Page 81 of Hate Wrecked

I nodded. “Well, yeah, originally it was training, but Asa wanted to keep me on permanently. His wife’s daughters spend a lot of time there, so he likes having a heavier team.”

Ripper grinned. “Ah, yes, the daughters. The oldest looks just like Desi, doesn’t she?” His eyes said everything, and I wanted to walk across the room and pop him right in his jaw. But I didn’t.

I smiled. “Yeah. She does. And I’d watch what you say. You know who her father is,” I warned, leaning against the doorframe. The guys joined in unison, sayingoooooh, andwatch it, Ripper.

Ripper laughed. “Yeah, yeah. Maybe I oughta work for him. Might jumpstart my career,” he pondered aloud.

I shook my head and left the break room and their conversation behind.

I didn’t make it out of the building, though. My boss caught me before I walked out the front door, telling me I was needed back at Asa’s house for a second shift. Things were getting wild.

* * *

The party raged inside, and I took up post in the garden, watching the waves roll in the ocean, making sure no one snuck up to the house from the beach. I placed the paperback I wanted to loan Riley on the bench, and her necklace burned hot in my pocket. It was carefully wrapped in tissue paper with a red ribbon around it. Tucked inside was a note on parchment paper.

I would leave it all for you.

It was a truth I swallowed with hope and shame. Shame for wanting it. Hope for her wanting it too. But it was the truest thing I had ever written, and I hoped to give it to her the next time I saw her.

I didn’t expect to hear her voice coming from the party, but when I did, I turned back to the house. I saw her there in a red dress—the fabric hugged every curve, and I could see from the distance that her lips were red and her dark hair was wild. Her mother kissed her on the cheek, and I watched them talk. I hoped she would look for me, and after she took a drink from one of the ladies holding trays around the pool, I saw her glance around. When her eyes found me, she smiled and walked away from the party.

I knew Barry was somewhere inside, and the fact that she was choosing to come find me filled my heart with hope. I didn’t feel pity for Barry. I knew he thought he was better than me, thought he was a better man because of his flashy car and his name in lights. But all I saw when I looked at him was someone who would hopefully be washed up in a decade or so. I didn’t see anyone worth idolizing.

When Riley reached me, she looked down at the bench and smiled. “What’s this?”

I stepped closer but stopped myself from reaching out to her. “Our next book to read.”

Riley flipped through the pages. “We haven’t done that in a while. I thought you didn’t want to anymore.”

For years, we had danced back and forth. Friendship, then more. Touching, teasing, then weeks without a word. I had never taken drugs, but I imagined wanting her was what it felt like. I lied to myself often, telling myself the last taste was enough—that I could give her up. And then she would be in front of me, and I would be desperate to reach out, to tempt fate, to tempt my name and my reputation for just one more hit, one more hint of her sweetness.

It was dark where we stood, and I wanted nothing more than to look into her eyes, but she looked out into the ocean as she set the book back down. I reached out, brushing my fingers along hers as I looked out into the same ocean. “I do still want to share stories with you.”

She brushed her fingers back, brushing against mine. “I didn’t expect to see you here. Weren’t you off?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. I thought you were staying at your dad’s tonight.”

“I wanted to be here in the morning,” she said, glancing at me.

“Why?” I asked.

She looked at me. “Because I knew you’d be here in the morning.” She moved toward me, and though my body begged me not to, I stepped back.

“What?” she asked.

I looked up at the house, at the party raging on. “I meant what I said at my place.”

She nodded, then took my hand, leading me down to the edge of the garden, toward the ocean.

* * *

She was quiet as we walked toward the water, her hand in mine. When she turned toward me, wrapping her arms around my body, I held her close, kissing the top of her head.

“What would we do?” she asked.

I swallowed. “I would transfer.”

“And be with another family every day. Another family demanding long hours, an erratic schedule.” She pulled away. “You’re here now after working this morning. Who’s to say the next assignment won’t be like this? Or worse?”

---