Rascal (Rascals Book 1)(58)

“No,” I said, shamefaced. “Yes. Maybe. No.”

“I hope not.” Sawyer crossed his arms. “Because that’s some bullshit right there.”

“I know,” I agreed. “But I was mad, and you know my dad—”

“Yeah, we do,” Chase agreed. “But we also know Alex. There’s no way she would have used your father’s connections to help her out at work. Not without telling you. She’s just not that kind of girl.”

“I barely know her,” I reminded them. “We barely know her.”

Both Sawyer and Chase stared at me.

“Seriously?” Sawyer asked. “That’s the excuse you’re going with?”

They were right. It was just an excuse. And a bad one.

“You’re a fucking asshole.” Chase threw several worms at me.

I didn’t even try to duck, and one of them ending up in my shirt pocket, squirming around. I fished it out and dropped it in the water, where there was a small frenzy of splashing as the fish all lunged for it.

“Huh,” Sawyer observed. “I guess the fish are around. Maybe they were just allergic to your bullshit excuses.”

“I told you what happened,” I argued, but Sawyer shook his head.

“So what?” he asked. “You told us that you fucked up. And dude, you really did.”

I slumped forward. “I know.”

“But it happened,” Sawyer continued. “You made a mistake.”

“A big mistake,” Chase added. “Huge.”

“I get it,” I snapped at him.

“Enormous,” he tried once more, shutting up when I glared at him.

“What are you going to do about it?” Sawyer demanded.

I didn’t have an answer.

“She deserves better,” I told them.

They snorted. “Try again.”

What was I going to do about it?

I loved Alex.

And I was being a coward. Was I willing to lose her because I couldn’t get my shit together? Because I was too scared to admit that I was wrong, because I was too scared to admit that my father still controlled my life in ways I wasn’t comfortable with?

No.

The answer came to me clearly and without any hesitation.

“Take me back to the shore,” I ordered Sawyer, who was in charge of the boat.

He looked at me, his hand sitting lazily on the engine.

“Why?” he asked.

“Because I need to go find Alex and need to go find her right fucking now,” I told him.

A smile broke out across his face.

“Finally,” he said. “We were hoping you’d get your head out of your ass sooner rather than later.”

“Before you ruined the rest of this trip!” Chase agreed.

The boat’s engine roared to life and we were soon speeding back to the shore. We still had a good thirty-minute hike back to the campsite where the car was, but the moment my feet hit dry land, I was off and running.

The running didn’t last, but I kept up a steady pace, with the guys keeping up behind me. None of us talked. I was a man on a mission and nothing was going to slow me down.

But when we got to the campsite, I saw the one thing that could completely stop me in my tracks.

Alex.

She was here. At the campsite.

I blinked, unsure if I was hallucinating due to heat stroke or too much beer on the lake. But no, it was here. She was here. She was really here.

And she looked incredible.

With her hair in soft waves across her shoulders, everything about her felt like home. Like everything I had ever imagined a home could be. She looked warm and welcoming in her plaid shirt and snug jeans and clearly brand-new hiking boots.

It was pretty clear that she had never gone hiking or camping or done anything as outdoorsy as this. And yet she was here. She had come to find me.

I heard the guys come to a halt behind me.

“Alex!” they both greeted her, pushing past me to hug her. “About fucking time.”

Alex looked at me over Sawyer’s shoulder and gave me a small, tentative wave.

I was dirty and tired and probably smelled a lot like worms, but the minute Sawyer released her, I was taking long strides towards her.

“Hi,” she said when I reached her.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, wanting so badly to touch her. Wanting so badly to kiss her. To show her how sorry I was. But it needed to be said first. “I was an asshole, and I never should have said those things to you.”

“I’m sorry too,” she told me. “I should have listened to you when you warned me about your father.”

“I should have explained,” I argued, but she shook her head.

“You did,” she countered. “And I should have paid attention and trusted you.”

“There’s no excuse for what I said,” I wanted her to know. “You know I don’t think that about you. You’ve worked hard for everything you have.”

She gave me a small smile. “That’s a relief,” she said. “Because I would have had to kick your ass.”

I paused. I wanted to touch her more than I wanted to breathe, but I didn’t know if it was too soon. If she wanted me back that way.

Fuck it.