Reef of Regrets
Coffee once again waited for me when I woke up, and Reid descended the stairs with a head of wet hair. Why he had been showering so early in the morning, when last I knew he took night showers, was still a question I hadn’t asked yet.
The only reason I was up was because I had to work. The morning shift was easy though, as the cafe never got super busy. Seaside Cafe was more known for lunch and dinner menus than brunch.
Reid offered to drive me, so he could pick me up after and head to the mansion together. He said it was too far to bike all around the island, not to mention silly when he had the car and the free time.
“You ready?” he asked, dangling the keys from his hand like he had the other night.
“Yeah. Thanks again for the ride.”
Reid started the engine and backed out of the garage. “You don’t have to thank me for everything, Marlowe. Besides, biking to work, then to the mansion, and back to the house would be ridiculous. I mean, I know how much you love getting your exercise,” he paused and shot me a knowing glance, “but if I have the means, then I’m happy to help.”
“Noted. Did you know your parents left the car keys for me and a note to use the car if I needed?”
Reid let out a huff of a laugh. “Bet you still wouldn’t have, though. You hate driving.”
I shrugged and looked out the window. “Why drive when you can bike and enjoy the fresh air?”
“What if it started raining? What if you forgot sunscreen and came back with a blistering sunburn? What if you crashed? What if—”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” I replied, laying my hand on his arm to get him to stop his disaster scenarios. I didn’t acknowledge his third comment of crashing. It was still too soon. “I don’t consider biking exercise though, just so you know.”
“Noted,” he echoed. “I’ll see you at one?”
He pulled into a space and put the car in park, turning toward me. For a split second, I had the incredible urge to lean over the console and plant a kiss on his cheek.
Just like I used to do.
I blinked, gulping back my instincts and reaching for the door handle. “Yeah, one is perfect. Thanks again.”
“Have a good shift!” he called after me as I climbed out of the car.
Emma stared at me through the restaurant window as I ascended the front stairs and came in through the door. We wouldn’t be open for another twenty minutes, but once the opener came in, we didn’t relock it.
“What was that?” Emma asked, pouncing on me the moment the door closed. I eyed the pink headband pulling back her short, dark hair. It was cute, and I sort of wanted it.
I gave her an innocent look. “What was what?”
Her eyes grew wide, her lids completely disappearing and her thin brows skyrocketing. “That was Reid Bennett in the car. In the driver’s seat. Smiling at you like a lovesick fool. What was that?”
I ducked under the front counter and crouched down to the bottom shelf, where I kept my apron and notepad. “That,” I said as I stood, “was nothing.”
Emma snorted. Like a full on pig snort. It was halfway between a gasp and a laugh, but ended up as a snort. I stared at her, waiting for her to come to her senses.
“If that was nothing, then what’s up with you and Declan? Word on the street is you two are getting cozy. Almost as cozy as you were in that car with Reid…”
My face dropped. What did that mean? Did she think I was dating both of them? Cheating on one with the other? Leading them on?
I had to clarify things, and quickly. “Listen. I’m house sitting for the Bennett’s. And dog sitting. Reid wasn’t supposed to be here this summer. He came back, but told me to stay so I could get the money.” I gave her a look that told her how much money, without having to say words. And added a raise of the eyebrows that explained how much I could use that money. She held her hands up in surrender, understanding my unspoken words.
“And Declan… well, he and I need to talk, because I’m not even sure what’s going on there.”
I purposefully didn’t mention his time at the Bennett’s house the other afternoon, or what happened at the pool party.
Emma hummed, then ducked around me to set out tableware.
The shift flew by, the two of us keeping busy with our regulars and a few tourists who meandered in, looking like they just woke up while also ready to dive into the ocean on a moment’s notice.
“You said you needed to talk to Declan, right?” Emma asked as I dried the last coffee cup and returned it to the shelf. The lunch rush had started, but our shift ended in a few more minutes. We didn’t get assigned tables for lunch, since the girls on that shift arrived an hour ago. We were just around to help set up, clean up, and deliver food.
“Yeah? Why?”
She jutted her chin toward the front, where a group of guys sat by the window.
The group of guys being Declan and his friends.
“Looks like you might get your chance,” Emma replied with a smirk. “I have to say, I haven’t heard of him randomly appearing at the workplace of his girlfriends before.”
“That’s because his girlfriends never worked. And I’m not his girlfriend,” I retorted, reminding her of a few necessary points.
Declan had never dated a Gennie, as far as I knew. He stuck with the Bayside girls, and even ventured over to the Crescents once. That didn’t last long, though. She ended up with a guy from the private school and dumped Declan quick.
“Well, not-girlfriend, looks like he’s waiting for you. He hasn’t stopped glancing this way since he walked in.”
“I’m not on tables. We’re about to clock out,” I argued, reminding her.
She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t say wait on them, you doof.”
The light bulb finally illuminated in my head. He wasn’t here for me to serve him. He was here for… well, for me. “Oh. Oh. Right. Let me clock out first.”
We rushed to the back, then stashed our aprons and stuff beneath the front counter.
“Hey,” I said, walking up to the table. The guys smiled at me, which made me nervous but comforted as well.
“Crash! The star of the show!” Declan declared as he jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around me tight, pinning mine to my side. It was awkward, but over quick.
“Star of what show?” I questioned when he let me go. I had quickly learned that nothing with Declan ever made a lot of sense, and if I wanted answers, I had to ask before his mind veered in another direction.
“The scavenger hunt!” one of the guys at the table announced way, way too loudly.
I whipped my head toward Declan and seethed. “You told them?”
His face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. “You said you were having a hard time solving the clue, so I thought the more minds, the merrier!”
“That’s not how the phrase goes,” I muttered to myself. “And I asked you not to say anything.”
“Why, so you can keep the Covington fortune to yourself?” a guy with the brightest blonde hair I had ever seen called out from the back of the table. It had to have been bleached. It definitely didn’t look natural.
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me? Declan!” I gasped when he grabbed my hand and brought it up to his chin. He batted his eyelashes at me, but I was too pissed off to fall for his flirting tactics.
“Yeah, if we help, we get a share of the prize money, right?” I didn’t bother looking to see who said that. I didn’t even care anymore.
“They need to shut up,” I stage-whispered to Declan. I wanted to rip my hand out of his, but knew we were on display right now. The rest of the restaurant had to be watching this go down, especially since they mentioned the Covington name. “You weren’t supposed to tell anyone.”
Declan gave my hand a squeeze and put on his most charming grin. It didn’t work this time, though.
“Everything okay over here?” Emma asked as she squeezed past the nearby table and stood shoulder to shoulder with me.
“It’s amazing, thanks. Marlowe, it’s not a big deal. Like I said, the more people thinking about it, the faster you figure it out, right? I was just helping.”
“Helping? Are you kidding?” My breath started coming in shallower bursts now.
The bell over the door rang, jerking my attention away.
“Welcome to the Seaside Cafe. Please take a seat and someone will be with you shortly,” Emma and I both announced in unison, as we were trained to do when we heard that bell.
“Crash, come on. Let us help you! The Covington fortune is at stake—”
“No! No! Declan, I specifically said to keep it a secret! Just between us! I didn’t even say anything about a fortune!”
“And I think—“
“She doesn’t seem to care what you think right now,” Reid interrupted. He had been the one who came through the door, and now firmly planted himself on my other side, his arms folded over his chest tightly. “I’d let her go, if I were you.”
Declan glanced down, assessing the muscles on Reid’s arms, a sneer appearing on his face. But he dropped my hand anyway.
I paled, glancing between Declan and Reid, completely baffled. Reid seemed to have assessed Declan as some sort of threat based on the way he stared him down, his jaw tight, his breaths coming in short spurts. My chest tightened as a flush creeped up my neck and into my cheeks.
Whether it was embarrassment or something else, I wasn’t sure.
Emma leaned forward and whispered, “You need to get them to leave. Mason is poking his head out and if he has to come over here, it won’t be pretty.”
My lip quivered and my hands shook. I was still fuming inside. I was scared that if I opened my mouth right now, all I would do was scream.
Who else had Declan talked to? I had trusted him with this one secret. There were four boys at the table, but somehow, I didn’t think it was the only four he told.
I chanced a glance over at Reid, finding his chest puffed out further now, his eyes locked on Declan. He barely blinked.
“Just go. Please,” I whispered, looking at Reid, but talking to Declan. I turned and faced him. “Now.”
His eyes narrowed as he looked between me and Reid. Then, he signaled to his friends to get up, and they filed out of the restaurant in front of him.
“Seems like your superhero came to the rescue, huh?” Declan said as he pushed his way between Reid and me on the way out. “See you later, Crash.”
As had become the norm, I was once again utterly confused as Declan left.
All I wanted now was for everything to go back to how it was a few weeks ago.
Before I crashed my bike into the most popular guy in Covington Cove.