Page 20 of Stranded

“Uh… sometimes?” I laugh at the look on Ronan’s face. “Hey, everyone who comes and goes has to get by me. Except the ones with their own boats, I guess.”

Ronan sputters at me as I tip back my beer bottle and drain the last few drops.

Until these last few minutes, I didn’t know exactly what ties together all these different sides of Ronan. Even when it disappeared, I couldn’t put my finger on it. But now that the steady glow has returned to his eyes… it’s impossible not to see it.

Hope.

“So, here’s the plan,” I tell Ronan when he’s finished his drink. “You crash with me tonight, and as many nights as you want this week.”

Ronan’s jaw drops. He turns to look out the window toward the mainland, and it doesn’t take a mindreader to know what he’s thinking.

I don’t have to go back there?

But I have one more thing to say, and it’s important. I don’t want Ronan to feel committed to something he doesn’t want, or that doesn’t work well for him. After all he’s been through, a perfect fit is the very least he deserves.

“Before we make any decisions, we’ll see if you like the house—and the commute, and all the nuisances of living on an island. Either way, we’ll figure it out,” I tell him. “Sound good?”

Ronan swallows hard a few times and looks back at me. “Uh… yeah. It does.” He sounds like he’s in a daze. “It’s… incredible.” I reach out over the table to offer him a handshake, but Ronan grabs my hand in both of his. “Thank you, Alph. I just… I can’t thank you enough.”

“It’s my pleasure,” I promise. And it really is. The look on his face right now is reward enough. “So… you want to test out the walk home from the ferry?”

Ronan lets go of my hand and grins, bouncing to his feet. “Hell, yeah.” Then he winks at me and puts a hand on his hip, turning side-on to me like he’s beckoning me to come hither. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“God,” I laugh as we head to the door. “You’re really made of rubber.” I wave goodbye to Kieran, who winks at me, but I’m going to pointedly ignore that.

“What do you mean?” Ronan trots after me into the evening breeze.

“No matter how much you stretch, you bounce back to yourself in no time at all.”

At first, I think the strangled noise is coming from the door closing. But then I turn a suspicious glance to Ronan, and he cracks up in a giggle.

Ohhh.

“Notthatkind of stretch!” I groan and stride down the wharf toward the firm ground of Sunrise Island, making Ronan trot to keep up with me.

“Hey, you’re the one who said it.” He’s hot on my heels and breathless with laughter. “And you’re not wrong. I’mverytalented in the stretching department… among others…”

“I was—I didn’t?—”

I’m going to walk the whole way home with a boner if he keeps this up. And boy, is he good at keeping it up.

Great. Now he’s got me doing it to myself.

I’m not going to win this one, so I throw my hands in the air to surrender. Ronan laughs, and I grin again, tipping my head back to breathe in that fresh, salty ocean air.

I’m glad Ronan’s feeling like himself again… I just want to make sure he stays that way.

Chapter

Eight

RONAN

As we emergefrom a wooded path to a gravel road, Alph grins and points at the first house we pass. “What’s in the driveway?”

He’s just spent the last few minutes insisting that the island only has one real car, and everyone drives golf carts. I was so convinced he was pulling my leg… but I can’t deny my own eyes.

“It’s a golf cart.” I laugh at the smug grin on his face. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry I doubted you. Happy?”

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