Page 53 of Hearts Adrift
But how can I trust it? Chase wants to talk math? How about the math of how tiny a number I am in the grand life of a guy asbigas River Wolfe? Did I seriously think he was falling for me? Imagining a life with me here in this small, washed-up beach town?Am I really that desperate to have a boyfriend again after the demise of me and Theo?
“Justboinkhim,” mutters Chase again before downing the rest of his drink, burping, then gazing off at the hotties on the beach, for whatever reason constantly discounting himself as one of them. “Oh, hey, you hitting up Teegan’s party this weekend? Cooper should be there with Seany, if you wanted to catch up with him.” He pauses. “I think.”
The last thing I need is one ofTeegan’sparties.
And maybe I already know what advice the wiser and more grounded Cooper would give me: End it with River. Definitively. Protect your heart.
I only closed the door between me and River.
I need to fix the lock, too—and throw away the key.
While I drive home, I go over what I’ll say to River. Evenafter parking, I have a speech in my head, ready to say it’s over, to apologize for the extra pressure I’ve laid on him, and to move on. It’s not his fault I interpreted what’s going on between us as anything more than him relieving stress in his difficult situation. I can’t imagine the burden he’s being crushed beneath with this unfair scandal, and I won’t begin to pretend I know how that feels.
The world’s eyes are on him. It must be a nightmare.
Upon entering the house, however, I find both of my sisters and my father in the foyer by the stairs—Brooke seated on the first step, Heather and my dad standing next to her, and a ton of tension on their faces.
Then they all turn to me.
Oh no.
The jig is up, I just know it.
Brooke couldn’t keep the secret. Heather caught River. Dad, too. Everything just crashed right to the ground while I was blowing off steam at the Easy like a careless fool.
Then my dad smiles. “And there he is, man of the hour. Your ears must’ve been turning red.”
I freeze.
Or maybe theydidn’tfind out?
Heather comes up to me. “You’ve really got a hell of a lot of nerve, little brother, keeping this secret from me.”
Or maybe theydid…? “What’s … What’s going on?”
Heather hooks her arm into mine—a thing I’m fairly sure she hasn’t done since we were teens—and puts on a slightly alarming grin. “But if there’s any better way to heal you from a breakup, I don’t know it.” We walk to the stairs, arm-in-arm, where she stops and rubs my shoulder. “I don’t know whether you’re crazy or a mad genius.”
“Probably a touch of both,” teases my dad.
I have to twist my eyes onto Brooke’s for a semblance of anidea what the fuck is going on.
And it’s she who gives me a grimace of apology and spreads her hands. “Sorry, bro. Had to … tell them about what we’ve been working on these past few days. Y’know. The … super neat idea you had … about being … my big headline guy … at the kissing booth.”
Her eyes tell a whole other story.
She was cornered. Had to cover somehow.
And this is the harebrained bullshit she weaved to keep my dad and other sister off the scent.
“Kissing booth,” I mutter. “Right … That.”
“What a perfect idea,” says Heather, squeezing my arm so tight, she could snap it straight off. “Kiss the Prince of Dreamwood Isle. A kiss with beachside royalty. It is, and I cannot stress this enough, theperfectpromotion.”
“Perfect indeed,” agrees my father through a choked laugh, then pats and squeezes my other arm as if trying to snap that one off, too. Then he lowers his voice and gives me a sharp, knowing look. “Excellent business idea.”
And now this idea has turned into something my dad thinks I came up with to help save the Fair.
Yet another secret neither of my sisters are aware of.
