Page 83 of Hate Wrecked

I blew out a breath, almost laughing. “So that’s what you’re calling it now. Two minutes ago,there is no one else. Now this.” I wanted to walk away, down the ocean. But I looked her in the eye, pleading. “Riley, don’t do this.”

She didn’t get a chance to respond. Behind her, Barry walked toward us, Desi and Asa trailing. And the rest of the security team—co-workers, friends.

Asa spoke first, his arms crossed. Once again, Riley shielded me. “Rowan, is there something we need to know about?” He nodded toward Riley.

Her mother spoke next, an echo. A ghost. “Riley? Is there something you need to tell us?”

“It's nothing. I don’t know how this got so blown out of proportion.” Her voice was childlike, passive. I didn’t know if it was for my benefit or her own.

“Well,” Barry started, condescension dripping. “I came out here to see my girlfriend, and I caught her being taken advantage of by the help. Tell me I’m wrong here. I would love to hear it.”

“You’re wrong,” she said. And I was proud of her for looking him in the eye and telling him no; she wouldn’t let herself be humiliated in front of her mother and stepfather.

Even if it hurt. Even if it meant this died.

“Then what is this?” Asa asked, looking between us.

“Nothing. He’s just a friend, nothing more.”

“You can’t be friends with them,” her mother said, and it felt like a blow. It was a lie. Her ex-husband and his bodyguards had been friends over the years. He even got one of his bodyguards a role in a movie, leading to a thriving career.

These were the rules ofthishouse. We were sentinels, unmoving. But I knew she had noticed us. She had seen it for a while. This was a show. A show for Asa.

“Maybe you can’t,” Riley laughed. “But I know my limits. I know self-control, unlike everyone else in this fucking house.”

Asa cleared his throat. “Regardless, this won’t do. I’m sorry, Rowan. I don’t know what is going on here, but you can’t keep working here. It’ll be distracting, and we need to maintain a professional environment.”

I nodded my head, and I saw Barry smiling from the corner of my eye.

“I understand.”

Riley’s mother spoke next, stepping forward. “You understand why he has to do that, right Riley?”

Riley scoffed, stepping away from me. “I don’t fucking care. Do whatever you want with him,” she grabbed Barry’s hand and led him away from us. She didn’t look back.

Everything inside of me broke as I watched her dark hair swaying, her hand in Barry’s, the way he looked back at me like he had won. But he hadn’t. Because the version of her she was with him was paper-thin—a fragment of who she was.

My co-workers stepped to my side, ready to escort me away, but I called out to Riley. I was done with the games, done with the back and forth. I didn’t want her to show up drunk at my window again, thinking we could continue our dance.

“Riley.” My voice was strained.

She looked back, eyes vacant.

“I meant what I said.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the tissue paper. Her eyes rested on it, then came back up to me.

She nodded. “I know. And I made it.”

The others around us were quiet, trying to figure out what we were saying. I just looked into her eyes until she finally answered, and when she did, I dropped the tissue paper in the sand. “Not you.”

I WANT TO HEAR YOU

ROWAN

I walk to the shore,my clothes in my hand. I feel burdened and free all at once. A combination of regret and lust.

I’m hard. Fuck.

Riley doesn’t follow me. And I imagine she’ll avoid me for a while. I dress in silence; the waves lapping at my feet, a slight drizzle of rain still coming down.

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