Page 128 of Knockin' Boats
“You weren’t wrong. That place is fucked up. My stepdad?—”
“It’s not your fault.” He squeezed me tighter. “It’s theirs.”
He started to pull back, but I couldn’t make myself let go.
“Group hug!” Cash cried, and then there were limbs and bodies everywhere as they all pressed in around us.
Hugging us both.
“We’re glad you’re okay,” Brooks said.
“So glad,” Skylar added. “If there’s anything we can do, you let us know.”
Sawyer sagged into my hold. “It was so fucked up. They collided with that boat and just kept going.”
“Despicable human beings,” Brooks snarled.
I couldn’t fault his logic there. Bile rose in my throat. I’d once been one of them, after all.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated.
One by one, the friends pulled back, and I finally let Sawyer break my hold on him. He looked into my eyes.
“I shouldn’t have said you were like them. I know you’re not, Ash.”
“There was a time you called me reckless too.” I swallowed hard. “Maybe I was. Maybe I could have caused something like this?—”
“No,” he said firmly. “Julian wasn’t even driving. He let a drunk passenger take the wheel.”
“Jesus,” Cash said.
“You’d never do that,” Sawyer insisted. “I know you well enough for that.”
“I wouldn’t. I knew Julian was a problem. I tried to tell Rick, but…I guess I didn’t try hard enough.”
“At least you tried,” Poppy said, rubbing my back.
“You left, even though it meant friction with your family,” Skylar added. “That couldn’t have been easy.”
One by one, Sawyer’s friends comforted me. Even though I wasn’t the one who deserved comfort.
“Are you really okay?” I rubbed his arms once again to reassure myself he was in one piece.
“I’m okay,” he said. “But your stepdad is gonna be pretty unhappy about my statement to the police.”
“I know. He’s an asshole. He’s got a whole coverup planned.”
Sawyer’s eyebrows flew up. “Seriously?”
“Ash called him while we waited for you to get back,” Cash said.
“He’s erased the record of their tour. Probably bribed or threatened the tourists onboard. If one of them was driving, he had leverage. And he’s saying Julian hit the dock yesterday to explain the damage to the boat.”
“No one will believe that,” Poppy said. “Will they?”
“Men with money have a way of being convincing,” Skylar said with a frown creasing his brow.
“He wanted me to talk you into changing your statement,” I admitted. “You’re probably the most reliable witness.”
