Page 32 of Crashing Into You

“Bryce.” Her soft voice jolts me back to myself again. I realise I’ve hardly spoken at all during lunch, Jeff filling the conversation gaps by asking Claire about herself.

“Is everything okay?”

Her blue gaze is gentle with worry. I can hardly bear it, but I can’t offload onto her. “It’s fine.” I try to look as though I mean it.

She doesn’t seem to buy it, her frown deepening. “Are you sure? Because you haven’t seemed right since we got in the office. Can I do anything? Or do you need some space? I can ask Jeff to drop me back if you want to head out for a surf or something.”

Some space? Fuck. I realise she’s asking because she thinks it might be her. It’s so not her.

“No,” I say. Then, at her questioning look, I realise I need to clarify that. “Honestly.” I soften my tone, reaching across the table to take her hand. I play with her slender fingers, trying to figure out what I can tell her. “Remember I said I was here for a month or so? Well, I have some family stuff going on. And it’s just…” I can’t say any more, my throat tightening. I hope she doesn’t press me for details I’m not ready to share.

Her fingers squeeze mine. “It’s okay,” she says. “I’m here if you want to talk about it, but I understand if you don’t. Just… if you want to take off, let me know.”

I smile. “I’ve enjoyed spending the day with you.” It’s the truth. “And I’m not ready for it to end just yet. Besides, these guys want me for another hour in the store this afternoon.”

“And then?”

“And then I’ll take you home, though we can stop off for a swim if you want. But you might need to get bathers.”

“I have them!” She holds up the shopping bag she was carrying. “Bought a new bikini. A bit more fabric in it than my other one.” She giggles, the frown leaving her face. She’s fucking adorable, and once again I have to restrain myself from kissing that glossy pink pout until neither of us can stand.

“These guys will shout us a couple of towels. You sure you want to go out again?”

“Maybe not so deep this time? I just… I need time to get used to that.”

“Deal.” My other hand comes to our linked ones, and I twine my fingers through hers. We stare into each other’s eyes and again I can feel that spark building between us. I’m not sure what would have happened if Jeff hadn’t come back into the room. He gives our clasped hands a quizzical glance, but doesn’t say anything. I guess this all looks good for him, if the sponsors are happy.

“They’re getting ready for you in the store again,” he says. “And maybe we can get a few shots with you, Claire? Lexie really likes your look, especially as you’re already wearing Ocean’s Curl. Just some candid stuff for the socials. We’re already getting great engagement on the shots from this morning.”

“Yeah, sure,” she says, as though she’s been doing this all her life. “We can make it look good.” She shoots me a wicked grin that goes straight to my dick. This girl.

“Yeah,” I say, returning her glance with one of my own. “We can.”

My phone buzzes, breaking the tension. It’s Mum calling me back. Fuck.

“I need to take this, sorry,” I say, grabbing my phone and heading for the door. “I’ll meet you down there.”

I step into an empty conference room across the hall, and pull the door closed. I see Lexie, Claire and Jeff leaving the other room, Claire shooting me a concerned glance through the blinds. I give her a thumbs up to let her know I’m okay, even though I’m not sure I’m going to be.

“Mum. What’s going on?”

It’s time for me to face my shit. Matt was right, last night. I stay away because it’s easier that way. Because I can’t bear to see my sister relapse.

Millie is a drug addict. She’s been to rehab, got clean, but there’s always the fear she might go down that pathway again. Especially as the guy who introduced her to heroin, her drug of choice, also happens to be her ex-boyfriend. They’d been living together when Mum, horrified at the way her daughter was wasting away before her eyes, called me. I was in Hawaii at the time, filming. But I caught the next flight home, and together Mum and I managed to get Millie out of there and into rehab. It was a close call, though, and I often relive the satisfaction I felt driving my fist into the guy’s face when he tried to get violent with Millie.

When I saw Claire at the pub being manhandled by that jerk, Simon, it awakened the same protective instincts. Like I say, violent controlling assholes push my buttons for a number of reasons.

Even though Millie is clean now, her ex-boyfriend is still hanging around, and for reasons neither Mum nor I can understand, she keeps in contact with him. She says it’s to make sure he’s okay, but Mum and I both worry it’s because she wants to go back to him. It doesn’t help that the guy tries the same manipulative bullshit I saw Simon using on Claire, barraging her with text messages, sending gifts, showing up places to talk to her.

I sometimes feel like shit for being away so much, for not being there. Maybe I would have seen the signs earlier, and could have stopped things before they got so bad. Or maybe not. Surfing is my job, and it pays me well, but it also means I need to travel. Plus, Mum needs the money I give her every month, to maintain the house and pay for Millie’s counselling and rehab. So I’m kind of stuck, really.

“Oh, Brycie.” Mum is the only person in the world who gets away with calling me that. “Don’t worry. I was just having a moment, that’s all.”

“A moment?” I try not to get angry. This is the other thing that pisses me off, though I try not to let it get to me. Mum has a tendency to downplay things.

“It’s just… I thought Millie hadn’t gone to school today. She had her location on, on her phone, and it showed her at the flat when she was supposed to be in class. And when I rang her, she wasn’t answering.”

Millie lives in a flat that Mum owns, bought as an investment years ago. One of the conditions of her living by herself was that she shares her location with Mum, both to keep her safe but also to make sure she’s not in any dodgy places. She resisted at first, and I get why she did, but both Mum and I made it clear it was non-negotiable, and after all she put us through, she grudgingly agreed.