Page 59 of The Seascape Between Us

I was finishing up the second-to-last room’s window when the first cold drops of rain spattered against my back, trickling down my neck and arms. Above me, the sky had darkened, turning purple like an angry bruise. Lightning flashed, streaking across the sea. The waves rolled in fast and high, crashing along the beach and nearly sweeping up to the boardwalk.

One more window, and I could at least have the ground-floor windows boarded up. Lightning flashed again, and thunder cracked loudly overhead.

“Daniel!” I looked up from the sheet of wood I was positioning over the window to Grey bearing down on me, fury etched into his face. “Are you out of your mind?”

I blinked, confused. Why did he look so pissed? I tried to wipe away the rain running down my face and into my eyes with my shoulder, but my shirt was soaked and stuck to my skin. “I’m almost done.”

“You have to stop,” Grey shouted. “It’s too dangerous.”

My stomach sank, but I shook my head. “I can do it. There’s still time.”

As if to mock me, lightning flashed again, humming around us and filling the air with the smell of ozone. Thunder cracked directly above, leaving my ears ringing for a moment.

“Do you have a death wish?” Grey threw up his hands in frustration. “We need to go inside.”

“You should go in,” I agreed. “I’ll just finish this up.”

“No. There’s no time.” Shaking his head, Grey grabbed my elbow and dragged me toward the door.

I should have been here sooner; I should have worked faster. Now we were going to lose everything. I thought of the money he’d invested, the time he’d given up from his other life. My insides twisted in knots. I wanted to curl into a ball and wish it all away.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“You’re going to get yourself killed,” he growled.

“I’m sorry,” I said again. “I just… I thought…”

“I know,” Grey said, pulling me inside. The door closed, muffling the rush of the surf and the thunder shaking the building around us. “I thought we had more time, too.”

“We’re going to lose everything,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper, my shoulders sagging and my gaze dropping to the floor.

“Maybe we will,” Grey countered, and I closed my eyes, wishing the ground would open and swallow me whole. His hands cupped both sides of my face, and I opened my eyes, meeting Grey’s intense gaze. “If we lose everything, we start again.”

I closed my eyes again. Grey pressed closer, his mouth brushing mine as he pulled me tight against him. I kissed him back, hoping that I could squash the tangle of thoughts spinning through my head like a cyclone, but it didn’t work.

How could I do this to him? How could I have dragged him into the shit show that was my life? He was everything I wasn't—successful, amazing. Everything I touched turned to crap.

How could I have ever let myself believe that I could have a future with him?

His father had been right about me. I was going nowhere and would only ever hold Grey back. I hated the thought of trapping him in my dead-end life while I failed at something else yet again.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Grey

Iwas nervous as hell meeting Brody Harris for the first time. I knew he had been Daniel’s closest friend ever since Ryan passed away, and like some nervous teenager meeting his first boyfriend’s parents and hoping to God they liked him. Nerves fluttered in my stomach, which made no sense. Except for a very small group, I generally didn’t give a shit what people thought about me. But Brody was the closest thing Daniel had to family.

When we got back from the hotel, we found Brody and Jett in the house, waiting for us on the sofa. I’d left the door open in case they arrived before we finished at the hotel.

“Hey,” Daniel said. He had bags of groceries in both hands. We both did. “I’m glad you guys are here. I just need to put this stuff away. Have you met Grey?”

“Nope, which is kind of weird,” the younger man—Jett, I assumed—said brightly. His hair was a mass of brown curls falling into his face. He was good-looking and younger than us. Not shocking, though, since he was one of Alistair’s formerroommates. “I mean, we rented this house from you for a whole year, and we never met you. Thanks for that, by the way—you really saved us after our other place burned down.”

I smirked. “Glad to help.”

“I’m Brody.” He stood up and, at his full height, was a few inches taller than me—even a little taller than Daniel—broad and heavily muscled. His long brown hair fell in messy waves past his shoulders. He held out his hand, and I shook it. “Thanks for letting us stay.”

“Any friend of Daniel’s…”

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