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“Go, Shiloh. Before I change my mind.”
“So this game?”
“Is not your business,” he snaps, his agitation obvious. “And don’t fucking breathe a word about what you saw out here either, or else we will pay a visit to your mother.”
I step backward, away from him. “All three of you are fucked.”
“Get on the boat, Shiloh.”
I climb over the hull and shove the key into the hole. I don’t take my eyes off him. Not when I put the gear into reverse, and not until I am boosting away from the dock so fast it is like I was never there.
Nothing makes sense. Not why they captured me, not what I would catch them mumbling about, and definitely not what they made me feel. They are confusing, as well as confused, if I guessed right. I drop down my speed when the small waves on the surface of the ocean white cap maunder between the breaks. The closer I get to the mainland, the more I have the urge to turn back. Something isn’t right. Why would they let me leave the way they did, and why throw a party on the island?
Cutting through the bar crossing, I swerve into the mooring docks, sliding into one behind Old Man John. He lives on his, and I’m sure won’t care that I’m leaving this parked behind. Or he might. Because it’s too flashy—as he would say.
“Cooper!” I shove his body with my foot. “Wake up.”
Cooper stirs, rolling onto his back while resting his hand over his stomach. “Was I dreaming, or was Dion there? I really did not want to see my cousin.”
“You were dreaming,” I mutter, jumping out of the boat and tying it to the dock. I don’t know when Sparrow will collect it, but I kind of like it.
“Oh…” Cooper pushes up from his position, pausing while staring off into the distance. His blond hair is a mass of waves and chaos all over his head, and when he stops breathing, his cheeks puff and his finger goes up, I know what is coming. He launches over the boat and spews into the water.
“Gross, Cooper.”
“Nope.” He shakes his head, pulling the sunglasses down over his eyes and finally following me down the dock. “What’s gross is the fact that you have been tapping that fine piece of ass, and you’ve hidden it from me!”
I don’t need to look at Cooper to know that the idiot is actually pouting.
“First of all,” I say, ignoring the fact that I’m still wearing Sparrow’s suit jacket. “How could I when you didn’t even know where I was?”
He grabs the keys out of his pocket, and I snatch them from the palm of his hand. “Second, it’s irrelevant.”
“Well, good…” His arm hooks with mine as he leads us to the Jeep. “Because my sister is getting married, and I totally need you there for moral support.”
“You have moral support from your girlfriend!” I unlock the car and slide into the driver’s seat. “Remember her?”
“Nope.” He slams the passenger door closed once he’s inside, turning to face me as I put the car in reverse. “She dumped me. Like for real this time.”
I believe him. I love my best friend, but he is a lot to deal with, which is not to say that those people who are a lot to deal with don’t deserve love, because they do, but love isn’t a one size fits all, and unfortunately, until you find the right fit for your glove, everything else up to that point is going to be uncomfortable.
I drive us out of the parking lot and onto the road. “I can’t keep defending your poor choices, Coop.”
He chuckles, looking out the window. Anything to distract him from facing me. “I know. But you love me anyway.”
“I do love you, but I still hate cheaters.”
Silence. Every time I bring up Cooper’s compulsive cheating, it always ends like this or us fighting. I promised I wouldn’t judge him, but I made that promise when I was four years old, and he told me he wanted three wives who all didn’t know each other existed. Shit is different now. Now, people are getting hurt.
“I’m just saying, have you thought about an open relationship?” I ask, looking between him and the road.
I can’t believe I’ve been the person basically kidnapped and held hostage on a damn island for twenty-four hours. But this is good. Deflection without him knowing.
“Hey, how did The Game go? Sucks, huh. No one ever fucking wins. What is with that?”
The words slip from my tongue but go right back down my throat. Seems he’s also good at deflection. Figures. Birds of a feather and all that.
“Yeah…I didn’t make it.”
