Page 146 of Knockin' Boats
A round of laughter followed.
My eyes widened. I vaguely recognized the group of twenty-somethings who’d come by my boat a few days ago.
“Leave him a good review,” Sawyer called. “We’re still getting the word out.”
They shot us a thumb’s-up.
“Rick’s shitty reviews will be buried if I have anything to say about it,” Sawyer said, a determined tone to his voice.
My heart swelled. There was a time Sawyer had scoffed at me and my food boat. It meant a lot that he had my back.
Finally, we made it to the table surrounded by his whole group of friends: Hudson, Fisher, Cash, Brooks, Skylar, and Poppy.
Sawyer plopped the bucket of beers in the center of the table.
“Don’t say I never gave you anything.”
“That’s my line,” Brooks complained.
“You’re not working the bar here anymore,” Sawyer said. “Gotta leave the beer delivery to other people now.”
He smirked. “At least I can actually hang out with you guys instead of just doing drive-by hello’s.”
We squeezed into the two empty seats between the tables and the wall.
Everyone reached for a beer in the bucket—aside from Poppy, who was nursing a soda, and Skylar who was sipping what looked like whiskey.
“How are you two holding up?” Brooks asked. “That boat accident was a lot, and it sounds like your stepdad is being a real douche. Hudson was just filling us in on the latest.”
I winced. “Yeah, we don’t have the best relationship.”
Sawyer tapped our knees together under the table. “Not your fault. It just tells us he’s a creep.”
Hudson nodded. “He’s just looking to cover his own tracks. He, uh, he called the office today too.”
Sawyer stiffened next to me. “What did he say?”
“He tried to sweet-talk me at first. Us business owners need to look out for each other. That kind of boys’ club crap that keeps sleazeballs like him operating.” Hudson paused. “Sorry, Ash. I know he’s your family.”
I cringed. “Yeah, not sure for how much longer.”
Sawyer wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Well, I’m your family now.”
“Which means all of us are,” Skylar said. “When I came to Swallow Cove, I was totally alone. Everyone at this table saved me in one way or another.”
“You saved yourself,” Brooks said, pressing a kiss to his temple.
Skylar smiled. “But you helped me see that I could.”
They gazed into each other’s eyes, caught up in their own love story. And it must have been a doozy, judging by those heart eyes.
“So what happened with Rick when you didn’t play nice?” I asked cautiously, knowing my stepfather wouldn’t just back down that easily.
“He got angry, spouted a lot of nonsense. I hung up on him. Men like him don’t like to take no for an answer, but if he calls back, I’ll turn him in to the authorities.” Hudson fixed us with a stern look. “And I think you all should do the same. What he’sdoing is witness intimidation. If he harasses you again, you need to report it.”
Sawyer nodded. “Yeah, we will.”
My stomach churned. What would happen to my mom if I got Rick thrown in jail? Or worse, I reported him and he squirmed out of it and decided to take my actions out on her?
