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Cam looks like he’s never regretted a question more in his life as he groans and throws an empty beer can at him.
The rest of us laugh while the two of them roughhouse, only stopping when Hayes almost throws Cam into the ocean. That’s when he calls mercy and admits defeat, only to follow it up with the excuse that he wasn’t going to kick his ass on his birthday.
It’s apparently “rude.”
But if those two were to ever really go at it, it’s a toss-up as to who would win.
I LEAN BACK AGAINSTHayes, with his arms around me, as we watch the sunset in the same spot we were the day we escaped the rest of the world and just enjoyed each other on the open water. This time, however, I don’t think the sunset will be followed up the way it did then. Mali probably wouldn’t give a shit, but Cam and Monty might have some complaints.
“Did you have a good birthday?” I ask him.
He lowers his head and drops a kiss on my shoulder. “I hadthe bestbirthday, and it’s all thanks to you. I don’t deserve you.”
“You do. You just don’t realize it yet.”
The sunset is beautiful, but instead of admiring it, Mali is too busy watching Monty with an unreadable look in her eyes. I glance over and see him making yet another drink. He’s supposed to be driving the boat, and if he’s drunk, that doesn’t mean good things for us.
“Everything okay, Mal?” I ask softly.
She pulls her attention from her boyfriend. “Yeah.”
But while her words say one thing, she silently nods her head toward Monty—a message to keep an eye on him. If need be, Cam and Hayes have been driving boats since they were ten. And even I know how to work one. But for now, we’ll just see how this plays out.
Besides, as long as he doesn’t crash the boat, the worst that could happen is he gets in some legal trouble for boating while intoxicated. And something tells me he has enough money to get out of it.
I focus back on the sunset and the feeling of Hayes’s arms around me. “It’s so pretty.”
He hums. “It’s got nothing on you.”
Once the sun is gone and the colors start to fade, Monty begins to turn the boat around, but I don’t think any of us are ready for the night to end. There are a few ideas being tossed around, like going back to our house or having a fire at my parents’ place. But Mali spots a better idea.
“What’s that?” she asks, pointing to the faint outline of something in the distance.
All the guys look, but it’s Monty who answers. “That’s Slaughter Island.”
“SlaughterIsland?” She repeats, looking skeptical.
He nods. “Some say it got its name from all the dead horseshoe crabs that used to wash ashore, but legend has it there was a family that lived there before the man of the house went crazy from the isolation and slaughtered his entire family. If you go late at night, they say you can still hear their screams.”
“Oh, I’ve heard of that place!” I say as I remember the myth. “I’ve never been, though.”
Mali gets excited. “Can we go now?”
We all exchange glances at each other and when Hayes and Cam both shrug, not pushing to go home, Monty turns the boat toward the island.
THE PLACE LOOKS CREEPY, I will give him that. There’s remnants of what used to be a dock but is now just a few pillars—probably destroyed by a storm. An abandoned house is off a little ways in the distance. While I’m not sure I believe Monty’s story, the evidence definitely supports the claims.
As he pulls the boat as close to shore as he can, he jumps out and uses the anchor to keep it from floating away. Hayes hops down into the water and helps both Mali and me get down safely. It’s already too dark to see, with only the boat lights illuminating the area, but I want to go exploring.
“Monty, do you have any flashlights?” I ask him.
He pauses to think and then climbs up into the boat to look around. “I should.”
A few minutes later, with a smallah-ha, he pulls a flashlight out from under one of the seats. He passes it to me and I thank him before turning to Hayes.
“Are you coming?”
He shakes his head. “I think I’m going to hang out here.”
