Page 107 of Always You (A Lilac Bay Novel)

“Youwon’t get the wrong idea? What are you talking about?”

“I heard you, Riley.” He turned back to me, his eyes piercing even in the darkness. “Today. With Jenny. I know you regret what happened.”

“Hang on a second. You heard me with Jenny?”

“I stopped by my boat to get my tool box,” he said, shrugging. “I heard you guys.”

“And what did you hear, exactly?”

His eyes flashed and I had the sudden impression that he was angry with me.

“You said you were worried you made the biggest mistake of your life.”

“Is thatallyou heard?”

“It was all I needed to hear. I left after that.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be annoyed that he'd gotten the wrong idea or relieved that I could set it right. “Andrew, if you would have kept listening you would have heard me talk about why I was afraid.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

I stared at him. He wasn’t meeting my eyes anymore. “Of course it does.”

“I get it, Riley. It was stupid, us going there. We have a good friendship and we should just leave it there.”

A flash of fear ran through me. Did he really want that? Or did he just think it was what I wanted?

“Andrew, don’t do this. You have to at least let me explain what you heard.”

“The whole thing was a mistake. You know me, Ri. I’ve never really been the kind of guy to settle down with one woman.” His eyes narrowed, his gaze intense on me. “I guess I heard that part, too.”

Oh, God. What had I said, exactly? That he was the kind of guy who just wanted sex?

“I was scared, Andrew, and talking it out with my friend. I didn’t mean—”

“You were right.” His voice was cold. “I would just hurt you, Riley. I wouldn’t mean to, but I would. That’s just who I am.”

“No. That’snotwho you are.”

“You’ve seen it with your own eyes, right? You’re not blind. You see how I am with girls.”

“Last night you said you weren’t actually that promiscuous.”

“I lied. I wanted to sleep with you.”

I took a step back, feeling like he’d struck me.

“You’re just trying to push me away,” I whispered, horrified to feel tears coming to my eyes. “I don’t know why.”

“I’m not going to be your mistake, Riley. I’m not going to be the thing you regret.”

“I would never regret you!”

He turned again, his eyes on the water, and I wanted to shake him, to make him listen to me. I had been feeling confused about what we did all day, not knowing exactly what I wanted from Andrew. But I knew I didn’t want it like this. Brushed off, like what happened was nothing.

“Look,” he said, his voice soft now, all the anger gone. “You’ve felt stuck on this island ever since college. I know that. I know you’re only here because of your mom and Rebecca. But you don’t have to worry about that anymore, right?”

“Andrew, stop it—”