Addicted After All (Addicted #3)(43)

I shake my head fiercely. “That’s not what I was trying to do.”

“I know,” he says quickly. “I know, and other people will believe you.”

“Okay good.” I swallow a lump that’s risen. Where’s Lo?

Daisy is laughing, full-bellied laughs that pulls my attention over to her. Ryke has a brooding expression, but his lips curve upward too.

In two seconds flat, Ryke purposefully shoves Daisy’s shoulder. With force.

She plummets off the side of the boat, a larger laugh echoing. It looked mean, not nice or friendly, but I’m sure my wild, daring sister loved it.

“Ryke!” A strict voice booms across the stern. My father—with his salt-and-pepper hair, pressed khakis and polo shirt—storms over to this side of the boat. He looks ready to throw Ryke overboard.

Connor and Rose straighten, on alert.

My nerves swarm my belly, and I glance over my shoulder, waiting for Lo to appear. He’s nowhere in sight though.

“You can’t just push my daughter off the boat!” my father yells.

Ryke stands, but he’s still outside the railing. His muscles are all strained, and his jaw locks, which isn’t the only sign that he’s frustrated and angry. It’s all over his face. “No offense, but everything I f*cking do annoys you.”

“Then maybe you should change that,” my dad retorts.

Ryke instinctively shakes his head.

“No?” my dad says with distaste. Their voices are much louder than Ryke’s previous conversation with Daisy. I can hear most everything.

“Look, can we just f*cking start over?” Ryke asks. “I’m trying—”

“The most you’ve done is bring my daughter back from Costa Rica with a broken arm and then write a profanity on her cast. And no, we are not starting over. I’m not going to forget how you lied to me about your relationship with her or about living together. I can, however, weigh that against your actions now. Do you understand?”

Ryke restrains himself from rolling his eyes.

Even though I’ve been distancing myself from him, I can still cheer him on. Internally I’m holding up a Team Ryke sign. You’re doing great, Ryke. This really is hard for him. He’s so unchanging, unbending. Unlike Connor who’s able to conform to any situation with fluidity.

Ryke takes a controlled breath, and he glances over the boat, checking on Daisy, before he looks back at my father. “I f*cking realize that I’m the reason she broke her arm. I take full responsibility for that, but it was also an accident. She’s been in a lot of those that don’t even involve me.”

In Costa Rica, Ryke dared Daisy to jump off the top of a waterfall. After he did it. Halfway up her climb to the top, she slipped on the wet rock and landed badly on her arm. Apparently Ryke didn’t even know she broke a bone. He said that he was about to go after her, but then she jumped off the bottom ledge, into the lagoon.

When she swam up to him, he figured it out. And I could tell—just by his recount of the story—that he blamed himself. He said that if he was spotting her, she wouldn’t have broken a thing.

On the yacht, I don’t hear my dad’s response. A splash sounds in the pool, the water spraying my already damp hair. I spin around and see a figure swimming underneath the water towards me.

I recognize Lo’s black swim trunks, and my world lights up. He nears me, his hands skimming my thighs, and his teeth playfully nip my flesh. My breath hitches, and for a dangerous second, I wonder if he’ll move to another spot. One that calls for his attention.

Cool yourself, Lily.

I repeat the mantra again, and his head pops out of the water, his hands sliding to the small of my back, away from the aching places. It’s better like this.

He brushes his light brown hair out of his face, pretty sexily, and I have to start thinking about hobbits. With large hairy feet. “Did I miss much?” he asks.

I avoid the subject of Twitter and just motion to his brother who’s gone on the defensive again. Ryke stays silent while my dad lectures him about protecting my little sister.

“Yeah, that was bound to happen again,” Lo says with a cringe like he wishes it wasn’t written in stone. I do too. “I’m going to go help him…” Lo is about to climb out of the pool when Ryke shakes his head at my dad, turns his back on him and literally springs off the side of the boat. Jumping into the ocean.

It’s either incredibly dumb or by far the coolest thing he’s ever done.

I think my father was in the middle of a sentence.

My dad’s face turns bright red. No one says anything. Except for Lo. “My older brother just took shut the f*ck up to a whole new level.” He lets out an amazed laugh. “I would slow clap but your dad is walking this way…” My father glances at us with a huff, and Lo and Connor smile at the same time. A trained fake one that Ryke has yet to learn.

Lo waves, and my father waves tersely back before disappearing inside.

Connor leans against the lounge chair. “This is what happens when you bring dogs on boats. They jump off.”

“Greg is still hoping Ryke can be trained.” Lo kisses my cheek, a random kiss that surprises me. I cling to his side and rest my head on his chest, water droplets rolling down his skin.

Connor goes quiet before he says, “Some people are better as they are.”