Page 5 of Knockin' Boats
“So, I was wanting to tell you—” he started.
“Ash was a fucking tool again tonight!” I burst out at the same time.
Brooks paused. “Oh?”
“Total asshat,” I confirmed with a huff. “I needed a drink just to calm down so I can fucking sleep tonight.”
“What happened?”
I hesitated. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t want to rehash our run-in. “Just the usual bullshit.”
Brooks set the glass in front of me. “Maybe you two should bury the hatchet.”
I took a long drink, giving him a skeptical look over the rim. “You know what he did.”
“I know,” Brooks said in an almost placating tone I hated. Was I really being so unreasonable? “I’m just saying, you were teenagers. You’ve grown up. Maybe you’d be happier if you didn’t dwell?—”
“Maybe if he wasn’t a jackass every time I run into him,” I grumbled. “No, man. Maybe I could forgive him if he was sorry for what he did, but he’s not, and I don’t see that changing.”
Brooks sighed. “All right. Let’s change the subject, because this isn’t getting you any more relaxed.”
“You’re right about that,” I said, starting to lower my beer. “So what were you doing before I called?”
Brooks chuckled, and something about it sounded dirty. “I don’t think you want to hear about that either.”
I rolled my eyes. “You two are insatiable.”
“Just wait. One day you’ll understand.”
I scoffed. “Okay, Dad.”
Truth was, I dated and hooked up here and there, but lightning had never struck. I went through the motions everyone else did. But where they found happiness, I couldn’t get past the feeling that I was missing something.
Something everyone else found.
Something right under my nose but also impossibly out of reach.
CHAPTER 2
Ash
Sawyer’s boatdisappeared from view, and my gut twisted. Of all the people to witness that, ithadto be fucking Sawyer. He already thought the worst of me.
Healwaysthought the worst.
No matter what I did or where I went, his scowl pointed right the fuck at me. I couldn’t escape it. And soon, I’d have to see itevery single dayat my new resort gig.
A gig that had the potential to change my whole life.
I sighed. That was not the way I wanted to see Saw again after the quieter months of the off-season. I’d hoped to mend fences, not set more of them on fire. I should have kept my big mouth shut, but my bestie, Mel, would be the first to say that was asking for the impossible.
The drunken bridesmaid who’d kissed me grabbed my arm, trying to regain my attention. I pulled away, myDreamBoatsmileslipping.
“Go take a seat. We’re heading back to the marina.”
She pouted up at me. “Aw, already?”
This was the part where the owner, my stepdad Rick, would tell me to flirt. To make sure she was getting her dream night of fantasy, flirtation, and exhilaration. That it was all part of the experience that kept customers coming back.
