Page 154 of Knockin' Boats
“I thought the same about my parents,” I said quietly.
“I’m not your dad,” Ash said firmly. “I wouldn’t bail on you, and I hope you wouldn’t bail on me.”
“Never.”
“Well, there you go then,” he said. “Besides, you’ve got this amazing group of friends. Do you really think they’d let you go down? You’ll always have people in your corner.”
I chewed my lip. “I guess…”
Ash squeezed my waist. “Just think about it?”
I nodded. “I will.”
We returned to the boat, dressed, and made the rest of the trip to the resort. I led an early-morning tour since Gray was covering a sunset cruise that night and Hudson had office work to catch up on.
It was too early to take them by Ash’s food boat, but I texted to let him know I was thinking about him.
Sawyer:
Gonna have lunch with Mom, so I won’t see you till after work. Good luck today!
Ash:
What a coincidence, I’m going to have lunch with my mom too! She texted to say she’s coming by.
Sawyer:
With or without Rick?
Ash:
Without. But I don’t know what to say to her about all that. I don’t want to put her in the middle.
Sawyer:
Don’t you think she deserves a heads-up at least? You’re both her family.
Ash:
Yeah, maybe. I don’t know if she’ll listen anyway. He’s her everything.
Sawyer:
Not everything. She’s got you.
Ash:
Yeah, okay, got customers. Talk later!
He sent a row of hearts.
I smiled down at the screen, relieved that Rick’s nasty reviews hadn’t done too much damage. The more people who visited the boat, the less impact those reviews would have, after all.
I sent him a few heart-eye emojis and pocketed my phone.
Who would have thought that Ash and I would ever get to this level of sap? It was weird but also amazing.
I’d watched Fisher fall for Hudson, and then Hudsonfinallygive in to the inevitable pull between them. I’d watched Brooks open his guarded heart to Skylar and evolve into a happier, secure version of himself.
