, black smoke billowing from the back of the boat.
“Oh, damn piece of trash,” Jasper mutters, already moving. He’s stepping over boxes and equipment, navigating the cluttered deck toward the back where the motor is mounted. “I fucking knew we should have replaced this thing last month. Slater’s been putting it off.”
He’s pulling at parts now even as he curses. “Fucking hell. Goddamn rusty piece of shit. Come on, you bastard. Don’t do this to me now.”
More cursing. Something about the carburetor and fuel lines and whoever designed this motor being a sadistic asshole.
“I’ll text Slater,” I call out, pulling my phone from my jeans pocket. “Let him know we broke down.”
Jasper doesn’t seem to hear me, too focused on diagnosing the problem.
I pull up Slater’s contact, my thumb hovering over the message field.
How in the world am I going to come clean to him? To any of them?
The question sits heavy in my mind as I stare at his name on my screen.
Truth is, if I could do it all over again, if I could go back to that moment when I decided to come to Mistberry Cove, I wouldn’t have come to investigate Wilde Charters at all. I would have gone after Reed from the beginning. Focused on the real threat, the real harm being done to Omegas everywhere through his toxic messaging.
I hate that I most likely fucked things up.
So I start typing the message:Motor died. We’re about half a mile out from?—
The boat gives a violent, unexpected jerk.
I’m thrown forward, hard, then whipped back, my phone flying from my hand and landing near my feet. Water splashes up over the side in a wave, soaking my jeans, cold and shocking. I’m scrambling for balance, grabbing desperately for the railing.
“Jasper, what the?—”
I spin around toward the back of the boat.
He’s not there.
