Chapter 28

Dad wanted to meet Justin. Formally, that is. He'd met my boyfriend a couple times before, when Justin came to pick me up, but it wasn't enough to simply greet each other and make small talk. Dad preferred a sit-down meal, a proper conversation, a real chance to interrogate the man his daughter had been seeing for over a month. It was a father's prerogative, or so he said.

Maybe things would have been different if Justin wasn't the son of his former friend and the stepchild of his ex-wife. He may have waited for my relationship to develop more before requesting Justin came over for a barbecue.

Another person might think I would be the nervous wreck in this situation, desperately worried about my father liking my boyfriend. Me being me, that made sense. Tonight, however, it was not the case.

"Do you think he'll like it?" Justin asked, slowing his Jeep to a crawl in search of a kerbside car spot.

I reached across the console to take his hand. "He will enjoy whatever you brought."

"But is it good enough?" he continued, eyes darting from one side of the road to the other.

To distract him, and to avoid answering the same question I'd already answered three times, I steered the conversation to parking. "There will be more spots open in the next street," I suggested. We'd already driven by my house knowing there was no room in the driveway. It barely fit my own car and would in no way accommodate another, especially one the size of a Jeep.

Justin continued driving and sure enough, there were a few free spots. He whipped into the first one he saw. The houses on this road were larger and had more kerbside parking. My street was full of thin terraces, and it was a tight squeeze.

"Stop worrying," I sighed, closing the door. Justin rounded the car to meet me on the footpath. "Dad likes you, trust me."

It was the truth. If I had any doubts, I'd be the one freaking out. I knew for a fact that Dad was happy with Justin because I was happy. He'd told me so many times in the past few weeks.

"He does drink whiskey, right?"

I laughed. "Yes. Cheap, expensive, and everything in between." The bottle Justin currently held in his hand was on the expensive side.

He took hold of my hand, pulling us to a standstill. "I'm sorry," he started, a frown forming on his brow. "I'm just really nervous."

Taking a step closer, I said, "You've met him three times already."

"This is different. What if he doesn't like me?"

I shook my head. "How on Earth could he not like you?"

Justin's brows rose, stating the obvious.

"He's a very open person," I began, hoping my words would convince him until he experienced it for himself. "The past doesn't matter to him, he told me so. And even if it did, he would never hold it against you. What happened had nothing to do with us."

It had taken me a while to accept my father's words, so I couldn't blame Justin for feeling the way he did. When it came time for me to meet his family—in a formal way, considering I'd already met his sister and Caroline was, well, Caroline—I would be a mess as well. I dreaded the day.

"Okay," he finally agreed with a sigh.

I stood on my tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. "You ready now?

"Yep, let's go."

Hand in hand, we continued walking. When we rounded the corner onto my street, a compulsion took over me. I jumped up onto the short brick fence, just as I use to when I was a kid, and balanced as I walked along it.

Justin kept hold of my hand, laughing at my antics.

"Now what?" he asked when I reached the first driveway and end of the fence.

I turned to him and pouted.

"Piggyback?" he suggested, amusement in his tone.

I smiled sweetly. "If you insist." Then he offered his back to me and I jumped on without hesitation, wrapping my arms around his neck and legs around his waist. He hooked a hand under one of my knees, the other keeping hold of the whiskey.

One driveway from my own, he couldn't contain his squirming. "Keep going," he murmured, leaning into my lips as they trailed kisses along his neck, "And I'll either drop you or we're going back to the car."

"I vote for the second option," I laughed, continuing my work on his neck.

Justin slowed his pace and stood up straight. I nearly fell off.

"Is your dad going through a mid-life crisis?" he asked uncertainly. "Nice bike."

My eyes quickly found the road bike tucked into the driveway near the front of my car. My heart dropped and I slid down Justin's back, letting go of him. "Sawyer's here."

Justin took a moment to respond. "Oh."

"I'm sure he's not staying," I said quickly, hoping that was the truth. "He's probably just sorting out something for work with Dad." I glanced up at him to gauge his reaction. Sure enough, his expression was strained.

"It's fine," Justin nodded, attempting to straighten his face. "It's not a big deal."

Slipping my hand into his, I hoped to ease both our worries. "Come on, it will be fine."

We continued up the front path and were barely halfway when the door opened. Sawyer was backing out the door, shaking dad's hand as he went. When he turned around and spotted us, his smile dropped.

"Hi," I said, voice soft.

After a moment of taking us in, he responded, lips tight. "Hey."

Justin didn't let go of my hand.

Sensing the tension, Dad stepped over the threshold. "You made it. Good evening."

Without hesitation, Justin replied. "Good evening, Mr Newcombe."

"Richard, please," Dad insisted. "What's that you've got there?"

Justin looked down at his hand as if he was seeing the whiskey bottle for the first time. "It's a single malt," he said, offering it to my father.

"Wonderful," Dad continued, taking the bottle Justin held out to him. "I finished a good one the other night. Why don't you come in and pour me a glass?"

Justin looked to me with worried eyes and I squeezed his hand. "I just need a minute out here," I said, hoping he would understand.

He did, squeezing my hand back before letting go. I was grateful he didn't kiss me. This was awkward enough. He walked up the stairs, nodding to Sawyer as he went. Sawyer nodded back, lips still pressed together. It was a much more civil interaction than the last time they'd met.

When Justin was through the door, Dad closed it and I stood alone with Sawyer in my front yard.

After a long moment, he broke the silence. "Are you happy?" he asked, not with an accusatory tone as I was expecting, but with one of genuine curiosity. It was one thing to know that I was with Justin, it was another thing to see it.

"Yes," I admitted. There was no point in lying or playing it down.

Sawyer nodded, fiddling with the strap on his helmet. I hadn't noticed he was wearing his leathers, something that once caught my eye instantly for how attractive he looked in them. While he was still one of the best-looking men I knew, I saw him differently now. We both knew it. "That's good. You deserve to be happy."

I swallowed, taking a step forward. "I owe you a gigantic apology," I began, shaking my head. "More than one, actually."

He held up a hand, as if to wave off my apology. "You don't owe me anything, Elle."

"Yes I do," I insisted. "In my confusion and uncertainty, I led you on."

"We both agreed it was a casual thing, no labels."

"Even so, we both know there was more to it after a while." There were times when we'd leaned on each other, needing a comfort and support no one else could provide at the time. That held meaning, I saw that now.

"Maybe if I'd said something sooner, there would have been. But that's my own fault, not yours. You made your intentions clear from the beginning." Even now, he tried to keep the blame off me when I should be shouldering most of it.

"And I could have done or said something about what was going on with Justin sooner, and then maybe it wouldn't be like this between us."

Sawyer sighed, keeping eye contact. "I don't think it would have mattered. Justin or no Justin, this would have happened eventually."

I nodded. After much reflection and taking the time to explore my own thoughts and feelings, I knew we would have ended up in a similar position, regardless of who came into my life. "You're right, and that's what I'm sorry for. You deserve so much better than that."

"Don't worry about me, Elle, I'll be fine."

He would be. I was merely a blip in his existence.

"You won't see me much. I'm not going to be working at the hotel anymore, except when you're desperate to cover a shift."

"That's a shame," he said, before quickly adding, "Not that you're pursing what you really want to, that we won't see much of each other, I mean. Besides all the other stuff, I thought we had a pretty good friendship going. It would be a shame to let that go."

"We did. We do."

His tone was thick with sincerity. "Then I hope you know I'll always be here for you. If you need someone to talk to, about anything, I'm here."

"Anything?" I teased, hoping to lighten the mood.

He looked towards the door, suppressing the upward curve of his lips. "Well, maybe Sass can be the ear for certain things."

"That's fair," I smiled. I wasn't ignorant; there was no chance I'd talk to him about my relationship.

"Come here." His tone was soft as he held out an arm. I stepped into his warmth, linking my hands around his middle. "I'll see you soon."

"See you soon," I murmured into his chest before letting go.

Sawyer walked over to his bike, only glancing back at me when he was seated with helmet on and backing it out of the driveway. I waved goodbye and watched as he took off down the street.

I let myself have a few more moments before going inside. I'd barely noticed Sawyer's absence the past few weeks, having been so caught up in Justin. Now it was painfully obvious. His offer of friendship was sincere though, even if I didn't deserve it.

When I walked into the kitchen, Justin was standing at the island bench, pondering three empty scotch tumblers. Through the patio doors, I could see Dad fiddling with the barely used barbecue. Dinner tonight would either be good, or we'd be ordering take away.

"You okay?" Justin asked cautiously when I came to stand beside him. His concern wasn't about Sawyer and me. He was worried about my head and where it was at.

"Yeah, everything's good," I smiled. Sorting things out with Sawyer felt like a weight had fallen from my shoulders, only to be replaced with another. "You know that Sawyer and I will always be friends, right? It's not like I'll be hanging out with him or anything, but he will be around. You know, with the hotel and all."

At the end of the day, Sawyer worked with my father. Friends or not, he would always be a part of my life in one capacity or another. It would make things a lot easier for everyone if we could get along. Was it selfish of me to ask Justin to accept that?

Justin sighed, putting the whiskey bottle down to give me his full attention. "I do know that. I completely understand and I'm okay with it."

Surprise and relief filled me. "Thank you." With nothing weighing me down, I reached up to wrap my arms around his neck. "How did I ever get so lucky?"

"Well..." he began, hands resting on my waist.

"That was a rhetorical question," I interrupted.

"Sure it was." Justin laughed, placing a kiss to my neck before letting me go. "So, does your dad prefer his whiskey straight or on the rocks?"

"Definitely straight." I wandered to the freezer and pulled out an ice cube tray. "But I..."

"Prefer yours weakened by a handful of ice," he finished for me with a smirk, holding up the third glass. "I know."