Page 6 of Knockin' Boats
But I was sick of this shit. Sick of drunken partiers. Sick of handsy tourists who treated me like part of the package.
And damn sick of Rick dragging me back into the business no matter how many times I tried to leave.
“Tour’s over.” My skin was tight and itchy, and I was sure if she touched me one more time, I was going to lose my fucking shit. “Go sit. Now.”
She huffed and turned around, staggering back toward the center of the boat. Rick was going to shit a brick when that review came in, but I no longer cared.
I was done with DreamBoat Tours whether he liked it or not.
No more part-time work. No morejust fill in while we’re short-handed. No more empty promises of a future business that could be mine.
I gave Rick six years to shit or get off the pot, then two more because I didn’t know how to walk away.
But now I had a new business, something that wasmine.Something Rick had never supported. And I was damned if I was going to let him distract me from my goal.
I pulled out my phone as soon as I got into my car at the marina and pulled up Mel in the contacts. As soon as it connected, I started speaking.
“You’re not going to believe this shit.”
“Does it involve you wearing a tutu?” she asked.
“What? No.”
“Too bad. I’d have believed that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Still fantasizing about me? I thought we’d moved on from all that.”
She cackled. “Oh, trust me, babe. I’ve found better things to occupy my naughty thoughts.”
I frowned. “Now I don’t know whether to be relieved or insulted.”
“Ah, the fragile egos of men.”
I placed my phone in its hands-free holder and started the car. “Why are you always a pain in my ass?”
“Because you always need a kick in the ass.”
I grumbled because she wasn’t wrong. Mel had told me years ago to stop letting Rick hold me back. At the time, I’d been clinging to the belief that I had a future with his business. I’d treaded carefully, put up with his bullshit rules, listened to his slimy business lectures.
Then he’d flown to Costa Rica with my mom and put Julian in charge.Julian, the frat bro player who took nothing seriously.
That was when I knew it was intentional. That Rick didn’t want me to have any control over my life. Thatheliked controlling it.
“So, for real, what’s the trouble, boo?” Mel asked.
I groaned. “I had another run-in with Sawyer.”
“Uh-oh.”
“Yeah, I was doing a booze cruise and?—”
“Excuse me?Whythe hell were you on a booze cruise when you quit that cringefest of a job?”
I winced. “Uh, well…”
“Ash.No.”
I flicked on my blinker with more force than necessary, annoyed with myself. “I know. You don’t have to say it. I’ve got to end this shit.”
