Page 25 of Curve Balls and Second Chances (Pickwick Pirate Queens #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

T he dock creaked beneath them as a breeze stirred off the river, cool and carrying the scent of rain.

The river spread out in both directions, a long silver ribbon in the twilight.

A frog croaked somewhere near the bank, and crickets sang their rising chorus.

In the distance, faint thunder rumbled—a storm building but not yet here.

Rose didn’t sit. She couldn’t. The wooden bench on the dock looked too permanent, too much like a place to settle.

Instead , she stood at the edge, arms crossed tight across her chest like she could hold in the memories if she just braced hard enough.

Her body carried the tension of someone holding the levee against years’ worth of floodwater.

Acen stayed quiet.

He knew this wasn’t easy. His arms rested loosely at his sides, but his gaze was steady, patient. He wasn’t going to force her. He’d learned something about silence in the years he’d been gone. It had weight. Sometimes it was heavier than words.

Finally, Rose exhaled. A long, shaky breath that left her shoulders trembling.

“That summer…” she began, her voice distant, thinned by memory, “ I was supposed to go to college with Riley . We had this whole plan. We’d leave Pickwick Bend together, head to Knoxville , share an apartment, build new lives.

He’d coach, I’d bake or teach or do something other than be the girl who never left town. ”

Acen nodded slowly. He remembered how close the twins had always been, almost like one mind split into two bodies.

Their future had seemed like a joint package, neatly wrapped and ready to go.

He remembered teasing Rose once, back when they were eighteen, about how she and Riley ought to print business cards with their names side by side.

“But you didn’t go.” A premonitory chill chased down his spine. He’d never really thought about that before. Why Rose hadn’t left for Knoxville with Riley the way they’d discussed all senior year.

“I didn’t go,” she said, her eyes locked on the water, the moon’s reflection quivering on the surface.

“ And everyone assumed it was because of what happened with you. That you broke my heart, and I couldn’t handle leaving.

That I stayed behind to lick my wounds and pretend I was better off. Even Riley believed that.”

The way she said it—flat, with a bitter edge—made Acen’s chest tighten.

“That’s not what happened?” he asked gently.

Her jaw clenched so hard the muscles trembled. “ No . You leaving broke something, sure. But I could’ve handled that. I could’ve gone on. What I couldn’t handle… was what came after.”

Her gaze flicked to him, sharp and pained, before drifting back to the water.

“Briana wasn’t just my best friend back then, Acen . She was like a sister. Remember ? We were inseparable from second grade until that summer. I told her everything. Including that I was in love with you.”

The words landed heavy between them.

He blinked, caught off guard, breath faltering. “ I — I didn’t know?—”

“She did,” Rose said bitterly, her voice cracking under the strain. “ And a week later, she kissed you at graduation. And you let her.”

Acen’s face fell, guilt washing over him in waves.

“ I didn’t know she knew. I thought— I thought you didn’t feel that way after what she told me that night.

That you were done with me and didn’t know how to break it to me.

That you and Riley were heading to Knoxville and everything we’d planned together was just kid stuff. I was stupid. I thought?—”

“You thought I didn’t care.” Rose’s arms tightened across her chest, nails digging into her arms. “ I was eighteen. I didn’t know how to say it. But I trusted her. And she used it to wedge herself between us.”

The weight of betrayal carried years of rust, but it was still sharp as a blade.

Acen rubbed the back of his neck, his voice low. “ She told me you were done with me. That you’d moved on. That Riley had said he didn’t want us together but didn’t want to tell me.”

Rose gave a strangled laugh, one that wasn’t laughter at all. “ I never moved on. I tried to hate you, and I hated her more. But it wasn’t even the worst part.”

She stepped back, her body taut like a bowstring, arms still crossed as though shielding her heart.

“Right after you left,” she said softly, “ I found out I was pregnant.”

The words hung in the air like thunder without lightning, a pressure that made the night seem stiller, darker.

Acen froze.

“What?” His voice cracked.

Rose looked away, staring at the water as though it might swallow her confession. “ I didn’t tell anyone. Not even Riley . I was eighteen. I hadn’t told you how I felt. I was terrified. And then… I lost the baby.”

Acen’s face drained of color. He opened his mouth, then closed it, searching for words that didn’t exist. His chest rose and fell in short, sharp breaths.

“I didn’t know,” he whispered finally, voice breaking on the syllables.

“You weren’t here,” she said, not cruel, just hollow.

“ And Briana was. For a few weeks, at least, until she left for college too. And she knew. She figured it out and made it clear that if I ever tried to tell anyone what she’d done to break us up, she’d spread lies about me all over town.

That I was reckless. That I was trying to trap you.

I was grieving and alone and so full of shame that I just…

shut down. I canceled my college plans. I stayed here. And I stopped letting anyone in.”

The silence that followed was suffocating. Even the crickets seemed to hush, the whole riverbank leaning in to listen.

Acen’s throat worked as he swallowed, his fists curling at his sides. Anger , hot and helpless, burned in his veins. Anger at himself for not being there. Anger at Briana for twisting everything pure into something rotten.

Finally, he stepped forward. Gently . Like approaching a skittish deer.

“I should’ve come back sooner,” he said, his voice thick. “ I should’ve asked questions. I should’ve fought for us.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “ Did you ever tell Riley ?”

She nodded. “ A few years ago. He was pretty pissed I’d kept it from him all that time.”

“I’m so sorry. I know I’ve said that multiple times already.”

“You didn’t know.”

“But I do now.” His voice cracked. “ Rose , I’m so sorry. For all of it. For being blind, for leaving, for not giving you a reason to believe in me.”

She looked at him then, really looked—at the boy she’d loved and the man he’d become. His eyes were rimmed with unshed tears, his jaw tight with regret. And her own eyes stung, the tears she’d been holding back threatening to spill.

“I didn’t want your pity,” she whispered.

He reached for her hand, slow and careful.

“I’m not giving you pity,” he said. His voice was firm now, steady. “ I’m giving you the truth. I love you. I never stopped loving you.”

The words soaked into her like rain after a drought, seeping deep into soil that had long since cracked. For a heartbeat, she let herself imagine it—that love was enough, that it could patch over the past like a quilt over worn boards.

But love wasn’t enough—not by itself.

“Then help me,” she said, her voice low but fierce. “ Help me take my life back. Help me take her down.”

Acen squeezed her hand, his grip warm and solid, grounding her against the storm that still raged inside.

“Whatever you need,” he said.

The dock groaned beneath their weight, the river whispering against the pilings. Overhead , the first scatter of raindrops fell, soft against the water, darkening the planks.