Page 108 of Fire Island
I can’t tell Evie about this now. Tonight’s supposed to be about us. About our enga?—
“Here goes.” Em nods at two figures walking toward us in the half dark, dressed like trouble with dark jeans and hoodies. I drop the bag and brace on a widened stance. Em’s built, like a Corps officer should be. We may be older, but we’re formidable.
Em folds his arms over his chest, putting on his harbormaster’s voice. “You boys lost? This gangway is for boat owners. You’re trespassing.”
Technically they’re not, but it’s my guess Em hopes they don’t know that.
They don’t respond and Emmett monitors them as they stride past, like nobody spoke to them.
I strain to see the faces under the hoodies. I can’t see anything clearly. And as much as I would love to get my hands on the low-life piece of shit who hurt Evie, now is not the time. Emmett in uniform is not the right time. He would be fired for assaulting a civilian.
No.
I’ll handle this on the island when the time comes.
The note still clutched in Emmett’s hand tells me that day isn’t too far away.
Twenty-Nine
EVIE
Cal smiles at me as he and Emmett walk through the doorway from the café to Iris’s space. The space that right now smells incredible. The aroma of whatever she’s cooking is delectable. Em’s still in his uniform, but a backpack is slung over his shoulder. “Evening, Miss Evie.”
“Hey, Em.” I can barely contain my excitement. For now, I’ve thumbed the engagement ring around my finger so the dazzling diamond my heart gave me is not on display. Iris is upstairs changing. I heard the water start, but this new sofa is too good to leave. So I stayed here, my Kindle in hand.
Cal drops beside me, dotting a kiss on my temple.
“I’m going to head upstairs and change out of these blues.” Em takes the stairs two at a time.
You go, Emmett. I’m sure the shower is big enough for two.
I look back to Cal. “You were gone a while.”
He pulls me into his side. “Yeah, found Em down there.”
I chuckle and rest my head on his shoulder. “You two are something else, you know.”
“Yeah, not too many friendships last as long as ours. But when you go through that much, you know.” He sighs and closes his eyes as his head falls to mine.
We are like an Evie-and-Cal burrito, all wrapped up in each other. Now I wish we’d stayed home, tangled in the sheets to celebrate. But we’d have had to come out of the bedroom sooner or later. Besides, Reese is at home, which makes our usual intimate life harder to pull off.
No more tables, sofas, getting tied to chairs...
“You okay? Your breathing kicked up.” He breaks away, his gaze falling to my face under a frown.
“I’m good . . . thinking about you.”
He raises a brow. “Oh yeah? What kind of thoughts were you having, mo ghràdh?”
“Well, there was this one time a grumpy lighthouse keeper tied me to a chair.”
“Fuck, baby girl.” He runs a hand through his hair, blowing out a breath.
Things escalate between us so fast?—
“Christ, now you’ve done it.” He groans as he sinks his face into my neck, engulfed by my hair.
“That all it takes, sweet man?” I whisper.
