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Tuck shrugs. “Never read romance before, but I’m game.”
“I loved how complex the heroine of Fourth Wing is,” Lu replies. “She isn’t perfect—she makes lots of mistakes. We still root for her though, you know? Maybe that’s why we root for her, because she keeps going, even though she doesn’t always get it right.”
Abel pulls his brows together, clearly surprised. “A flawed character is definitely what keeps it interesting for me.”
“Same. Makes the escape feel more real, and the story feel more satisfying.”
Tuck glances at me. “She’s good.”
“No shit,” I reply.
I give Lu’s hand a quick squeeze. She glances at me and smiles. I’m gripped by a strong sense of joy.
I can’t wait to talk about flawed characters with her later after we fuck. And eat.
Please don’t let this blow up in my face again.
Because it’s not even noon, and this is already the best day I’ve had in a really long time.
I feel a tap on my shoulder. Kurt, with the Nicorette.
I pop a couple into my mouth. The tightness I feel everywhere releases bit by bit as the nicotine hits my bloodstream.
“So, Tuck.” Lu looks up at my beast of a best friend. “My aunt talks a lot about your dad and his shrimp.”
Tuck grins. “I think Joe’s got a big old crush on Lady.”
“I think Lady’s got a crush on Joe. I feel like we should do something about that.”
“Let’s talk.”
I let her hand go as she and Tuck head for Dolly, heads bent in conversation. For a second I stand on the dock and watch them.
It’s surreal, seeing two totally different parts of my life finally collide. I had to keep them separate for obvious reasons a decade ago. But it’s a relief—and yeah, a joy—that I don’t have to play that game anymore.
“You’re fucked.”
I glance at Abel to see him looking at me intently. Reaching up, I adjust my hat on my head. “Yeah.”
He claps me on the shoulder. “You’ve worked really hard for a really long time, Riley. It made you rich—”
“Made you rich too, motherfucker.”
He grins. “Sure did. But all that work, I’m not sure it made you happy. Today, though?” He searches my face. “You look happy.”
A swell of emotion rises in my throat. “And that’s why I’m fucked?”
“You laid eyes on her three days ago for the first time in a decade—”
“How’d you know that?”
He rolls his eyes. “Dumb question. This is Bald Head. You know better’n anyone how well we play telephone. Point being, you’re already looking at this girl like you wanna put a baby in her.”
“Maybe I do.” I pop another piece of Nicorette into my mouth.
Abel raises his eyebrows. “Wow.”
“I thought I was over her, but clearly I’m not.” I watch Kurt hand Lu a glass of champagne. “I gotta make it work this time around.”
Lu is chatting with Tuck and Goldie now, looking cute as hell in her little bikini and a pair of oversized sunglasses.
Like she knows I can’t stop looking at her, she glances up. A smile breaks out on her face when she sees me.
“Then let’s go make it work.” Abel nudges me with his elbow. “After you, lover boy.”
For a second, I just stare at my friend.
“What?” He rubs the back of his neck.
I shake my head. “You’re just . . . being unusually and helpfully insightful right now. Hell, I’d almost say you’re being friendly.”
“That’s too far.”
I laugh. “Fair enough. Thanks for listening, though. I mean that.”
Back on Dolly, I check in with Lu. Make sure she has everything she needs.
Then I check in with Kurt, telling him to locate whatever bag Lu brought with her and put it in my cabin. I also tell him to arrange for a tender to transfer guests back to the dock at the end of the day.
Lu and me, we’re gonna go for a private sunset cruise.
Guests begin to arrive in a steady stream. Goldie’s friends from high school. Her friends from college. Cooper’s fishing buddies. It keeps Goldie and Coop and me busy, greeting everyone, pointing them in the direction of drinks and food.
It’s a little after one by the time we pull out of Harbour Village. The bride and groom requested a day of sun, food, and swimming, and that’s exactly what they get. To Goldie’s delight, Lu breaks out various penis-shaped paraphernalia. To my delight, Lu takes off her sarong. Her suit is on the cheeky side. Pun intended.
I have my captain take us on a tour of Bald Head’s coastline. I point out all the important landmarks. Old Baldy. East Beach. The eight-thousand-square-foot waterfront home Abel and I are building together on the Gibbes’s street, Row Boat Row.
“We call it the ‘Whale House’ because the main floor is built to look like the inside of a whale,” I explain. “We put in high ceilings and did some really cool architectural work with beams.”
