Chapter 18
Ronan
I hate this with a fucking passion.
Normally, I’m a nice guy. Pretty easy going.
Today? Not so much.
Kade has his arms around Emalyn, hands resting over hers as he teaches her how to cast her line. He takes every opportunity to run his hands along her waist.
That’s not even the worst part. The worst part is that he keeps glancing this way to see if I'm watching.
Is he trying to rub this in my face? Can he tell that she's my entire world?
My jaw clenches, grinding my molars as I look away. A gasp pulls my attention right back. There’s a tug on the line. A big one.
“I think you’ve got one!” Kade exclaims, his hands still over Emalyn’s as he jerks the pole back to set the hook. My eyes narrow on the way his hips press forward as he yanks the pole back again.
“Aw, I don’t want to hook it.” Emalyns says, looking distraught. “We can release it right?”
Kade scoffs, his expression giving away just how crazy he thinks she is.
“Why would we do that? I can feel it’s a big one.” He pants with the effort to reel it in. Emalyn wiggles out of his arms, taking a sideways step.
“You go ahead.” She says with a grimace.
“But it’s your first time.” His brows pull together in utter disbelief.
“l’ll try,” Vanessa raises a hand accompanied by a small shrug. “It’s my first time too.”
She glances at me to see if I mind. I don’t. I really don’t. Kade seems pleased and waves her over, keeping a hand on the reel. Vanessa takes Emalyn’s place.
With a sigh, I toss another worm into the water. How they even managed to hook a hungry one is beyond me. I’ve almost emptied this little styrofoam bucket.
“You do know you have to put them on the hook to catch the fish.” Emalyn sinks onto the grass next to me, letting Poppy curl in her lap and nudges my shoulder with her own.
I shoot her a look. Her shoulders shake on a silent laugh, but my attention is drawn over her shoulder when Vanessa squeals in delight.
The large fish flops back and forth through the air as they bring the pole up.
That’s not the hard part. It’s when Kade grabs pliers from his tackle box to roughly take the hook out that makes my face feel green and tingly.
Bile rises in the back of my throat. Placing my head between my knees, I do my best to breathe through the nausea.
Emalyn rubs a circle on my back, the warmth of touch seeping into my skin through my shirt. Chill shoot down my arms at the contact.
“I know. Do you wanna go back to the cabin? Maybe watch Forrest Gump?” She asks in a low voice. It’s my comfort movie and I’ve made her watch it with me at least a dozen times over the years. She’s never complained though.
“Aw, what’s wrong? It’s just a fish.” Kade calls to my back as I stand.
“I, uh, think I'm just still feeling the party yesterday.” My mouth hardly moves as I speak, the hot and cold sensation battling each other on my face. Kade grins and tries to high five me. The fish slime on his hands shine in the light, and my knees nearly buckle.
“Kade. You have fish on you still.” Vanessa giggles, pointing to it. His eyes glance at his hand and widen.
“My bad.” Kade says sheepishly. “Emalyn, you sure you don’t want to try?”
“No, thanks. I don’t think I'm cut out for it.”
His face falls further at her words, a pinch appearing between his eyebrows.
“I’ll keep fishing with you… I mean— if you want.” Vanessa says, a blush blooming across her cheeks. Kade perks up again and begins explaining the difference in the bait and hooks.
He holds up a particularly used hook to gush about. Unbidden, a vision of him ripping it out of the fish’s cheek enters my mind causing me to turn and book it toward the cabin.
Once in the large kitchen overlooking the water, I wash my hands and splash the cool water on my face. The door clicks shut and Emalyn’s soft footsteps appear closer until her small hand lands on my shoulder.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I guess I shouldn’t have skipped that part of the videos.” She tugs my hand, guiding me through the open concept home toward the large L shaped couch. “I’m feeling better, already.”
She uses the remote to turn on the movie. I try not to let myself settle into the satisfaction that comes from the little sigh she lets out as her head falls to my shoulder.
“I’m kind of surprised you’re only just now finding out you can’t handle fishing.” She murmurs as the movie plays.
“Yeah, well… My dad wasn’t exactly the kind to take me fishing.” I surprised myself by saying. My eyes stay on the screen. “My mom tried but she wasn’t outdoorsy. She used to bake cakes though. And put my hoodies in the dryer before school on cold days.”
“You don’t talk about them, do you? Your parents.”
“Not so much.” I lay my head against the top of hers.
A sigh escapes me. If there’s anyone I can open up to about them, it’s Emalyn.
“They surrendered me on my tenth birthday. I was a ‘problem child’. My dad could barely keep me in check. Between the learning disabilities and the fights, they decided it was too much—I was too much.”
Her hand tightens on my bicep, holding onto me.
“?Cómo pudieron hacer eso?”
I shrug.
“How could they do that?” She translates for me, unnecessarily.
“I can be… difficult I suppose,” I nudge her. “You know better than anyone. I never would’ve gotten my GED if it wasn’t for you.”
She lifts her head, those deep brown eyes blinking up at me.
“You would’ve.” Emalyn says softly, her sincere gaze holds mine. “I’ve always known you would be great, Ro. With or without my help.”
My breath catches as her eyes fall to my lips. I want her to lean in more than anything. Only a millimetre away. Staying perfectly still, I wait for her to decide.
Coming to her senses, she blinks a few times and clears her throat. She refocuses on the movie.
Oh, Emmy.
My beautiful little coward.
As much as I wish we could be more, I can’t pressure her when I know she’s not ready. May never be.
I tip her face up toward mine with a finger under her chin. Her eyes widen, bouncing between mine as her hand subtly grips my shirt tighter. Like she’s ready to push me away at any moment.
“Why didn’t you want me to come on this trip?” I ask. She clearly doesn’t want to talk about Kade, but I want— no, need to know.
“I…” She chews her lip until I pull it free with my thumb. A sharp pinch of pain from my thumb has me realizing she… bit me.
“You bit me.” My mouth drops open. Emalyn giggles, already trying to scramble away but my goalie reflexes are faster. I grip her waist as she stands, pulling her back to me. My fingers tickle her ribs.
She jerks in my hold , high pitched giggles erupting from her as she throws her head back and curls slap me in the face.
“Stop.” She calls out through her laughter.
I do, trying not to let my fingers linger on the exposed skin of her side as I slide her onto the couch next to me.
Her eyes hold mine captive, and time itself seems to freeze as she holds my full attention— a monumental feat—only for a second before a low sound interrupts the moment.
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
When I see it’s Coach King calling, my stomach drops. Emalyn looks at me curiously.
“I, uh, gotta take this.” I wave the phone in the air sheepishly. She reads the caller ID, eyes widening with understanding.
“Oh, Ro. You didn’t.”
I quickly slip out of the back patio and answer the call, nearly bumping into Vanessa and Kade as I do. Kade’s face is beet red as he shoves his hands in his pockets, while Vanessa takes a large step back, spinning to face the river.
“Hey, Coach. How are you?” I say, faking a cough between my words and heading down the steps for privacy.
“Ronan Grady! Playoffs are non-negotiable. Why the hell is my starting goalie anywhere but the rink today? I don’t buy for one second that you’re sick.
You haven’t gotten sick in the six years you’ve played for me.
” He shouts so loud into the phone that I have to pull it away from my ear.
“This is fucking unreal! You have one hour to get here.”
“Sure, sure. Uh, I hear you. There’s just one teensy issue.” I grimace as I speak into the phone. I hear Randy take a calming inhale. That’s gotta be a good sign, right? Wrong. When he speaks again, his voice isn’t his. It’s filled with the promise of death and the ghost of his violent past.
“What issue?” He says calmly. What do ya know? I prefer his yelling to this.
“I’m more than one hour away. And I definitely was sick this morning. Morning sickness if you will. I’m feeling better n—“
“Just get here!” He barks into the phone. I jump from his tone, accidentally hitting the red circle as I do.
Aw, shit.
I hung up on Coach. Basically, I signed my own death warrant.
My head drops back on my shoulders defeatedly. Trudging back up the stairs, I push into the house where everyone is gathered in the kitchen around some lunch.
“So I gotta head back. Film and stuff.”
“Already?” Kade says around a mouthful of food throwing his arms out. “You didn’t even get your pole in the water yet.”
“Sorry, man,” I try not to look at Emalyn as I add, “I’ll order a car. You guys can stay.”
“I should probably go too.” Vanessa says slowly glancing between us. “Thank you guys for inviting us along.”