“You think we’re in the mood for it?” Sawyer gave up on his line and leaned back in the boat, his arms crossed. “You’ve been an asshole ever since you and Alex broke up, and we were sick of you infecting our place of business with your shitty attitude.”
“At least if we’re out here, you’re not going to scare customers away with your ugly, mean mug,” Chase told me bluntly.
I opened my mouth and then closed it again. He was right. I hadn’t done a very good job of keeping my shit together at work, and the last thing I wanted to do was screw that up, too.
“I don’t want to talk about Alex,” I said stubbornly.
I couldn’t. It was too hard.
Unfortunately, the guys didn’t seem to care. I had apparently run out of good will from them, and we had gone from good cop attitude to bad cop.
“Tough shit,” Sawyer told me, putting aside his rod. “Because we’re not leaving this boat until you tell us exactly what happened.”
I really didn’t want to talk about it. All they knew—all I wanted them to know—was that Alex and I had broken it off. Understandably, they had all been surprised when I told them, and then sympathetic when it became apparent that the whole thing was bumming me the fuck out. But now I was going to have to spill the beans and tell them the details. And any sympathy they might have had for me was going to go right out the window.
“We thought things were going really well between you guys.” Chase nudged me gently. “And we really liked her.”
“Even though she’s a card shark,” Sawyer added helpfully.
“But a really cute card shark,” Chase amended.
Sawyer nodded.
“She’s gorgeous, smart, focused, and about a thousand times out of your league,” Chase continued. “So what did you do to fuck it up?”
“I was an asshole,” I said bluntly. I knew I was going to have to tell them eventually—they weren’t the kind of guys to make threats lightly, and I had no doubt that they would stay out here on the lake for days if they wanted to. So I took a deep breath and told them everything.
They didn’t take it well.
“Did you really think that she was with you because of your name and your family?” Sawyer asked, his mouth hanging open.
“No,” I said, shamefaced. “Yes. Maybe. No.”
“I hope not.” Sawyer crossed his arms. “Because that’s some bullshit right there.”
“I know,” I agreed. “But I was mad, and you know my dad—”
“Yeah, we do,” Chase agreed. “But we also know Alex. There’s no way she would have used your father’s connections to help her out at work. Not without telling you. She’s just not that kind of girl.”
“I barely know her,” I reminded them. “We barely know her.”
Both Sawyer and Chase stared at me.
“Seriously?” Sawyer asked. “That’s the excuse you’re going with?”
They were right. It was just an excuse. And a bad one.
“You’re a fucking asshole.” Chase threw several worms at me.
I didn’t even try to duck, and one of them ending up in my shirt pocket, squirming around. I fished it out and dropped it in the water, where there was a small frenzy of splashing as the fish all lunged for it.
“Huh,” Sawyer observed. “I guess the fish are around. Maybe they were just allergic to your bullshit excuses.”
“I told you what happened,” I argued, but Sawyer shook his head.
“So what?” he asked. “You told us that you fucked up. And dude, you really did.”
I slumped forward. “I know.”
“But it happened,” Sawyer continued. “You made a mistake.”
“A big mistake,” Chase added. “Huge.”
“I get it,” I snapped at him.
“Enormous,” he tried once more, shutting up when I glared at him.
“What are you going to do about it?” Sawyer demanded.
I didn’t have an answer.
“She deserves better,” I told them.
They snorted. “Try again.”
What was I going to do about it?
I loved Alex.
And I was being a coward. Was I willing to lose her because I couldn’t get my shit together? Because I was too scared to admit that I was wrong, because I was too scared to admit that my father still controlled my life in ways I wasn’t comfortable with?
No.
The answer came to me clearly and without any hesitation.
“Take me back to the shore,” I ordered Sawyer, who was in charge of the boat.
He looked at me, his hand sitting lazily on the engine.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because I need to go find Alex and need to go find her right fucking now,” I told him.
A smile broke out across his face.
“Finally,” he said. “We were hoping you’d get your head out of your ass sooner rather than later.”
“Before you ruined the rest of this trip!” Chase agreed.
The boat’s engine roared to life and we were soon speeding back to the shore. We still had a good thirty-minute hike back to the campsite where the car was, but the moment my feet hit dry land, I was off and running.
The running didn’t last, but I kept up a steady pace, with the guys keeping up behind me. None of us talked. I was a man on a mission and nothing was going to slow me down.
But when we got to the campsite, I saw the one thing that could completely stop me in my tracks.
Alex.
She was here. At the campsite.
I blinked, unsure if I was hallucinating due to heat stroke or too much beer on the lake. But no, it was here. She was here. She was really here.
And she looked incredible.
With her hair in soft waves across her shoulders, everything about her felt like home. Like everything I had ever imagined a home could be. She looked warm and welcoming in her plaid shirt and snug jeans and clearly brand-new hiking boots.
It was pretty clear that she had never gone hiking or camping or done anything as outdoorsy as this. And yet she was here. She had come to find me.
I heard the guys come to a halt behind me.
“Alex!” they both greeted her, pushing past me to hug her. “About fucking time.”
Alex looked at me over Sawyer’s shoulder and gave me a small, tentative wave.
I was dirty and tired and probably smelled a lot like worms, but the minute Sawyer released her, I was taking long strides towards her.
“Hi,” she said when I reached her.
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, wanting so badly to touch her. Wanting so badly to kiss her. To show her how sorry I was. But it needed to be said first. “I was an asshole, and I never should have said those things to you.”
“I’m sorry too,” she told me. “I should have listened to you when you warned me about your father.”
“I should have explained,” I argued, but she shook her head.
“You did,” she countered. “And I should have paid attention and trusted you.”
“There’s no excuse for what I said,” I wanted her to know. “You know I don’t think that about you. You’ve worked hard for everything you have.”
She gave me a small smile. “That’s a relief,” she said. “Because I would have had to kick your ass.”
I paused. I wanted to touch her more than I wanted to breathe, but I didn’t know if it was too soon. If she wanted me back that way.
Fuck it.
I reached for her, and I kissed her the way I’d been fantasizing about during these long, lonely nights without her. Her mouth was hot on mine, and I drank her up. I had missed her scent. I had missed her taste. I had missed her.
“I’m so sorry,” I murmured against her lips. “So, so sorry.”
“Don’t do it again,” she whispered back. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too,” I told her, feeling the sadness and bitterness lift away.
“Well, this is all very touching,” Sawyer said gruffly, causing both of us to pull away from each other.
I had completely forgotten that we had an audience.
“What Sawyer is trying to say is that we should give the two of you some privacy.” Chase patted Sawyer on the arm. “Like, maybe we’ll go set up camp a mile or so away. Give you some time to talk.”
“And other things,” Sawyer added, not being subtle about it at all.
I saw Alex’s cheeks get red, and I couldn’t help laughing.
“Get out of here,” I ordered them, putting my arm around Alex. I wasn’t going to argue against privacy, especially because now that she was back in my arms, I was thinking of doing exactly what Sawyer had been insinuating.
They left the campsite, hooting and being obnoxious as they did.
Fucking friends. I was damn lucky to have them. Damn lucky that they had forced me to confront my bad attitude and even worse coping mechanisms. If it weren’t for them, I might still be pouting on the lake. I might not have realized that I needed to go to Alex.
Only to discover that she had come to me.
I looked down at her, my attention completely focused on her beautiful face.
“I missed you,” I told her, even though it had already been said. “I was on my way to go win you back, you know.”
“Really?” Alex grinned. “Glad you came to your senses.”
The sun was setting, and the moment could not have been more perfect—her warmth and softness snuggled up against me. I wanted to kiss her and kiss her and kiss her.
“I realized something,” she told me, pulling back a little so she could look up at me.
I lost myself in her eyes for a moment.
“What did you realize?” I asked, once I had found myself again.
She smiled. “I realized that my life isn’t nearly as good if you aren’t in it.”
I felt my heart swell. “I feel the same way,” I told her. “And I know that your career is your priority, and I completely support that. After all the shit I said, I don’t want you to doubt that—I want you to know that I will do everything I can to help you succeed.”