Page 32 of Riding the Tide

A grown man sobbing over a cell phone was never a pretty thing, but apparently that’s what Brett needed to hear. So what if his pride was left in tatters? After what he did to Marcus, he was sure he deserved worse. Brett certainly thought so.

He told Brett he planned to return to the island, and he wanted Brett to help set up a meeting between him and Marcus. His plan was simple. He needed to apologize and beg for forgiveness, which he was willing to do, he just needed Marcus to agree to meet with him.

After some heavy duty begging on Blair’s part, Brett finally relented and said he’d do what he could. Then Brett dropped the bomb that nobody had seen Marcus since Blair left the islands. Apparently, he’d disappeared.

It looked like Blair might have a very long wait.

FORTY-EIGHT HOURS later, he was standing in another suite in Brett’s resort. Fortunately, the clothes he left behind were delivered soon after he arrived. He was lucky Brett didn’t toss them. A knock at his door dragged his gaze away from the ocean that was right outside his window. He crossed the lush carpet and opened the door, unsurprised to see Brett standing there.

“Come in.” Blair stood out of the way so Brett could enter, then closed the door. “I was hoping I would get a chance to see you. I’d like to thank you—”

“Save it.”

Blair gritted his teeth. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but rudeness was hard to tolerate, even if he deserved it. “Sure thing.”

Brett strolled over to the window overlooking the ocean view. “This isn’t a friendly visit.”

“Believe it or not, I’m picking that up.”

Brett turned from the window and glared at Blair. “You don’t get to be a smartass. Understand? Nor do you get to act like you were the offended party in this situation.”

Blair sighed. “I know that. I screwed up, and I freely admit it. But what do you want from me? Would you like for me to open a vein? Would that make you feel better? I amsorry, and yes, I know that isn’t enough, but that’s why I’m here. I want to try to make it better.”

“Well, if you can find him you might be able to. But as I said, no one has seen him since you stood him up at the restaurant. And you should know, that date meant a lot to him.”

Blair closed his eyes as shame washed over him. Brett certainly wasn’t pulling his punches. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I am so, so sorry.”

“Marcus doesn’t have an aboveground dwelling like the majority of us since he spends most of his time in the ocean. But for you, he put his pride on the back burner and went to Nisha and Kannon. You see, he wanted to look nice but didn’t have the appropriate clothing.”

Yep, Brett planned to make this as slow and painful as possible. “I don’t care what he wears.”

“I don’t think you’re getting it. He wanted to make a good impression on you, and he didn’t have the necessary clothes, so he borrowed some from Nisha. He needed everything, right down to the socks, and if that wasn’t humiliating enough, he even had to use their bathroom to get ready.”

“God. I had no idea. I didn’t know any of this.” Agonized, Blair searched Brett’s face. “How could I? I just met him, but I didn’t want to… I never meant to hurt him.”

“Really? Because from where I’m standing, I don’t see it that way.” A chilly expression crossed Brett’s face. “What did you think was going to happen when you didn’t show up that night?”

Blair wanted to scream. “I didn’tthink.I panicked and ran.”

“Panic? What the hell could he have possibly done to make you panic? Or, for that matter, me?”

“I started getting all these crazy thoughts.” Blair threw his hands in the air. “Come on, man. Do you mean to tell me you can’t see my point at all? You were human at one time! And weren’t you the one who told me you also freaked out when you found out your wife was a mermaid?”

The icy look slipped from Brett’s face. “Yes, I did say that.” He sighed, and his shoulders relaxed. “Look, I apologize for being so abrupt with you, but Marcus is a friend of mine. You hurt him. I honestly don’t think you understand how much that hurt him. You basically rejected him. Having a mate reject you is… I don’t know if I can find the adequate words to explain this to you.”

“Yes well, about that. Marcus never told me he was my mate. I actually found that out from you. And yes, after listening to the description of what a mate was and what it entailed, I was overwhelmed.”

“Wait. Are you telling me…?” Brett gulped. “Oh Jesus, please tell me I’m not the one who… Marcus never told you?”

“No. He never said a word to me about it.”

Brett staggered over to the couch and dropped down on it. “Fuck. Oh dear God, this is all my fault. We couldn’t figure out why you would react in such a way. It never crossed any of our minds… Marcus is going to kill me.”

Blair sat on the couch next to Brett. “If we’re going to take bets on who’s going to be on the receiving end of his temper, I’m sure it would be me.”

“No.” Brett shook his head. “That’s just it. Mates are… He would never do anything to hurt you.”

“Yes, well, as we know there are all different types of hurts. I didn’t stop to think about my actions, and I hurt him—apparently bad enough he disappeared.”

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