Page 66 of Hearts Adrift
“I want to fix this. Just … J-Just tell me what to do.”
I give up searching behind the bar and grip the counter with a sigh. “You can start by sashaying your way out of town and taking thatcircusoutside with you.”
“Finn …”
“Or maybe you can just admit this isn’t about me and my family’s safety. This is about you and yourguilt.”
He flinches like I hit him. “I’m not asking forgiveness. Just a chance to clean up this mess I made.”
“Maybe I don’t want you to be the one to clean it up.” I come out from behind the bar, shoving my way past him. “I bet Luke has a charger in the front podium.”
“Then I’ll help from a distance,” decides Theo through a choked and desperate laugh. “I don’t care how much you hate me right now. I’m not gonna let you and your family suffer for the mistakes I made in my weakness.”
I stop at the front podium to tell him where exactly he can shove the shattered remains of his so-called heart.
But then I see someone at the door.
Eyes I know by heart. Unmistakable runway model cheekbones. Leather jacket. Hat and shades hanging from his grip, just taken off.
“R-River,” I choke out.
He’s windswept and flushed from the heat, his eyes on me from across the dim, narrow lobby of the nightclub.
I have no idea how he found me—and only a handful of seconds to wonder before Theo is at my side, his eyes upon River. “Oh, wow,” he breathes, completely caught by surprise. Maybe a bit star struck, too. Theo was the more enthusiastic movie-watcher between us, after all.
River reads the tension in the room like a script. “Am I interrupting you two?” Theo says, “Yep,” at the same time I say, “Nope.” River frowns. “Glad to clear that up.” Then he crosses the room and stops in front of me. “You okay?”
“Areyou?” I bring my hands to his arms, which seems to surprise him. “It’s totally fucking nuts out there. How did you even get here?”
He studies my hands for a second, as if grateful they’re there. “Snuck outta the bungalow—yep, it’s surrounded by news crews, as is your house—and after a call from Brooke who got a call from some other dude—Skippy, I think?—I was told where you might be and came as fast as I could.”
“What is it with this jacket, hat, and shades outfit?” I ask in disbelief. “Who are you? Clark Kent? Seriously, no one recognized you?”
“I feel terrible.” He gently strokes the bangs off of my forehead. “This is my fault. I brought this down on you and your family. I—”
“Don’t go taking all the blame just yet,” I tell him, then twist my sharpened eyes onto Theo behind us, standing at the doorway to the club picking at his fingernails.
Rage fills River’s eyes. “You did this?” I feel his arms tightening beneath my grip. “You fucking did this, Theo?”
I blink. “You knew who this was?”
“Saw the framed pictures in your house. One in the den downstairs, the other in the game room,” he growls.
I blink. I suppose that’s thanks to Heather, the real one who never let go of my ex.
Theo gasps. “Y-You know who I am? By … name?”
I turn to shoot Theo a look. He sounds morehonoredRiver knows his name than he is concerned about being thesecondjaw River’s fist might meet this month—not that anyone’s counting except maybe the tabloids.
I quickly put a hand to River’s chest. “Not Theo. The guy he’s seeing. He’s been stalking me.”
River’s eyebrows twitch. He eyes Theo. “Really?”
“Not seeing anymore,” Theo quickly corrects me. “He isgone. Broke up with him the second I saw the article.”
River looks like he’s literally chewing on his words, a storm cloud raging over his eyes. Then at once it dissipates, and he lowers his gaze. “I shouldn’t be one to point fingers. This wouldn’t be happening at all if it weren’t for me …”
“Not that again,” I groan, turning back to him.
