Page 27 of Broken Hearts

And here I am, listening to a story that was far different from the life I had.

Nate takes in a deep breath, and I don’t want him to feel like I’m judging him or making assumptions about who he is as a person based on this admittance.

“I had just turned sixteen and had missed forty-seven days of school when I met your dad. All I wanted to do was surf and smoke weed.” When the last part leaves his mouth, his cheeks redden, embarrassment blanketing his face.

“I mean that’s not that bad,” I defend. “Since your freshman year, so that’s only like?—”

“It was forty-seven days that semester,” Nate cuts in. “Turns out a semester is only seventy-five days. Who knew?” he says, letting out a little anxious chuckle. “Basically, I was told I wouldn’t graduate, and my counselor set me up with Mitch. Sent me to The Pipe Dream and told me if I worked and came to school, I would get to participate in Mitch’s surf lessons after school.”

“And you did?”

“Hell no. I told them all to fuck off,” Nate replies, again pulling his bottom lip between his teeth.

“But you’re still here working at The Pipe Dream and helping with lessons,” I say, trying to fill in the missing pieces.

“I am because your dad didn’t give up on me like everyone else did.”

Noneof what I’m telling Sage is a lie, but it isn’t exactly the full truth either. That first time, I really did tell them all to fuck off, Mitch included. And while my counselor raged about it, Mitch just laughed and told him to let me be, that I’d come around eventually when I realized how good an opportunity this was. Somehow, without knowing anything about me, he knew this wouldn’t be the only time our paths would cross, and he was right.

Unfortunately, in the end it took a broken arm and three cracked ribs before he finally didn’t just let me be. A broken arm and three cracked ribs before he said enough was enough and stopped me from leaving. He’d seen other things, sure, but I think this was the final straw for him. It was for me too, considering by this point I was basically sleeping on the beach most nights.

But I can’t tell her any of this because then she would ask questions about my past and all the other shit from back then. It was bad enough telling Mitch all those years ago; I don’t need to relive it with his daughter now.

Thankfully, Sage nods at my words but doesn’t say anything as we now turn and head back toward the car. When we’re turning onto the main street, she surprises me by saying, “Thank you for today.”

I glance over, returning the smile she’s giving me. “No worries. Just doing my job.”

She smirks a little at that. “Not sure showing me around my dad’s shop is technically part of your job, Nate,” she says, a teasing tone to her words.

Chuckling, I shrug. “Yeah, maybe not, but Mitch woulda kicked my ass if I didn’t, so…” I trail off, not sure how to tell her that it was also something I wanted to do too. Something I actually liked doing.

“Well, can I buy you dinner to say thank you?” she asks, and this time she sounds a little nervous.

“You don’t have to buy me dinner,” I quickly say, noticing how her smile disappears with my words. “I mean, it’s not?—”

“I know I don’t, but I’m pretty sure my mom would kick my ass if I didn’t say thank you,” Sage says, cutting me off.

I rest my elbow on the driver’s door, the sea breeze filling the car through the open window as we make our way down the highway. “It’s your shop, Sage,” I say quietly. “I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

“No,” she immediately says, shaking her head at me. She’s almost fully turned in her seat now, her back against the door as she watches me. “It’s not my shop, Nate. I know nothing about it.”

“Not yet,” I offer. “But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s yours. You’re his daughter.”

She blows out a breath, tucking her hair behind her ear only for it to almost immediately blow back out. “I don’t even know if he had a will,” she says. “For all I know, he could have left it to someone else, to you maybe.”

“I doubt it,” I say, even though deep down, I know there’s a part of me that would love that, and not just because it would solve all the problems I’m currently worried about. “We should probably ask Tanner,” I now suggest. “If anyone would know, it’ll be him.”

Sage nods, turning back in her seat so she’s facing forward. “Okay, we can talk to him,” she says. “But you still haven’t answered me about dinner.”

I shoot her a sideways glance, a small smile tugging at my mouth as I ask, “You really want to have dinner with me?”

She shrugs, the smile back on her face now as she says, “Today was kinda…nice, and well…”

“I’ve stopped being such a dick?” I offer, finishing her sentence.

She laughs now, the sound husky and kind of sexy. “Yeah, that definitely helps,” she teases, her elbow propped on the door and her head resting in her hand as she watches me.

I laugh, shaking my head a little. “Yeah, okay, let’s grab some food.”

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