Page 78 of The Bosun

22

Remy

A soft knockon my bedroom door had me perking up and sitting up on my bed. “Come in.”

My dad cracked the door open and pressed his face into the small opening. “There’s someone at the door for you.”

“For me?” I questioned. No one ever came by to see me. Ever. At least, not since I was in high school.

“The one and only, and you shouldn’t leave them waiting for too long. Otherwise, they might leave.”

My brows knitted together, racking my brain on who it could possibly be. Maybe it was one of the guys from the station, but why wouldn’t they call before coming over? “Who is it?”

“You’ll have to come to the door to find out.” The hint of mischievousness in his tone had me up and off my bed in a nanosecond. What was my old man up to?

I thought he might have let whoever it was inside or he would have waited for me at the door, but when I walked by the living room, my dad was reclined back in his chair with a smirk on his face.

When I hesitated to open the door, he yelled. “Hurry up and find out who it is.”

Doing as I was told, I slowly opened the front door. Whoever it was stood with her back to the door and her long black hair in a ponytail. For a brief moment, I thought of Stella and how I wished it was her, but she didn’t know where I lived, so I knew it couldn’t be her.

“Can I help you?” I asked as I swung open the screen door.

The woman turned at my voice, and my knees nearly went out from under me when Stella stood there staring back at me. Her big brown eyes scanned me from head to toe, and once they were done, they were filled with unshed tears.

Unable to move or speak, it seemed, I took in every inch of her body. Her eyes were red-rimmed as if she’d been crying, and her nose was tipped with pink, but she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She wore a light blue sundress that showed each and every one of her curves. Her breasts seemed larger than when I last saw those perky globes with dark nipples that I loved to suck on so damn much. Her skin was a beautiful bronze that glowed in the sunlight.

Her hands went to her hips. “Are you only going to stare at my boobs, or are you going to say something?”

“Stella,” I croaked out and had to clear my throat. “What are you doing here?” I wanted to hit myself with the heel of my hand at my stupid question, but before I could take back my words, she spoke.

“I came for two reasons, but before I tell you, is there somewhere we can talk in private?”

She wanted to talk in private? I didn’t really want my dad to eavesdrop on our conversation, even though I’d likely tell him all about it later, so I knew we needed to go somewhere else.

“Are you hungry?”

“No.” Her face actually looked like it turned a slight shade of green at my question.

“Okay, let me grab my keys, and I’ll take us somewhere private to talk.” I held up one finger. “I’ll be right back.”

I sprinted through the house to get to my room. Slipping my feet into a pair of flip-flops, I grabbed my phone and the keys to my truck and ran back, waving to my dad as I went by. I was afraid if I was gone too long, she might leave.

“Let’s take my truck.” I pointed to the F-150 that I’d had since high school. It was old as dirt, but it ran like a rock star.

Stella followed along beside me. I opened the passenger door for her and waited until she had her seatbelt on before I closed the door and hightailed it around the front to slide in behind the steering wheel.

I thought maybe she’d talk while I drove, but instead, Stella looked out the passenger window with a death grip on her phone. Luckily, where I was taking her wasn’t far because I was dying to know why she’d sought me out. Pulling up to the public beach, I turned to look at her.

“Is this okay?”

When she started to open the passenger door, I assumed she was fine with the location I’d chosen. I wasn’t fast enough to open her door or help her out, which irritated me. I wanted to say something but held my tongue.

Once her feet hit the sand, Stella kicked off her sandals and held them by their straps with one hand as she headed in a direction where it was less crowded. I let her pick the spot, and once she sat down in the sand, I moved to sit beside her. My pinky finger itched to reach out and touch her silky skin, but I didn’t give in to temptation. Instead, I waited until she said whatever she came here to say.

Her gaze stayed on the tide coming in and out. Never once looking at me. “I need to know why you ended things with me. Even if it’s awful, I need to hear it.”

“That’s why you came here?” She could have called or texted, but I hadn’t answered those questions when she’d asked before, so maybe she knew I couldn’t deny her in person. Even though I hadn’t responded to her texts, it still killed me when she stopped contacting me. I knew I’d fucked up royally, only now she was here in the flesh. Now was my chance to tell her about my dark past. Would she look at me differently after she knew how damaged I was?

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