Page 121 of The Bluffing Game

SAGE

I sit on the beach for what feels like days, but I know it is only hours. The sun is setting, and I look down at my phone. I have several missed calls from Rosie, Lucia, Izzy, Dalton, my mom, Jimmy the Fish, and even from my dad. So many people want to talk to me, and yet I don’t want to talk to anyone. I’m still processing everything. I can hardly believe it.

“Jimmy the Fish is my dad,” I say out loud.

Never in a million years would I have believed that Jimmy was my dad. But now, it kind of made sense. All the times I saw him staring at me, the questions he asked, the gruffness, the way he tried to lend a listening ear, even though I could tell it made him extremely uncomfortable.

“Jimmy the fucking Fish is my dad.” I laugh hysterically. I can’t quite accept it.

I feel sad, knowing that Dalton knew. The man that I had fallen for, that I wanted to trust so badly, yet again held something back from me. Yet again, he lied. I feel such sadness and despair. I know he thought he was doing it for me, and yet that doesn’t make it any better.

I pick up grains of sand with my fingers and let them fall back to the ground. I almost want to run into the water with my clothes on, but I know how uncomfortable they’ll feel if they get drenched with water. I stand up, then go down to the shore and pick up shells. Pretty white shells glisten up at me, and I wonder if I’ll be able to find a pearl.

“That would be cool.”

“Sage.”

A deep voice sounds behind me, and I look back nervously, worried that it’s Parker. But instead, I see Brett. He looks uncomfortable as he stands there, and I try not to roll my eyes. He’s the absolute last person I want to see.

“What’s up, Brett?” I say, and he steps toward me stiffly. “Did Dalton send you to find me?”

“No.” He shakes his head. “I don’t even think Dalton knows I’m here.” He looks at me. “Apparently, you found out the truth?”

“Apparently,” I say. “Thanks for telling me it was some rando man with a family and kids.”

“Jimmy thought it would be smarter. I didn’t want to lie. I actually hated it. I found it very hard. I wanted to apologize to you because I don’t like that I did that.”

“Why are you so fucking stiff, Brett?” I see him recoil slightly. “Like, what is your actual fucking problem? You act like a fucking robot. You’re not in the fucking military anymore.”

He stares at me and nods slowly. “I think as a civilian, it’s hard for you to understand where I’m coming from, and I don’t blame you, but …”

“You sound like a robot. What is your problem?”

“I’m not a robot.” He shakes his head. “I just like to separate and compartmentalize my life. There’s business, and then there’s the personal, and you’re part of business.”

“I am?”

“I work for Dalton, and anything concerning him is business.”

“Okay, so that’s why you treat Rosie like she doesn’t exist, but still watch her with your eyes? Because she’s business too.”

“She’s not business,” he says and presses his lips together. “Anyway, I’m not here to talk about your sister.”

“So, what are you here to talk about?”

“I’m going out of town, and I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I just wanted to offer my services if you were to need anything.”

“I don’t need anything from you.” I pause. Because actually, there are two things I need from him. I just don’t know whether or not I should ask him.

“I can tell you want to say something. Anything you say right now, if you want to keep it between us, I will do that.”

“But Dalton is your boss.”

“He is, but I think I owe you one.”

He gives me a half-smile for the first time in my life. I realize that he’s handsome. I see what Rosie sees in him, but I’m not going to tell him that.

“I want to take down Parker,” I say.