Page 54 of Coastal Runaway

“Hey, Keegs, it’s Joe.”

Joe was our family lawyer; my dad had him on retainer for as long as I could remember. He’s done his fair share of bailing my siblings out of sticky situations, but this was the first time I’ve ever had a call with him. Until now the only time we ever spoke was polite conversation at corporate events or a brief hello when he was leaving my father’s office.

“We’re going to take care of this,” Joe explained, and I nodded even though he couldn’t see me through the phone, “I already have the team scrubbing the internet to have the pictures taken down. Mr. Sinclair will be served with a restraining order and a lawsuit for non-consensual distribution of intimate images. The boy will be lucky if he isn’t expelled.”

I scoffed, “don’t worry, his daddy will pay to make this all go away.”

“Don’t be so sure. They may have money, but we have more.”

“Okay.” My voice sounded so small that I didn’t even recognize it

“If he continues to harass you then we can also file criminal charges for revenge porn. We might not have complete evidence, but a mark like that on his record would certainly cause some damage.”

“Hopefully it doesn’t come to that,” I sighed, “and Joe? Can we not tell my dad about this? At least not yet?”

“Let’s just get this handled, okay?”

“Okay. Thanks Joe.” I hung up and collapsed to cry into my pillow.

Once the tears dried, I dragged myself to the media room and locked the door. I curled myself into a ball with the intention to watch sappy rom-coms for the rest of the day. One, by one, Nolan, Aiden, and Maeve tried knocking, but I didn’t open the door. I couldn’t face them. No matter how hard I tried, I seemed to always find myself making the worst decisions possible.

Another knock sounded from the door. I ignored it.

“Keegan, let me in,” Luke pleaded in a gentle tone, “please, baby.”

I unwound myself from the couch and tentatively opened the door. I knew that he would be ashamed of me, but I also knew that I should face him. I opened the door and he surrounded me.

I crumpled into his chest, bursting into tears as we collapsed to the ground. He pulled me into his lap and tucked my head under his chin, rocking back and forth cradling me.

“Shhhhh, it’s okay. I’m right here,” he whispered, peppering kisses on the top of my head.

I choked on a sob. “I’m sorry.”

His brows furrowed, “you have nothing to be sorry for.”

“I’m so stupid for sending the pictures in the first place.”

“No you’re not. You were in a committed relationship, and he took that and exploited it. That’s on him, not you.”

I nodded my head and let Luke scoop me up as he stood and headed for the couch. He placed me on his lap and grabbed the remote without letting me go.

He scrolled through all of the streaming apps before pressing play. At the sound of the familiar intro music I tipped my head up. I hadn’t dared watch this movie since the day that I walked out on my life in Connecticut.

“You remembered.”

“I could never forget.” He kissed my lips gently, “no matter how stupid it is.”

A laugh bubbled out of me. Being surrounded by Luke’s signature smell, I could feel the tension lifting. Luke always had the power to put me at ease. It was wonderful and terrifying at the same time. Pushing my fears farther down, I settled into him and we watched She’s All That just like we had so many times before.

We joked and laughed the entire time, taking a few breaks in the middle for him to stick his tongue down my throat, and as the credits rolled, Luke shook his head, “I forgot how cheesy this movie is.”

“Don’t act like you don’t love it,” I giggled.

“What now?” He asked.

I stood, stretching my arms above my head, “hmmmm, I’m starving.”

“Chinese is already on the way.” He always had a way of knowing exactly what I needed.