Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 74940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“And if she can’t convince them?” River asks. “What then?”
“Then we continue.” Anger surges through me like feedback from an amp, a piercing, uncontrollable screech that refuses to be silenced. I breathe in, trying to tame it. “We need to deal with Misty together. All four of us. I can’t believe you would even consider leaving, River. A house divided can’t stand. You leave, and you take us all down. And if you’re not here, you won’t have shit to say about how the rest of us handle Misty. You want Brett marrying her? For some reason, he wants her to stay now. I don’t know why, but you know Brett. When he makes up his mind about something, it happens. You want Jake’s half-sister to be a part of our lives for fucking ever? You know what that would mean?”
River scoffs. “She won’t marry Brett.”
“I know she’s got her mind set on you, but we both know how persuasive Brett can be.”
River looks at me a moment, except he’s not looking at me at all. He’s looking through me. Then, when he begins to speak again, I’m not sure who he’s actually talking to.
“You can’t replace one love with another,” he says softly. “You can’t find something that’s gone in something else. It’ll break your fucking heart. Why would you want to break your heart twice?” He shakes his head. “Why would you put yourself through that? It’s like trying to replicate something that never even existed in the first place. You can try until the cows come home, but you’ll only end up worse off than you were before. Why can’t he see that?”
Has my friend truly lost it? I wave my hands in front of his face. “Earth to River.”
His gaze meets mine.
“You want to explain what the fuck you’re talking about?”
“No.” He turns away from me.
I breathe in. “Fine. Something’s eating away at you. It’s been eating at you since your date with Misty, and I’m trying to be patient. We all are. Misty’s thrown this whole thing out of whack, but we can salvage it. We just need to work together.”
“Maybe it’s time to go our separate ways, Sebastian.”
Sebastian? The guys never call me Sebastian. It’s always Seb.
As much as River is pissing me off right now, I never want to be without him or Alex or Brett in my life. We’ve been through too much. Sacrificed too much.
And we have way too many damned secrets that need to stay buried.
“River, you know what needs to happen as well as I do. Now more than ever because of Misty and her revelation. We see this through to the end, which means you stay on the island. Stay and make it work with—”
“Misty?” he interrupts me, scowling.
“Fuck, Riv.” I walk toward him. “We’ll figure the Misty thing out, but we have to do it together. We’ve always done everything together. We each have our role to play.”
“Maybe I’m sick of playing roles. Maybe I’m sick of being the guy everyone turns to when they need to focus on their inner strength. Maybe I’m just not strong enough to continue. Did you ever consider that?” He thrusts his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “Emily came here this morning accusing us of monitoring their rooms.”
My heart lurches. “Say what?”
“You heard me. I assured her we weren’t, but then I got to thinking. Did Brett arrange to have the women watched?”
“Why would he do that?”
“Why the fuck does Brett do anything?” River shrugs. “I should know. I’m his best friend. But it turns out I don’t know him at all.”
“Brett would not have the women monitored,” I say.
“Are you sure, Seb? Are you really sure?”
When I don’t reply right away, River nods. “See? You’re not sure either. I’m out of here.” He walks to his bedroom door and picks up his packed bag.
I stop him, yanking the bag from his hands. “You have to stay. It’s the right thing to do, and somewhere inside, you know it.”
River reaches for the small clock sitting on one of his end tables. He picks it up and hurls it against the wall, leaving a gouge. “You’re boxing me into a fucking corner. I don’t like being caged.”
I shake my head. “You hold the keys, Riv. You stay, you can be part of the solution. You leave? Whatever happens, you’re leaving it in my hands. If you want to escort Sienna to the mainland and check on Rachel, do it. Do what you need to do. But then man up and get your ass back here by nightfall.”
“Do you hear yourself?” River storms at me. “You sound like a fucking Bruce Willis movie. I don’t have to take this shit from some pansy-assed rock star.”
I advance toward him. “Sometimes, Riv, you go too far.”