“Don’t move,” I say. “I want you naked and flushed just like you are when I get rid of whoever this is.”
I pull on my shorts and head out of the bedroom, still barefoot, sweat cooling on my skin. My pulse hasn’t fully recovered, but something in my gut is already tensing.
I get to the door and look through the peephole.
Jake.
I doubt I’d open the door for anyone else in the galaxy, honestly, not after that romp with Emily.
I open the door.
Jake’s blond hair’s damp like he’s been pacing the beach, and he’s breathing hard, as if he sprinted here. His shirt is clinging to him, stained with sweat, and his eyes…
His eyes are raw.
“Hey,” he says, his voice raspy. “Can I come in?”
I stare at him. Anyone else I’d tell to get lost.
But this is Jake.
I brought him here. I kept his secrets for twenty years. I could never turn him away.
I step aside without a word.
He walks in, looking around like he doesn’t want to be here, like he doesn’t know where to put his hands.
I shut the door behind us and lean against it.
“You okay, man?”
He eyes me up and down. “Fuck. I know that look when I see it. Where is she?”
I gesture toward the bedroom.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. We’re good. And we’re done. For now, anyway.”
Jake nods and runs his hand through his hair. “Good. At least I haven’t fucked upyourlife.”
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Brett,” he says softly, with more emotion than I’m ready for. Then he stares at me. “Youknow.”
I’m not sure what gave it away. Apparently my “just fucked” look has a tell.
“I do,” I say. “But I didn’t until we got here, to the island. He never told me, Jake. If I’d known…” I shake my head. “I don’t know what I would have done. I had to keep you safe.”
He nods. “I get it. But damn… I’m pretty sure I just fucked uphislife.”
I raise my eyebrows. “How?”
“I kind of told him…” He rubs his forehead. “I kind of told him that I felt something for him back then too.”
I can’t help a gasp. “Saywhat?”
“I know, I know. Marnie. The baby. Everything. I loved her, man. Hell, Ikilledfor her.”
