49. Ronan #2
Ryan squirms in her seat, visibly uncomfortable with her gaffe. “For what it’s worth, Ronan doesn’t mess around when he’s with someone. Believe me, I know.” She reaches out to squeeze my hand in hers. “When we were together, he didn’t bring anyone home from the bar. Not once.”
I groan. Not helping.
Sloane’s jaw drops. “You slept with her too? With Connor’s sister?”
“Half sister,” Ryan corrects. “And it was only for, like, a week two summers ago, when we were all living together. My ex had just broken up with me and I was feeling so sorry for myself.”
A mixture of shock and horror twists Sloane’s features.
Can I put my hand over Ryan’s mouth to muzzle her? Would that be wrong?
“Before they took off to Alaska. Oh, ice cream!” Ryan suddenly blurts as a dinghy with a tall pink flag weaves through the boats, heading our way.
“They take cash, right?” She digs into her beach bag for her wallet with one hand while the other waves wildly in the air, trying to grab the vendor’s eye.
Sloane leans over the counter. “So, tell me, is there any female in your life who you haven’t screwed?”
“A few.” But the list is woefully short, and her icy tone says she’ll find no humor in it.
“Can I get a vanilla, please!” Ryan hollers, sliding off her seat .
I hop down after her and grip her shoulder to make sure the drunken fool doesn’t tumble off the platform.
“Vanilla, you said?” The vendor roots around in his cooler, shirtless and tanned. Next to the pink flag is a yellow one for boiled peanuts. Quite the combo.
Golden Boy, a.k.a. Jeremy, at the next boat over, shouts, “Hey! How’s it goin’?”
The vendor sees him, and waves. “Oh, hey, Jer. It’s all right.” Retrieving an ice cream bar, he turns and faces us.
Recognition hits me a beat before a glower settles across his face.
“Cody?” Sloane’s voice is filled with incredulity. “What are you doing here?”
He nods at Ryan, swapping cash for her treat, finishing the transaction, before turning his displeasure back to Sloane. “What does it look like I’m doin’?”
Sloane exits through the swinging door and comes around to stand on the edge. “You work for Sanders now?”
“Well, yeah. It’s all I could get after you torpedoed my job at Wolf.” Cody’s gaze drags over her body, even as he spews accusations.
You could have had that for life. You royally fucked up, buddy , I want to say.
“What are you talking about?” Sloane’s eyes dart to me. “I didn’t get a call from them for a reference for you.”
“I didn’t put the Sea Witch on my résumé. I’m not stupid.”
“We’ll agree to disagree there.” She folds her arms across her chest. “So then why are you accusing me ?”
“Because I have contacts at Wolf.”
“No, you don’t,” she scoffs.
“Yeah, I do . In HR. And they told me that my name was on the hiring list until it was crossed off by a director.”
Fuck . Who has this weasel been talking to inside Wolf?
Ryan’s knowing eyes land on me. Her mouth opens?—
“Better eat that before it melts.” I shove the ice cream bar into her waiting lips and flash her a warning glare to shut the hell up. Seriously, drunk unfiltered Ryan is worse than Connor. Clearly a hazardous gene their shared father passed along.
“So? How does that relate back to me?” Sloane wears an incredulous mask, but I can sense the panic swelling underneath. On the tiki float beside us, Jeremy listens quietly.
Cody’s smug smile tells me he’s not finished yet. “Because I asked if there were other names that made it to the list and were also crossed off, and you know who was on there? Will, Mick, Ron, Brock …” He counts down on his fingers. “ All Sea Witch employees. Weird , huh?”
Sloane’s throat bobs with a hard swallow. “I didn’t get reference calls for any of them. If I had, I would have said they’re great workers.”
“She said they didn’t even make it to reference checks.”
She . That narrows it down for me tomorrow. My anger boils. “You’re a regular fucking detective.”
Cody spares me a dirty look before he turns to Jeremy. “You were on the list too, with a note saying you can only work two days a week.”
“What?” Jeremy’s face screws up.
“Yeah, the only one on there with a note like that. Ja—my contact”—he catches himself before he divulges her name—“said seasonal hires have to be available for full-time hours. It’s a hiring requirement.
And hey, what do you know! Jeremy works for the Sea Witch!
” Cody laughs, a fake, maniacal sound, as he reaches for the motor throttle.
Sloane’s face has paled. She’s run out of deflections to throw at him.
I grip the back of the bar stool to keep myself from reaching out and clocking the asshole. “Get the fuck out of here before I call your new boss and let him know you’re harassing tourists.” Sanders. I make a mental note of that name .
“It’s fine. Sloane’s not a tourist.” Cody smirks, easing his dinghy away. “She’s just a raging bitch.”
My pulse explodes in my veins. I hoist Ryan onto the nearest chair—for both her safety and to get her out of my path—and then drop into the water, my fists balled as I charge toward him.
“Ronan! Help!” Connor’s voice booms from my right, his distressed words distracting me. He’s limping toward us in the water, a tear-streaked Katie cradled in his arms.
My rage evaporates in an instant.
“Here, I’ve got her.” Kyle stoops, and Rachel helps Katie loop her arms around his neck so he can carry her piggyback style. “You’ve got her , right?” He nods to Ryan, who’s slouched against the rail.
“Yeah, I got my drunk-ass sister.” Connor winces as he puts weight on his left leg. “Come on, drunkie. I’m behind you, but don’t fall or you’ll take us all out.”
Carefully, they all move up the steep set of wooden stairs from the dock, leaving me alone with Sloane.
“You weren’t kidding about those slides being dangerous.” I watch as she ties an impressive sailor’s knot with ease.
“You probably should have let the paramedics do their thing.” She hops up on the dock. “I’d get Katie’s ankle checked out right away. It could be broken.”
“Yeah, we’re gonna get her back to the house so she can change and then head in. Connor, too.” He doesn’t know what happened, except he landed weird and now his knee is swollen. “So much for a leisurely cruise.” It went sideways, fast.
“Yeah, I guess that wild orgy tonight might not work out for you guys,” she deadpans, her arms again folded across her chest. Closed off.
With all the commotion, she hasn’t forgotten that part. I owe you one , Ryan . “Look, I meant what I said earlier. That isn’t happening.”
“But it did happen.”
“It did.” And I won’t be ashamed. I definitely won’t apologize.
She bites her bottom lip, and I can almost hear the litany of questions screaming for answers inside her brain.
How many women has he fucked?
Has he fucked men?
How many other people is he fucking right now while he’s with me?
She won’t believe any answer I give her except the one that paints me as shady as her ex.
Sloane takes a step back and then another, away from me. “I’ve gotta close up here before Jeremy comes back in an hour, so I can deal with that mess.”
“I’m going to find out who Cody’s been talking to,” I promise. And fire her ass.
She shrugs. “Does it matter? They’re all going to quit on me when they hear about this, anyway.”
“Maybe not.”
“I would, if I were them.” She nods toward the stairs. “You should go. They’re waiting for you.” That’s a dismissal if I’ve ever heard one.
I stall for another long beat. “We’ll talk soon.”
“Yeah, sure, in another couple of weeks?” She shakes her head. “There’s a lot of drama here. Too much. You could lose your job, and you’re in that weird place, remember? And I’m very vanilla, compared to you. I can’t even believe I let today happen.” A nervous laugh escapes her.
“You didn’t enjoy it?” I hold my breath and wait for her to lie. I know she did.
“It’s not about enjoying it.” She falters. “I just … I don’t think we want the same things. ”
We could. I wasn’t looking for anything, but now that I’ve met Sloane, she’s the one I keep gravitating back to, everything else be damned.
“Ronan! Come on!” Connor hollers.
Shit. “Coming.”
“Take care of yourself.” Sloane hops back onto the floating tiki, the weight of whatever fallout is to come squarely on her shoulders.