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“Nice!” I said, seeing them.
He waded out of the water and loosened the net over the bucket that he’d bought today to hold his baitfish.
Luca’s eyes flicked to Brent and then back to me.
His brows rose questioningly.
“This is Brent,” I finally said. “Brent Cromwell, meet my fiancé, Luca Maldonado.”
“Luca?” I heard said from behind me. “I thought his name was Riel?”
I sighed, not sure I wanted to explain this all over again. And I especially didn’t want to explain it to them of all people.
They’d made the last six months fairly miserable.
If it hadn’t been for Brent coming in and getting fixed up by Dr. Cromwell, then I wouldn’t have been put into the position I’d been put in. Nor would I have had to face my teacher every day from that point forward with a guilty conscience.
Each time I looked at him, I swore he knew exactly what I’d done.
Then the incident where Luca had told me about my neighbor being questioned, and him getting shot, bit.
Sure, they’d said that the entire thing had been ‘solved’ due to a kid admitting to the murder. However, I’d still gotten a really icky feeling in the pit of my stomach that they were still somehow involved in it all.
“Name’s Luca,” Luca said as he picked up a baitfish that’d fallen out of the net and missed going into the bucket. It’d been flopping around on the sand, hoping to make it back into the ocean.
He hadn’t made it, and I almost felt sorry for the little bugger.
Dr. Cromwell didn’t say anything to Luca’s abrupt tone, nor did he leave.
I didn’t know what to do, but my man sure did.
“We’re going to fish,” Luca said, surprising me. “You’re more than welcome to come.”
Dr. Cromwell looked as if he was about to say no, but Brent beat him to replying and accepted for them both.
“Sure!” Brent grinned, his smile creepy and uncomfortable.
I groaned inwardly, shooting Luca an annoyed look.
His lips twitched as he picked up the bucket. “We’re going down to the piers. A man I met a few days ago said there was some fairly good fishing there.”
“Sounds like fun,” Brent clapped.
The loud sound made me flinch and shrink closer into Luca.
Luca caught me around the waist with his free hand and ‘helped’ me down the length of the beach.
I smiled at his possessive move but didn’t pull away, loving that he was claiming me in front of a boy that was too intent on me, and a doctor who would rather be anywhere else but where he was.
“There’s the pier.” He pointed.
“Yo, kid.”
I turned to find the captain from yesterday spraying down his boat.
I’d liked him. He’d made the trip a lot of fun, not to mention he was scarred like Luca, claiming a piece of my heart just by existing.
“Captain Mike.” Luca let go of my hand and offered it to Mike.
Mike took it, shook it, then dropped it before turning to the two men behind me.
Brent was busy eating his way through a bag of cotton candy he’d bought from a stall somewhere behind us. We’d all heard him stop, and though Cromwell had stopped, too, neither of us had.
I was honestly kind of sad that they’d caught back up.
When neither Luca nor I introduced the two men behind us to the captain, the captain ignored them despite giving them each an off-handed glance.
“Coming for another ride before you…” He trailed off as Brent, when done with his food, decided to toss his plastic bag into the water instead of into the trash can that was fifty feet away. “Go pick that up,” Captain Mike ordered.
Brent snorted and started to walk away, but quick as lightning, he had Brent by the collar and was practically throwing him into the water between his boat and one much bigger than it.
All the locals watched on with a bemused expression.
As did Luca and I.
Dr. Cromwell didn’t have a chance to even react before his brother was swimming with the fish.
“Pick it up,” Captain Mike ordered. “Do you have any fucking idea how many sea animals die on that shit? Way too fucking many, that’s for sure. Get it.”
I just sat there gaping while Brent tread water.
It was more than obvious that Captain Mike was very passionate about his gulf. We’d listened to him talk about sea life during our trip and had even witnessed him personally stop the boat and pull out three pieces of large plastic during our trip the other night.
Not that Brent had known that or anything.
But still.
I had a feeling the kid would tread water forever if he didn’t get the trash.
Which he did… eventually.
All the while, Dr. Cromwell glared daggers at Captain Mike.
“Just fucking get the trash, Brent,” Dr. Cromwell hissed.
I cringed at how pissed he sounded.
Brent did, and Captain Mike even offered him his boat’s ladder to exit the water.
