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“I committed a felony today,” I say, flicking ash into the inky water below.
“Tell me what happened with that girl.”
I use my free hand to tap the pack of Camels in the back pocket of my shorts. “Stole these from Baity’s when Woody was in the bathroom. He wouldn’t sell ’em—”
“Your mom worked for the Gibbes.” Tuck takes a step closer. “Which means—”
“I left a twenty on the counter. But since the transaction didn’t technically happen, I think it still counts as stealing.”
“Stop.” Tuck grabs the cigarette out of my hand and drops it in the cup of water on the table beside my leg. It hisses as it hits the liquid, the acrid smell of smoke blooming between us. “You remember what a dick you were when you went cold turkey last year? Because I do, and I ain’t putting up with that shit again. Now tell me why this woman’s got you acting a fool.”
Tom sniffs the cup. I nudge him out of the way with my knee.
Dropping my head, I press my thumbs into my eye sockets in an attempt to ease the burn there. I’m tired as all get out, but I doubt I’ll be able to sleep tonight.
“She and I . . .” I murmur.
Feels weird talking about that summer. It’s even weirder, though, keeping a secret that doesn’t matter anymore from my closest friend in the world. I guess I could’ve told him about Lu at some point over the past ten years. But I was healing. Then I was busy. And yeah, maybe I didn’t want to jinx my years-long plan to win her back.
But at the end of the day, Tuck’s just looking out for me. And I’ve learned the hard way how much I need that kind of support in my life.
“I was in love with her. We were eighteen and stupid. But we couldn’t be together, so we broke up and it was . . . awful, Tuck.”
“Wait.” His eyes go wide. “Was that why you—”
“Spiraled out of control when that summer ended?”
Tuck scoffs. “You’re the only person I know who quit drinking before you were even legal.”
“Those were dark days.” I shudder at the memory. “My parents’ divorce was happening then too. Losing my family and my girl all in one six-month stretch . . .”
“Understandably fucked you up good.” Tuck’s voice is quiet. “I wish you’d told me about Lu.”
“I couldn’t.”
He screws up his face. “Why?”
I wave him away. The quiet of the marina pulses around me. “Long story. I’m over her. I’ve been over her for a while. I just—I don’t need to see her again, is all.”
“Lucky you got such a busy week ahead, then.”
“You mean lucky for Coop I’m his best man, and I promised I’d make all his blushing bride’s wedding-related dreams come true.”
“Don’t forget you’re the one who volunteered for that gig.”
I lift a shoulder. “Friend in need. ’Course I’m gonna lend a helping hand.”
Back in the day, I worked a lot of deep-sea fishing charters with Biggers for Cooper and his dad when his family would visit Bald Head in the summer. Even though we were from totally different worlds—Coop’s family is old Charlotte money—we became close over the years.
Ordinarily I’d be thrilled to be away from the office. I can count the number of days I’ve taken off in the past decade on one hand.
I’m fucking tired.
I’m also sick of being chained to a laptop in an office by myself all day, every day. I live by myself, so that’s a lot of time spent alone. Yes, I have a whole team of people who work for me. But Tuck manages day-to-day operations, and I do the bigger picture stuff like research and strategy.
Now, though, I don’t know how I feel about being away from work. What if I run into Lu again? Work may be lonely, but at least it keeps me busy. And busy keeps me from thinking too much about things—people—I shouldn’t.
“I’m gonna lend you a helping hand. Literally.” Tuck glances at the pack of cigarettes in my pocket. “Hand ’em over. I know you’re still thinking about her, by the way.”
Rolling my eyes, I pull the soft pack from my pocket and drop it into Tuck’s waiting paw. “I wasn’t expecting to see her is all. It . . . she . . . took me off guard.”
How she still makes me feel all the things even after I swore I moved on is taking me totally off guard.
“You’re really not gonna tell me why y’all couldn’t be together?” He turns the pack upside-down and drops that into the cup of water too. It sinks slowly, my heart sinking along with it.
“Isn’t it obvious?” I scoff. “We came from different worlds. And that job, it was helping Mom get back on her feet. I couldn’t risk her losing it.”
