Page 69 of F*ck You

23

Lee

Istood on the dock, biting my nails and tapping the bottom of my flip-flop onto the scalding wooden planks. The bag I’d left for Chase was no longer on his door when I walked by a few hours later, so I knew he’d gotten it. The only questions now were, did he read the letter and would he show up? I wanted to make peace with him, but I couldn’t do that without him here. It had been almost a week since I left him a note saying I wanted to talk to him at this time one week later, hoping that time would be enough for us to both be able to speak with clear heads. He had to come out for more food at some point, right?

In the note, I mentioned I would be here. I’d finished cleaning the boat, and I really wanted to spend some time with him, to hang our legs over the dock and talk like we’d done that one morning at the pier.

I knew Larsen had said to give it more time, but I was impatient as fuck. Normally I knew what I wanted and I went after it. I wasn’t used to these delicate matters, where my heart hung in the balance waiting for someone else to accept my apology.

Fuck, I could use a drink right now.

Shut up, Lee, no you don’t. I rubbed my temple as my internal thoughts argued with each other. Sighing, I slung my bag over my shoulder and started walking.

It was a rather nice day out. The sun was shining, and if I waited out here a moment longer, I’d be drenched in sweat.

I made my way through the street, looking more closely at all the different shops. The growing crowd didn’t bother me quite as much as it had before. If anything, it only added to the excitement of the seaside shops.

I browsed all the trinket stores I could locate, trying to find something for Chase and Larsen. A thank you for dealing with my fucking ass for so long.

After coming up empty-handed, I was about to give up when I spotted two Christmas ornaments. One was a surfer, and the other was a scuba diver. A smile split my face. These were perfect, especially since I hoped to still be here to need them in a few months.

I paid for them, stuffed them into my bag, and headed back outside. I probably looked high with this grin on my face, but I didn’t care, these were perfect, and I couldn’t wait to show them to Larsen.

My temporary high was quickly dampened when a large man ran right into my shoulder. I stumbled back, and only managed to keep myself from falling by throwing both hands out to steady myself against the nearest brick wall.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, jackass,” I spat his way. In response, he stopped and turned around.

He reached up and lowered his hood, and I gulped. Those eyes looked scarily familiar. They’d come home with me one night before getting thrown out. His gaze lit up with recognition and his greasy lips twisted into a smile.

“I remember you. Natalee, right?” He stepped closer to me, his breath reeking of whiskey as he lowered his voice. “Wanna have some fun?”

“Fuck you.” I pressed my palms against his chest with the intent to push him away, but he wrapped his hands around mine instead and jerked me forward so I fell into him instead.

“Sounds like you could use a real man. Doubt you’ve had one of those in a long time.”

My mind barely registered the flash of dark hair surrounding a splash of blue off to the side before I lifted a knee and slammed it into his balls with as much force as I could muster at the odd angle I was at.

The man lurched forward as his hands rushed to cover this unused dick, and his face reddened.

“Don’t worry,” I growled, “I doubt you’ll ever be needing that anyway. You’ll be alright.”

I turned my head in time to lock eyes with Chase. They asked an unspoken question, and I nodded that yes, I was okay. With a nod in return, he disappeared behind another building before I could take a single step toward him. I wanted to run after him, but it was already too late, there were too many people in the street between us. No doubt he was long gone by now, so even if I ran after him, I wouldn’t catch up to him if he didn’t want me to.

A grin curved my lips as I realized he probably wouldn’t have been standing there if he hadn’t read my letter, which meant there was still a chance for us to work things out, and a spark of hope spread tendrils of warmth across my chest.

The man fully lowered himself to the ground, and I used my toe to turn him over and look at him with disgust. “You better hope that was worth it, because if this fucked up my one chance to talk with someone, then I’ll be coming back to finish the job.”

“What, you can fuck two guys but can’t even talk to me? That’s why those two showed up that night, isn’t it?” he ground out, as the pain from his groin still held him immobile.

“Each one of them separate is worth more man than a thousand of you together. I fuck who I want, and that will never include you.” I left him moaning on the ground and walked away. I didn’t have the time or patience for this shit.

After finishing up my browsing and picking out some other items that caught my eye and could be useful, I headed back to drop things off at the condo. Looking out the window, I saw Chase’s lithe body and dark hair riding a decent-sized wave, and I itched to be out there with him.

It had been at least a week already. I wanted so badly to be out there too. I didn’t realize how much I would miss riding the waves with one of my favorite people, but I was worried he would run away.

I let out a breath and gave myself a mental pep talk. Whatever happened, happened. Nothing could happen if I didn’t at least try.

So, with that, I changed into my powder blue swimsuit and headed out toward the water. Waves washed over the tops of my feet as I stood at the edge of the water, my hand shielding my eyes from the sun as I looked out.

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