“Hmm.” His forehead furrows. “Maybe a little higher.”
I skim my fingers over the top of his foot.
“Higher, Sassy.”
I cock my neck back and hold his eyes. “You’re horrible. Work first, canoodle later.” I run my hand the rest of the way up his leg to the growing massive bulge on the front of his shorts. I stroke him twice through the cloth as I stand. Then I toss my ponytail over my shoulder as I pivot away. My hair’s getting long. Maybe I should let one of the guys cut it?
“Sassy?” Dante says.
“Are you going to help with the work, Dante?”
“I’m going to need a minute.”
I laugh as Easton comes over to the box of chickens. “Hey, Firefly... I’m sorry. I should have woken you up. Want some help moving these to camp?”
“Yes, and yes.”
He cocks his head at me.
“Yes, you should have woken me up. And yes, I would like some help moving them. They’re crowded in there.” I place Violet back in the box, and she sleepily huddles under a mamma hen.
Easton picks up the box. “I actually went back to the sleeping platform and thought about it. But then you were snoring so peacefully.”
“Snoring?” I know I snore. Steven used to tell me all the time how loud I was. Every cabin mate I’ve ever had said it’s more heavy breathing than snoring. He was a walking red flag. If I had a time machine, I’d go back and slap his phone number out of my hand.
He’s making good time up the path, but then he stops. “Cute snores, not like the Blue Angels taking off over Pensacola?—”
“—like Calvin,” we both say together.
I chuckle.
“It’s good to hear you laugh. I was nervous about how angry you were going to be. And then when Zane fell off the boat... I was worried about him. About how hurt you were going to be if something happened to him when I could have prevented it.”
I nod and wait for him to take the chickens to camp. Penny’s lost interest in what the other guys are doing on the tender and is jumping at his side. Which attracts Pepper. Easton sets them down next to the big tree. And Pepper jumps up on the ladder and gazes down into the box.
“They’re our friends, Pepper.”
She mews. So polite.
“We’re going to have to figure out how to keep them safe from their new friends,” Easton says.
I put my hands on his shoulder. “Hey.”
“Hey back at you.”
“You know you’re not responsible for anyone but yourself?” I hold his blue eyes.
He shakes, trying to laugh it off. “I’m serious. What they do or don’t do is up to them.” He blinks at me. “But the same can be said for you, too, Firefly. Right? Not everything that happens here is your responsibility.”
I wince because he’s called me out. And he’s not wrong. For a long time, I’ve taken every little thing that goes wrong onto my shoulders. It’s one of the reasons why I like being chief stew. It’s not the being in charge part, it’s the fixing part. It goes way back.
But then there are times when you can’t... when you can’t fix things. I couldn’t fix my mom. I couldn’t fix my parents’ marriage. I couldn’t fix Steven being an asshole. I couldn’t fix... I...My chest is heavy, and I can’t breathe. I can’t even look Easton in the face. Tears erupt from my eyes, water falling down my cheeks.
“Haley,” Easton says on an inhale.
And I bend at the waist. I can’t make this better. I can’t get us home. I can’t fix them. And now what? I’ve given my soul to them. And there’s no making it better.
Chapter 18
