I walked away and didn’t let myself look back again. I knew if I did, I’d see him watching me, and I’d remember every single night we’d spent tangled together in the dark.
CHAPTER 16
COLT
I’d slept maybe three hours and knew I was going to regret it, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. I tried to sleep. It just wouldn’t come. I had played out all the different scenarios that might happen at the protest today.
I knew, logically, that a peaceful community protest on a Friday morning in a small beach town was not a situation that required me to lie awake running worst-case scenarios. But I didn’t get to where I was by putting my head in the sand and pretending nothing bad could happen.
It wasn’t that anything could happen, though. It was thinking about Summer in the center of it. I didn’t want her dragged off to jail or put on some list. She didn’t deserve to have her good reputation and her future ruined by a single mistake.
Cody was already on the back terrace when I came downstairs, coffee in hand and staring out at the water. I poured my coffee and pushed through the back door. I sat down without saying a word.
The beach was mostly empty. Everyone was probably in town gearing up for the protests.
“You look terrible,” Cody said finally.
“Thank you.”
He nodded and took a long drink from his mug. “You know she’s going.”
“I know.”
“Nothing you can do about it.”
“I tried, but she’s loyal to this town, not me.”
“You want my honest read?”
“When have I ever been able to stop you from giving it?”
“Fair.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “This town doesn’t hate you personally.”
“Pretty close to it,” I said.
“It’s the change,” he said. “They fear change.”
“For good reason?” I asked. “Should they be worried?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Helpful.”
“Ready?” Cody asked.
He was in jeans and a T-shirt he picked up in town with Surfside Cove written across the front of it. He grabbed the matching baseball cap off the table and pulled it on low. I grabbed the one that matched and put it on. We were blending. Or attempting to.
“Let’s do this,” I said. “Remember, don’t provoke. We’re just there to put our finger on the pulse of the community.”
“Shit, I don’t even need to go down there to figure out what they’re thinking,” he said. “They hate us.”
“Keep your head down,” I said.
The crowd was much bigger than I expected and more people kept showing up. Media had just arrived on scene. There were bodies packed along both sides of Front Street and spilling back toward the beach. There were plenty of signs bobbing above the heads of the people holding them.
All said the same thing—get out. Or something similar to it. It was very clear they did not want us in town. I kept my head ona swivel. I hadn’t seen Summer yet, but I had no doubt she’d be around.
“She’s fine,” Cody said, without looking up from his phone.
