Page 76 of Regrets

Don’t be too mean.I stand up, glaring at her. “And what? Go work for Dad?”

“Wow.”

My tone is cold and uncaring. “Maybe I’ll listen to you when you’re living your own life but not until then.”

“You’re a real asshole sometimes, Lincoln. I love you, but I’m not wrong.”

She spins on one foot and walks down the stairs to her car, and I let her leave. I can’t stop her because it’s what I want right now.

Right now, I need to be with P.

41

PENELOPE

Everything is starting to make sense—the way Colt was acting, him not wanting to touch me, going hot to cold. He felt guilty after what he did. I believe that. He never told me the truth, but how mad at him can I really be?

I slept with his brother and never told him either.

The glorified perfect couple shattered to pieces, and now the puzzle comes together in a messy, ugly array.

I stand out on the dock, looking out of the water and hear Lola’s car leaving before I feel Linc behind me.

“What is it you do when you go into the lake?” I turn to look at him. “Do you hope the water will carry you away?”

He shrugs his large shoulders and looks out over the water. “Sometimes, but I’m too strong of a swimmer for it to happen.”

“Show me.”

He turns to me slowly, examining my face. “Okay.”

It’s early morning. People could see us, but somehow it doesn’t matter as I lift his shirt off and over my head and he pushes his sweats and briefs down. Both of us wade into the water and swim further into the lake.

When we can no longer touch, we tread water, and he floats on his back, looking up. “I just lay here and look up at the sky, think about all the shit that’s happened and the weight of it all starts to pull me under.”

I lay on my back, my ears going under as I float, but I can still hear. “But you fight?”

“Yes.”

We lay like that for what feels like an eternity, and I get lost in my thoughts. My past fills my heart, and I feel myself physically start to go under as my arms and legs tire and feel heavy.

Linc must sense it because he holds onto me, flipping over and pulling me to where we can both touch bottom. I wrap my arms around his neck as he hardens against me.

“Don’t ever let it take you under, P.”

“I don’t know how much strength I have left.”

His lips press against mine as my tears fall, and his fingers sink into my wet hair. “You are strong.”

“I thought your father cared about me.”

“He doesn’t care about anyone.”

My nose brushes over his. “I thought Colt cared about me.”

I see the pain on Linc’s handsome face, and his lips press against mine again as we cling to each other in the water, his hardened cock prodding between my legs. “He loved you. He fucked up.” He presses into me, and I groan, loving the feeling of him sinking inside me. “We all fucked up.”

I hold onto his shoulders as he thrusts into me, my legs wrapping around him in the murky, blue water.

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