Page 52 of Jerk

“You needto be taught a lesson, Hannah.”

My heart feels like a jackhammer, every muscle inside me tight as my father glares at me from our sailboat. “I-I can explain.”

“Get on, Rowen.” My father speaks to Rye instead.

“Are you leaving her here?” he asks.

“Yes,” my father responds, owning his insanity.

“Ma!” I call, but my mother refuses to look at me. She gives me no time to explain how I ended up half-naked in a chair at our lake house. “Please, listen to me. It was?—”

“Five seconds, Rowen.” My father pushes away from the dock, clouds rolling in above us.

Glancing at Rye, he glares at my father, but he doesn’t move, his hands in his pockets. I try to reason with my parents. “Let me explain what happened!"

“Suit yourself,” my father says to Rye, the boat moving further and further from the dock.

“Guys, wait!” My foot leaves the dock next, stepping off the wooden plank. Two long arms wrap around me, stopping me from going further.

“Let them go.” Rye’s voice lands in my ear, his grip firm as I watch my parents sail off. Without me.

I try to wiggle out of his hold, but he squeezes tighter. “This is all your fault!” And that gets me dropped onto the small wooden dock, my ass landing with a thud.

“Explain to me how your father leaving you on an island is my fault?” He crouches to meet my gaze. “Because I don’t see the math.”

“You’re the one who took that photo.” Pushing off the ground, I stand to my feet in time to watch my parents sail off in the distance. They don’t even look back. Not once. My voice cracks. “You’re the reason we’re here!”

“I should’ve gone with your father.” The sound of a flicking lighter comes from behind me, and when I turn to face him, he brings a cigarette to his lips.

“I’m surprised you didn’t jump at the chance.” More clouds cover the sky as the sun starts to disappear, but I’m too heated to care. “Why the hell didn’t you just leave?”

He doesn’t answer me. He just reaches into his slacks, pulling out his phone. He raises it to the sky and in seconds, lowers it, his jaw working. “Is there no service here?”

“All the money and power in the world, and you can’t even call for help, huh?”

“I’ll figure it out.” He puffs his cigarette, looking up at the clouds rolling in. “I just need time.”

“Like the time you had to send that photo to my father?”

“You know, you should trust the only person on your side right now.” Thunder crackles above us, but it doesn’t make him flinch. He just stares into my soul.

“Trustyou?” When I step to his face, he doesn’t move, a droplet falling on my cheek. “How stupid do you think I am?”

“Really stupid if you don’t get out of my face.” Lightning strikes, lighting up one side of his sharp, tightened jaw.

I step closer, another droplet on my forehead. “Make me.”

“You won’t like it if I make you.” His glare sharpens, the wind picking up around us.

The air thickens before the sky breaks and sheets of rain begin to pour.

Cold raindrops attack my skin, my hands coming to my arms. Rye smirks, and all I can do is scream. “This is all your fault!”

“The rain?” His mocking tone extends over the growing storm. “You sound crazier than usual.”

"You make me crazy!" Lifting my head, I let the rain drench me, my dress sticking to my body along with my hair. A chill rips through my bones, my muscles as tight as my mother’s facelift.

Is this karma for all the pranks I pulled? All the shit I did in high school? The last thing I want to be is on a stormy island with my enemy.