At that moment, I’d felt safer than I ever had before.
Now, all these years later, here he was again. And my heart reacted like he was the only person who’d ever made me feel that way.
Bastian slammed the truck door and dragged a hand over the back of his neck. Then he looked up. Right at my window. Our eyes met.
I swore I stopped breathing. For a second, we just stared at each other, the air thick and heavy between us even though a whole house separated us. Then the corner of his mouth twitched into this slow, dangerous little smirk.
He slung his bag over his shoulder, eyes still on me, and headed toward his porch like he had all the time in the world.
The only difference was… I wasn’t a kid anymore, and I didn’t see my step-uncle as a protector. I saw him as a man and someone I was never, ever supposed to want.
This summer was already going to destroy me.
2
BASTIAN
People in this town loved pretending they knew me, and that was exactly why coming back always felt like a bad idea. No matter how many years I stayed gone or how far overseas I disappeared, the second my truck rolled into town everybody suddenly had a story about Bastian Marker.
Most of them were bullshit. A few might’ve been true. I stopped giving a shit a long time ago. It was easier when nobody had the balls to say any of it to my face.
I’d only been back at the lake house for a couple of minutes that morning before I regretted showing up at all. I’d dropped my bag on the porch, planning to finally settle in for the summer, but the second I stepped inside, I heard my brother and his wife going at it again next door in the main house. The same raised voices and old bullshit fighting that never seemed to end.
Then I caught a glimpse of Juliet on the porch at the main house, barefoot and looking exhausted and lost after her long drive. I took in every single inch of her, from her messy hair, oversized sweatshirt, and beautiful but tired looking eyes. Something twisted in my chest. Hard.
I turned around, got back in my truck, and drove straight to the marina before anyone could stop me. I wasn’t ready to face Juliet. Not yet.
The marina was quiet that morning, just the soft slap of water against the docks and the metallic clank of my wrench against an old outboard motor. I’d asked the Frank, old man who ran the bait and boat shop, if he needed help, not only because I’d seen he was struggling but because I needed something to keep busy so I didn’t just sit in this docked boat twiddling my fingers and thinking about her.
Even though the sun had barely risen, the heat was already thick and heavy. Sweat stuck my shirt to my back as I leaned over the engine, grease black across my knuckles. Engines made sense. They either ran or they didn’t. People were different. People always wanted more than you could give, and eventually you let them down.
That was why I had spent most of my life leaving before they could ask me to stay.
My mom had left my abusive piece-of-shit father when I was eight, packing us up in the middle of the night with nothing but two suitcases and a black eye she tried to hide. A few years later, she met Landon’s father, fell in love, and suddenly I had a stepfather and a stepbrother.
That’s how this whole messy family got stitched together. Two broken pieces trying to build something that wouldn’t fall apart, too.
The years traveling for work had all started to blur together. Too many months spent in dusty forward operating bases, too many private security contracts in places the State Department warned you not to go to. I’d spent years taking security contracts in places most people would never willingly go. The pay was ridiculous because most normal people wouldn’t touch that kind of shit. I came back harder every single time. Old scars, bustedknuckles, quieter, meaner, and carrying memories I had no intention of sharing with anyone.
The crunch of tires on gravel pulled me out of my thoughts. My stepbrother Landon’s SUV rolled into the marina lot. I already knew why he was here before he even stepped out.
“Saw your bag on the porch,” he said, handing me a coffee. “Figured you’d taken off again when you heard Laura and me going at it this morning. Sorry about that, man. I swear we are like oil and water.”
I snorted and took a long sip. “Didn’t realize you two were still doing that dance.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, looking tired. “Yeah. Anyway, family cookout’s at noon. I’m handling the grill this time since Mom and Dad have taken their retired asses down to Florida.”
I smirked at the loving jealousy in his voice.
“You’ll be there, right?”
I knew it wasn’t an actual question. He expected me to be there.
“It’ll just be us, Laura, Juliet, and Aunt Clara and Uncle Stanley. Nothing crazy.”
I leaned back against the boat. “I just got in. Not sure I’m in the mood for a crowd.”
“Come on, Bast. It’s been a hell of a long time since we’ve all been together. Laura’s already stressed about Juliet being back and everything going on with her. It’d mean a lot if you showed.”
