Page 172 of Knockin' Boats
She hurried toward the front row, joining Rick.
I turned to Sawyer. “Maybe we should leave?”
His attention was focused on the food table. Maybe he was hungry? “What are you…”
“Julian’s here. He was driving the boat that night.” Sawyer paused. “Or rather, not driving.”
Julien stood with a plate in his hand, talking quietly with one of the other crew members.
I already knew Mom’s family peace summit was going to fail. But maybe I could still dosomethinguseful while we were here.
“Come on.” I headed for the table, interrupting Julian and Barry in a quiet argument over the best dip.
“Guac is made of fresh ingredients!” Barry said earnestly. “It’s healthy.”
“But it’s green,” Julian said with a wrinkled nose.
“Gotta go with queso,” Sawyer interjected. “Someone once told me it’s always about the butter or the cheese.”
They both turned to us in surprise.
“Hey, Ash,” Julian said. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“My mom wanted me to come.”
Julian nodded.
“You know what’s going on?” I asked.
He gestured toward the podium. “With this? Rick is getting some award for donating money to the community or some shit. Probably doesn’t hurt he’s now an investor in the Skyline casino project.”
My eyebrows shot up. That was news to me.
“I didn’t know that got off the ground,” Sawyer said, voice flat. “Last I heard, its financing fell apart.”
“Yeah, hence Rick getting a piece of the action,” Julian said.
“That’s not what I meant though,” I said in a low voice. “I meant about the boat accident you caused.”
His eyes widened. “I didn’t cause any accident.”
“You let a drunk tourist drive,” Sawyer said. “He caused the accident, but you’re the one who’ll take the fall for the hit-and-run.”
Barry looked between us. “What the fuck, man?”
Julian slashed a hand at him, eyes narrowed on Sawyer. “I thought you looked familiar.” He glanced at me. “So you brought the enemy to Rick’s event? No wonder he can’t stand you.”
“Actually, he’s my boyfriend.”
“And I just happened to witness an accident,” Sawyer added. “That doesn’t make me the enemy.”
“Whatever. We should go—” He turned to where Barry had been, but he was already gone.
I tracked his path, seeing that he’d gone straight to Rick and was whispering in his ear. Rick turned a murderous glare my way.
“Listen, Julian,” I said. “I know you think Rick is protecting you, but he’s only going to look out for himself. If the truth comes out, and it will, you’re the one who’ll take the fall.”
“Fuck off.”
