Page 74 of Passing Ships

All their eyes come to me.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Wade says, his eyes filled with amusement.

I narrow mine at him.

“You just casually tossed that out there like you were claiming Amiya as yours,” he says.

“As a fishing partner,” I state.

“Yeah, like Eden would be Wade’s, and Avie would be Sebastian’s, and Milly would be your dad’s. You see where I’m going with this,” Parker adds.

“Yep. I got it,” I snap.

“Something you want to share, son?” Dad asks.

“Nope,” I say.

“Ah, come on. Don’t be like that,” Anson goads.

“Who needs the women to come along when we have the lot of you fuckers?” I mumble.

Amiya

I’m sitting on the bed with my laptop open, files spread across the comforter, my earbuds in, and a mug of hot coffee nearby.

Lennon woke up early to help Wade on a jobsite, which means I woke up early because the man is about as light on his feet as a two-thousand-pound bull.

Instead of being annoyed, I decided to seize the opportunity to get caught up on a little work.

I’m in my groove when I get a 911 text from Avie.

Oh shit. Something is wrong.

I don’t even bother to text her back because 911 means come now. So, I shut things down, pull on a sundress and sandals, and run out the door.

I skid into the cottage’s driveway fifteen minutes later.

Momma C relocated to a rental closer to The Point when Avie’s father arrived on Monday, and Sebastian should be at work.

Avie slings the door open as I make my way up the walk.

I take in her distressed appearance—the swollen, bloodshot eyes and dark circles—and I’m filled with instant rage.

What the hell did Sebastian do?

“What happened?” I ask as I take the steps two at a time to reach her.

“I made a huge mistake.” She hiccups between sobs as she slumps into my arms.

What in the world?

“It can’t be that bad. Whatever it is, we’ll fix it,” I assure her as I rub circles on her back.

She pulls back and looks me in the eye.

“I fucked up. We can’t fix it!” she snaps.

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