Page 44 of Unmoored

“Hm?” I grunt at last, when we emerge into the sun. I wander over to my boat, crouching to loosen the mooring rope.

Eden grins, squinting down at me. “I just never knew I had so many firsts left to explore with you.”

My chest feels so warm and fuzzy. I can’t help smiling back at him. “Wait ’til you hear about the annual golf cart parade. And the strawberry tea—wait, I think we’ve already had that. But there’s always something going on.”

“And I can’t wait to find out.” Eden grins. “This will be a summer for new things. New experiences, and…”

“No,” I grunt, but not quite in time.

“—and new friends,” Eden bursts into giggles as I rise to my feet with the rope wrapped around my hand.

There’s only one thing to do when he’s in this mood. So I kiss him until he stops giggling and his knees go weak, and then I kiss him a little more, and then I pull away and nip his lower lip gently.

It’s a sight to behold, and I pause for long enough to appreciate it. Eden’sgorgeouslike this—freshly-kissed, hair sticking to and fro, half-dressed in an old faded T-shirt and his cute little short-shorts, still clutching a cup of coffee in one hand.

“Sorry, skipper,” Eden sighs blissfully, not sounding sorry at all. It makes me laugh, which makes him laugh again, and the noise is so adorable that I lean in to kiss his forehead.

“I’m going,” I tell him firmly, before can sucker me into round two. “Thank you for last night, Eden. And this morning. And... all of it, I guess.”

He laughs. “My pleasure,” he murmurs. Then he grins at me even bigger. “Really,” he adds, which is halfway a dirty joke, except I can hear the wonder and excitement in his voice.

So I smile back at him, leaning in to kiss his forehead. “Have a good day, sweetheart.” The word just comes from me without even meaning it to. Eden giggles and I blush, hastily sliding the rope completely free and tugging the boat in to hop right down into it.

“Thank you. You too. Now, let me see those muscles again as you start that motor,” Eden adds, teasingly leaning on the railing to make a show of sipping his coffee and watching. And I put on a show for him, too, to make us both laugh.

When I finally raise my hand for a wave, I can’t stop smiling—all the way to my home dock. I can’t even remember the last time the morning felt this bright and full of promise.

I know what I want. It’s right out there on the ocean, almost close enough to touch. I just have to wait for Eden to be ready to put down anchor… and this time, do it right.

ChapterSixteen

DREW

“Murph!”I exclaim, scrambling to my feet on the rocky beach of Brothers’ Cove as our brother lumbers over toward us in no particular hurry. He holds up a case of beer, and I cheer. “Guys, look, he’s alive—and he’s brought a case!”

“That makes up for being AWOL,” Alph tells him cheerfully. “Doritos would work even better.”

“We’ve got enough Doritos to kill a man,” Gage swats at Alph. “We don’t need more, greedy bastard.”

“We always need more,” Kieran interjects.

“I’m only here ’cause I saw Gage threatening to kidnap me in the group chat,” Murph grunts. “I thought I’d show up before he chains me to a rock like Prometheus.”

I laugh as he drops the beer next to the group, before exchanging back-slapping hugs with me and the rest of the guys. Finally, we all settle down on the smooth stones again. We can barely all squeeze into the little semicircle of rocks anymore. Carter and Alph are perched on rocks on one side, and Ronan is sitting between Alph’s knees.

Ahhh, you can feel it. The tension of unspoken gossip in the air.

There isn’t a lot of speculation needed about what’s keeping him so busy. Some of them—like Felix and Alph—have evenmetthe guy. “Hey, it’s okay. You’ve had a lot on your hands,” I say, perfectly innocently. “Keeping an eye on the mystery newcomer. Real Samaritan vibes.”

“Mmm,” Murph grunts, making himself busy grabbing a beer while the rest of the guys hide their snickers and smirks. He cracks open a cold one and takes a sip. “Ahhh,” he sighs, gazing off.

Some of us talk more than the others. He joins in the teasing like the rest of us from time to time, but it’s not out of character for Murph to stay quiet unless he sees the chance to say something either really funny or wise.

But our conversation isn’t going anywhere fast today—because for once, it’s all about him.

“Ahhh,” Murph sighs once he’s cracked open a cold one and taken a sip. He gazes out toward Maple Island… and then his gaze strays a little further, toward the strait that’s just out of sight. There’s something on his face—something soft and excited. Maybe even a little nervous.

Holy shit. The rumours are true.

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