Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
Henry
“ C ome on, man,” Andy said impatiently, banging on the door again. “Jace told me he saw you come down here, so I know it’s you who’s hogging the toilet. I’m desperate!”
Phoebe’s face paled as she stared up at me, helpless. “What do we do?” she mouthed.
I pressed a finger to her lips and shook my head, knowing the only thing to do now was wait this out. If I engaged with Andy, he’d hang around to irritate me. If he thought someone else was in here, though, he’d likely walk away and realise the other hull had another toilet the dumb arse could use.
“For fuck’s sake, Cohen,” he grumbled.
His impatience had been about to get me out of this unexpected, sticky situation, but then the wind must have picked up outside, making the catamaran hit a wave particularly hard, causing me to sway forward and press Phoebe’s back into the edge of the sink.
Her squeak of pain echoed around the small bathroom loud enough for Andy to have heard through the thin door.
Phoebe’s brows rose as I clamped a hand over her mouth to try push the sound back in, only for silence to take over while all three of us waited for someone to do or say something—anything.
Her wet lips pressed against my palm, her eyes wide as she stared up at me, too scared to move, too scared to even breathe.
“Erm. Sorry. My bad,” Andy said, clearing his throat. “Didn’t realise there was someone else in there. I’ll give you a minute.”
We listened carefully for Andy’s footsteps to drift away, only sighing in relief together once we were sure he’d gone far enough away for us to try get out of this unscathed.
I immediately scooped an arm around Phoebe’s back, pulled her away from the sink, and held her closer. Those sparkling doe eyes stared up at me, making me want to whisk her away from anything or anyone that could hurt her. Even if that included her being far away from here. From me.
“Did I hurt you?” I whispered.
“No.” She shook her head, her attention drifting to the door. “Do you think he knows we’re in here together?”
“I don’t think so. He wouldn’t have left if he’d suspected it.”
“But… how are we going to get out now? This boat is so small. Someone will see us.”
I was getting so close to not caring who the hell knew about us, I almost suggested we walked out of there holding hands, but I saw the fear in Phoebe’s eyes, and I knew bringing that kind of drama into her life wasn’t an option.
She’d come to Mykonos to escape those emotions of fear and self-flagellation, not be faced with new ways to mentally torture herself or drown in guilt.
“He only heard you. If you walk out of here alone and make it to the top of the stairs, you can distract him. Keep him there a second or two, then I’ll come out a few seconds later, and if he asks where I was, I’ll tell him I went to lay down in the bedroom next door.”
“You think he’ll fall for it?”
“I think he’s a sucker for a pretty face, and if anyone can hold a man’s attention, it’s you.” I gifted her with a smile I didn’t quite feel, but the moment her lips twitched, and she rolled her eyes, her shoulders relaxed a little.
“You and your words.”
“A man of many talents over here.”
“Shut up and kiss me one last time before we have to do this. Make it quick, but make it count.”
How could I deny her that?
I did exactly as she asked, soaking in every moment of my lips against hers and the heat of our bodies pressed together until I had to pull away again.
“I can’t wait to fuck you later,” I told her, brushing a thumb over the apple of her cheeks before I let her go and watched her squeeze her way to the door.
She glanced back at me one last time, then made her way out of the bathroom, carefully closing the door behind her… but it never quite shut properly before I heard a small scuffle beyond it, followed by a very large hand wedging its way between the door and its frame.
“Woah, Jesus, Andy! What the hell are you—” Phoebe started, only to be cut off when Andy pushed the door open between us, bringing all our secrets and lies out of the dark and into the light.
Time seemed to stand still as I stared at him, and he stared back at me.
“I knew it,” he said, quiet venom lacing his tone.
“Andy, you’ve got it all wrong—” Phoebe tried to interject.
“I’m not talking to you,” Andy hit back, never taking his eyes off me. “I’m talking to him.”
I ground my jaws together, glaring at him for cutting her off so easily… twice now .
He took a step closer, shaking his head. “I fucking knew you were going after her.”
“She has a name. Use it,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I thought she didn’t matter to you?”
“What matters is you telling me how much force you used on her to get to me just now.”
“Force?” He scowled. “What?”
“You heard me. Did you push Phoebe out of the way to get in here or not?”
Andy glanced between us both, eventually noticing the way Phoebe rubbed at her arm as though he’d only just realised she’d been in his path, and he’d been the one to remove her. “No. What? I didn’t. I wouldn’t?—”
“Because I swear to God, Andy, if you hurt her?—”
“You’ll what?” he cut in. “What will you do, huh? You’re threatening me now?”
I almost launched myself at him there and then, ‘brothers’ be damned. My hands clenched into fists, and my nostrils flared as I stared him down.
But then her gentle voice filtered through the red mist, and I caught sight of her paling face and wide eyes.
“Henry. Stop,” she said quietly. “I’m fine. He didn’t mean to catch me, did you, Andy?”
“Of course not. Christ, what do you take me for?”
“It’s a small space,” she went on. “That’s all.”
“Go back to the others, Phoebe,” I said calmly, glancing back at my so-called brother. “You don’t need to see this.”
“As much as I appreciate the concern, if I’m going to be discussed, I’d rather have some input.” She folded her arms under her chest, eyeing both Andy and me nervously.
“Fine,” I said, swallowing down my annoyance at her stubbornness as I glared back at Andy. “Say what you’ve got to say, brother. It looks like there’s plenty.”
“Oh, I’m your brother again now? Well, if this is what you do to family, Cohen, I’d hate to think about what you do to your enemies.”
I let that insult sting, then pass straight through me. “You don’t know anything.”
“I know what’s right in front of me, brother, and it’s pretty clear what you two have been up to in here just now. I should have known this trip was a load of bullshit. Make up for your past mistakes, Cohen, or just see how many more you can make?”
There was so much I wanted to say to him. So many truths I wanted to hit him back with, but it wasn’t just my secret to reveal. Everything that had been happening between Phoebe and me was her business, too, and I had no right to out us without her approval first.
But, fuck, it physically hurt to keep the words I wanted to say locked deep down inside, so I stood there, motionless and far from emotionless, staring at Andy while I tried to control my rage.
He looked me up and down, shaking his head as he narrowed his eyes. “Can’t keep a promise for shit.”
Without looking Phoebe’s way, he stormed off, his fury propelling him to the top deck, leaving me standing there to let my gaze drop to my feet, not knowing what the hell to do or how to save this.
If I even wanted to…
My tangled thoughts threatened to eat me up, until her soft palm against my tense jaw had me glancing up at her through hooded eyes. That one point of contact made my shoulders sag, and I allowed myself to get lost in her gaze—the place that had somehow become my anchor over the last few days.
“You should go after him,” she said softly. “He’s your family.”
“But you…”
“… Don’t matter, remember?” She tried to smile, but it didn’t quite work, and she couldn’t hide the sheen of tears that coated her eyes no matter how hard she tried. “I’m temporary; you said so yourself. Andy… he’s with you for life.”
“Temporary,” I mouthed, hating the way it felt in my mouth, against my lips, in my tight chest.
“You can’t lose him over this. Do whatever you’ve got to do to make it right. Say whatever you’ve got to say. Tell him I mean nothing. Tell him you’ve never found someone so repulsive in your life. Tell him you were just stringing me along.”
“You want me to lie?”
“I want you to be happy, so if that means you have to lie, you should do it.”
Something akin to rejection tried to twist me up, making me scowl as I lowered my forehead to hers and breathed her in, absorbing the strength she seemed to have in abundance when it came to sacrificing herself for those she loved.
The last thing I wanted to do was leave. I wanted us both to jump on another boat, sail away to somewhere far away, and never look back.
The trouble was I had no idea what Phoebe wanted, and the word ‘temporary’ had fallen from her so easily, I couldn’t be sure she had the same desire to run away together as I did.
So, I nodded against her forehead and pressed my lips to hers one final time, letting them linger there a moment too long before I finally pulled away, pressed a kiss to her temple, then went to find the one man who’d saved me in the past, yet seemed determined to ruin me for the future.