“Help you have fun?”
“Yeah.” His voice was soft. “I think I might need a guide.”
I smiled. “I think I can do that.”
“You sure? I don’t want to ruin this with you. I like being friends with you.”
I smiled through the pain of not being able to have him the way I really want him. “Don’t worry, Colt,” I told him. “I know this ends with you going back home when the job is done. And it’s okay. I have my eyes wide open this time. I know what’s coming.”
Something flickered across his face. Sadness. Regret. But I didn’t get to dwell on it for long because he was kissing me again. Slower this time. Goodbye.That’s what I’m sure it meant but I’m not going to think about it right now.I melted into it, letting myself have this.
I wished it could go differently. I wished this could be the start of something permanent instead of just another beautiful, temporary thing. But if this was the last romp I got to have with Colt Anderson, I might as well make the most of it.
I’d get closure this time. When he left—because he would leave—I could finally set my sights on my own future withoutmemories of him making me questionwhat if. No more wondering. No more late-night fantasies about a man who lived a thousand miles away. I’d have one perfect summer with him, and then I’d let him go. For real this time.
His hand came up to cup my face as he pulled back, his thumb brushing across my cheekbone. “We should probably head back,” he said quietly.
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
We walked back to the car, our fingers still intertwined. The restaurant parking lot was empty now, just his Mercedes sitting under a single streetlight. I was already mentally preparing myself for the drive home, for the goodnight that would come too soon. Another night alone with dreams of a man I couldn’t have.
He stopped, causing me to run right into his arm. I stepped up and looked around.
“What the hell?” Colt breathed.
Then I saw what he was talking about. A jagged line ran the length of the driver’s side, the paint scraped away in an angry gouge. Someone had keyed the car from bumper to bumper.
My stomach dropped. “Oh, shit.”
He was already moving forward. A piece of paper fluttered under the windshield wiper. He pulled it free. I watched his face as he read it.
“What does it say?” I asked.
He crumpled the note in his fist but shoved it into his pocket instead of throwing it away. “Get the F out of Surfside.” His tone held no emotion.
“Oh my God.” I pressed my hand to my mouth. “Colt, I’m so sorry.”
He turned to look at me. I was surprised to see he didn’t look angry. Just tired. “It doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s just a car. That’s what insurance is for.”
“It’s a dick move,” I said.
He took my hand and pulled me closer. “It’s fine. Really. What matters…” He paused, his jaw working. “What matters is being perceived as the enemy.”
I groaned as he led me around the car to inspect the rest of the damage.
I looked at the damage and cringed. Surfside wasn’t exactly a hotbed of criminal activity. I loved my hometown but I didn’t like the behavior I had witnessed. They were treating him like he was a villain. None of us liked the idea of a cruise line, but criminal damage was a bridge too far.
To think someone had done this while we were having dinner. While we were laughing and kissing on the beach. Someone had been here, in the dark, taking their anger out on his car because they couldn’t get to him.
Or they could have. That was terrifying to think someone was angry enough to do that kind of damage. Would it escalate? Would they come after him? His house?
“This is what happens when you become the villain in someone else’s story.”
I wasn’t sure what to say. Because to whoever did this, hewasthe villain. He was the face of everything they were afraid of losing.
“Come on,” he said finally. “Let me take you home.”
The drive back was quiet but it wasn’t comfortable. It was my hometown. I had not been very welcoming. Yes, I had a good reason, but I would never encourage that kind of behavior.