Page 27 of Beyond the Hate

“Yeah.” Sophia leans close.

Chloe bobs her head. “Good idea.”

“What’s the rumor?” Maya asks and I bite my lip before I scowl at her.

Maya has always been shy but since she’s been living with Caleb, she’s becoming bolder. I’m proud of her but is it too much to ask for her to crawl back in her shell until Eli leaves the island? And, yes, Eli will leave the island eventually. Smuggler’s Hideaway can’t hold the attention of a billionaire.

Nova clears her throat. “Eli offered Paisley space in his distillery to brew in until her brewery is up and running again.”

Maya squeals while Sophia and Chloe give each other high fives.

“False,” I say and everyone focuses their attention on me.

“But I heard—”

I narrow my eyes on Nova. “Were you eavesdropping on my conversation?”

She rolls her eyes. “Duh.”

“You’re not a very good eavesdropper.”

She rears back with a gasp. “How dare you!”

“Eli didn’t offermespace in his distillery formy brewery.He offeredFive Fathomsspace to brewFive Fathomsbeer.”

Nova rolls her eyes. “Oh, please. If you weren’t around, Eli wouldn’t have bothered rushing to the brewery like he was a pirate with a mermaid on his ass today.”

“This is excellent.” Sophia rubs her hands together. “When will you start?”

Chloe wiggles her eyebrows. “And by start, we mean when will you abandon your clothes and get busy in the sheets?”

Cold invades my body as sadness fills me. I would love to ‘get busy in the sheets’ with Eli as Chloe put it. But Eli wants nothing to do with me. He made himself perfectly clear in high school.

“I didn’t accept his offer.”

My statement is met with stunned silence. And gaping mouths.

I nearly smile. It’s not easy to stun my friends. Not even when Sophia’s mom caught me watching an orgy film were they this stunned.

“I’m…” Sophia trails off. I’ve never rendered her speechless before.

Chloe stares at me with wide eyes. “You said no?”

Maya’s nose wrinkles. “I don’t understand.”

Nova chuckles. “I do.”

I push my glasses up my nose as I confront her. “I highly doubt you understand.”

“Oh, I understand.” I open my mouth to explain but she wags her finger at me. “Don’t you dare go sprouting some facts to supposedly back up your refusal.”

I snap my mouth closed. I was planning to explain how having a brewery in a distillery facility wasn’t as simple as it sounds.

“You’re scared. Plain and simple. Scared.”

I narrow my eyes on her. “What am I scared of?”

“Love,” Maya says. “You’re afraid of love.”

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