Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

Ash

I hit the Call button to Rick's cell for the third time in a row and paced up and down the dock in front of the resort.

"Fucking pick up," I muttered.

Brooks, Skylar, Cash, and Poppy had all blasted me with questions the second Sawyer hung up. I'd told them what I could—which wasn't much. But thank fuck I could reassure them that Sawyer wasn't hurt.

Then I headed outside to make what was sure to be an unpleasant call.

If Rick ever actually answered it.

I warned him about Julian, but he didn't listen. He'd cared more about tips and reviews than safety, and this was the shit he reaped.

Acid ate at my stomach. Sawyer's accusing tone echoed in my head. Should I have tried harder to change the DreamBoats culture? Could I have made Rick listen? Maybe leaving was the coward's way out.

I hit the Call button again. Four times is a charm? Or a desperate cry for help? Something.

"What?" Rick growled into my ear.

"What the fuck, Rick? Julian hit another boat and took off?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Julian hit our dock. It was unfortunate, and he's been put on suspension."

"Come on," I said. "There were witnesses."

"It's their word against mine, and since they're a bunch of drunk partiers, and we don't even have a tour on the books tonight…"

I started shaking, red beginning to cloud my vision. Rick didn't even care that people had been hurt. That Sawyer could have been hurt!

"You cannot bullshit your way out of this! Sawyer was there."

"Sawyer?"

"My boyfriend!" I blurted.

"Your what now?"

"I'm bi. Whatever. That's not important. Sawyer is one of the drivers with Swallow Adventures."

"Ah." There was a knowing tone. "All this nonsense with you running to Swallow Cove is beginning to make more sense."

I shook my head. He couldn't see it, but my rejection of his words was too strong to resist. "Wrong. No. We didn't get together until after. We're not really—" I stopped short. "That's not the point. The point is that Sawyer is a very sober, very responsible driver. He assisted in the water rescue. He's a reliable witness."

"Well, that's unfortunate," Rick said.

"Unfortunate? Seriously? Julian plowed into a boat. No, not Julian. The random drunk guy he let drive the boat?—"

" What ?"

I'd caught Rick by surprise with that one. Apparently Julian hadn't been entirely honest about what happened.

"He let a drunk asshole drive, and they injured someone and ran, Rick. It's a crime . He could have killed people."

"No. That didn't happen." His voice was firm. Stubborn. "None of it happened because Julian hit our dock yesterday, and so we canceled our tour tonight. They weren't on the water. Couldn't have happened."

"That'll never hold up against reliable witness testimony."

"Then there better not be any reliable witness testimony."

"Rick—"

"Ash, listen," he said shortly. "This is the business that keeps your mother in the lifestyle she wants. The accident you're describing? It could shut us down. Hell, it could get us sued. You don't want to be responsible for that."

I sucked in a breath. "You unbelievable asshole."

"I am what I am. But it's the truth. You're so close to this reliable witness? Get him to change his tune."

"And everyone else on his boat?"

"They were all drinking, and they're tourists. Here one day, gone the next. I'm not worried about them. Just get Sawyer to recant, and everything will be fine."

"I can't do that."

"You can?—"

"You're not hearing me," I growled. "I won't do it."

His voice went soft. "Careful, Ash. The choices you make could have consequences."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a fact."

"Well, here's another fact. I'm not turning on Sawyer. There's nothing you can say, no threat or blackmail or fucking bribe that will change my mind. Got it?"

"Yeah," he said flatly. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Click.

He hung up, probably pissed as hell, but I didn't care.

Sawyer would never do the wrong thing, even if I asked. And I wouldn't ask. Because to ask Sawyer to do that would be to destroy everything I loved about him.

And I did.

Getting that call tonight. Finding out how close he'd come to an accident. Hearing the anger and fear in his voice.

It put everything into perspective.

We weren't just fucking around. At least I wasn't. And I never had been.

I was in love with my best friend. I had been since the first angry kiss he'd taken from me. I had been since the impulsive kiss I'd laid on him.

I had been…since I lost him.

Since high school.

Since before I understood I could love him.

Since forever, maybe.

I loved Sawyer West.

His cruiser finally approached the dock. My knees went weak with relief.

"Finally," Cash said behind me.

I turned. His friends had all come out at some point. They all watched me with wary eyes. How much had they heard? Did they know the deception Rick was trying to pull off?

Did they hear me call Sawyer my boyfriend?

Fuck it. None of that mattered.

My focus zeroed in on the boat, and as Sawyer came into dock, I darted forward to grab the lines and help him tie up.

Cash helped the guests disembark.

Brooks and Skylar stood a short way up the walk, checking in with them and offering their apologies for the ugly side of lake life they'd had to witness.

Poppy came up beside me, slipping an arm around my waist, while I waited for Sawyer to get free of his responsibilities so I could talk to him.

Her quiet support was really kind, but it wasn't what I needed most.

I needed Sawyer. Needed to touch him. To speak to him. To kiss him.

To just reassure myself that Rick and Julian's disgusting recklessness and deceit hadn't touched him.

The tourists didn't talk much. There was no laughter. They were all stone-cold sober, despite coming from a booze cruise. They all went inside quickly, seeming eager to leave the memory of the cruise behind them.

Then it was just Sawyer.

I took two steps forward, heart lurching. Poppy's arm dropped away from me.

He looked down, gaze connecting with mine. My heart hammered as I watched him hop down onto the dock in front of me.

His angry words returned to me.

He was just doing what you all do, right? Party on the lake. Keep your passengers happy, no matter what it takes. And fuck the safety of everyone else out here.

"I'm so sorry," I blurted. "I didn't know— I would never have?—"

Sawyer pulled me into a tight hug. "No, I'm sorry. I was freaking and I took it out on you."

"You weren't wrong. That place is fucked up. My stepdad?—"

"It's not your fault." He squeezed me tighter. "It's theirs."

He started to pull back, but I couldn't make myself let go.

"Group hug!" Cash cried, and then there were limbs and bodies everywhere as they all pressed in around us.

Hugging us both.

"We're glad you're okay," Brooks said.

"So glad," Skylar added. "If there's anything we can do, you let us know."

Sawyer sagged into my hold. "It was so fucked up. They collided with that boat and just kept going."

"Despicable human beings," Brooks snarled.

I couldn't fault his logic there. Bile rose in my throat. I'd once been one of them, after all.

"I'm sorry," I repeated.

One by one, the friends pulled back, and I finally let Sawyer break my hold on him. He looked into my eyes.

"I shouldn't have said you were like them. I know you're not, Ash."

"There was a time you called me reckless too." I swallowed hard. "Maybe I was. Maybe I could have caused something like this?—"

"No," he said firmly. "Julian wasn't even driving. He let a drunk passenger take the wheel."

"Jesus," Cash said.

"You'd never do that," Sawyer insisted. "I know you well enough for that."

"I wouldn't. I knew Julian was a problem. I tried to tell Rick, but…I guess I didn't try hard enough."

"At least you tried," Poppy said, rubbing my back.

"You left, even though it meant friction with your family," Skylar added. "That couldn't have been easy."

One by one, Sawyer's friends comforted me. Even though I wasn't the one who deserved comfort.

"Are you really okay?" I rubbed his arms once again to reassure myself he was in one piece.

"I'm okay," he said. "But your stepdad is gonna be pretty unhappy about my statement to the police."

"I know. He's an asshole. He's got a whole coverup planned."

Sawyer's eyebrows flew up. "Seriously?"

"Ash called him while we waited for you to get back," Cash said.

"He's erased the record of their tour. Probably bribed or threatened the tourists onboard. If one of them was driving, he had leverage. And he's saying Julian hit the dock yesterday to explain the damage to the boat."

"No one will believe that," Poppy said. "Will they?"

"Men with money have a way of being convincing," Skylar said with a frown creasing his brow.

"He wanted me to talk you into changing your statement," I admitted. "You're probably the most reliable witness."

"Everyone onboard?—"

"Was drinking."

"The victims, though. They also saw it."

"Shaken and rattled. Possibly also drinking. Rick will cast as much doubt as possible on the situation."

Sawyer clenched his jaw. "I'm not changing my story."

"Of course not. I told him you wouldn't."

Sawyer sighed. "We should talk."

My palms grew clammy and I swiped them over my shorts. It never ended well when someone said that, did it? What if this whole accident had reminded Sawyer of why we shouldn't be together?

"Okay," I said hesitantly. "Now?"

Sawyer nodded. His friends took a hint, saying their goodbyes and heading back toward the resort.

"Saw, before you say anything?—"

"I just need to get this off my chest. Witnessing that accident made me realize?—"

"I love you," I blurted out.

His eyes widened.

"I know we're supposed to be friends who fuck around," I said quickly. "Maybe not even that after this reminder of how shitty my family's business is. I should have done more to change it, not just left. I should have reported them or something. I don't know. I'm sorry, Sawyer. I just needed you to know. You mean so much to me, and you scared the shit out of me tonight, honestly, and I-I?—"

"Love me," he repeated.

I bit my bottom lip. "Yeah. I do."

He stared at me, not saying anything, and I started to babble. "I know we've got a complicated history, and I know that if you don't trust me, if you can't, then I've no one but myself to blame for it. I just?—"

"I do trust you, Ash. That's what I wanted to tell you. The past is the past. It's over. I want to put it behind us."

"But?" I asked, sensing there was more.

"No but. And," he said. "I trust you and I love you too."

My breath caught. "You mean that?"

"You aren't the only one who got some perspective from this crazy-awful night." He licked his lips. "I know we're still figuring shit out. Like…we've been together a really short time."

"Yeah, but it's so intense, and I've cared for so long."

"That's exactly it," Sawyer said. "My feelings for you have always been strong, Ash. For a long time, I told myself they were hate. Maybe they even were. But once they shifted, they didn't get any less intense. If I'm not going to hate you, then…I think I have to love you."

I laughed at the absurdity of it.

At the truth of it.

Then I grabbed his face and kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Life was precious. Fragile.

Sawyer hadn't been hurt tonight. He'd been the rescuer, not the victim. But it was a reminder that the lake was dangerous, fate was fickle, and you never knew when you'd be robbed of a second chance.

I didn't want to waste another second of time that could be spent loving my best friend. My other half.

Even when we'd been at odds, we'd been opposite sides of the same coin.

But as Sawyer's fingers curled into my hair and he kissed me with a passion that matched mine, I was so damn glad we were on the same side now.

"I need you," I murmured against his lips.

"Me too. Come on. Let's get out of here."