Page 23 of Something Real with the Sea Monster (Kraken Cove #3)

TWENTY THREE

Jack

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Tegan hisses, grabbing my arm. I glare at Noah over Tegan’s shoulder, and my little brother almost manages to wipe the smirk off his face.

Almost.

Can you take them somewhere else? I mouth at him, jerking my head to indicate our parents who should not have had to witness what they just saw. I blame myself for having it open on the work laptop, but in my defense, I couldn’t look away.

Tegan marches me out of reception and through the carpark to the storage room where we keep the linen and toiletries and things for the rooms. When she closes the door behind us, her face falls into shadow, so I reach behind her to flick on the light.

I kinda wish I hadn’t, though. The scowl on her face is scary enough to bring a giant to his knees.

“I can explain,” I say again, raising my hands in a signal of surrender.

“Well you’d better start because the way I see it, you’ve been lying to me for weeks.”

“No, not lying.” I swallow. I can tell from her expression this is the wrong approach. “OK, maybe omitting the truth. I didn’t think you would want me to tell you.”

“You didn’t think maybe it was important for me to know? That maybe it’s a big fucking deal?”

I hesitate. That’s my mistake of course. Tegan doesn’t give me a chance to catch my breath.

She thrusts an angry finger into my chest. “Don’t you think I deserve to know maybe the most important piece of information you could have kept from me?

Don’t you know how much I’ve agonized over this?

What if things go well and all of a sudden you meet her?

What am I supposed to do then?” Her lip wobbles, and it guts me seeing the raw emotion in her eyes.

I didn’t know she was so worried.

Taking a step forward, I reach for her. “Tegan, you are her. You always have been. Always will be.”

She pulls away, turning her head. “No, I’m not. I can’t be. Because I can’t be mated to a guy who would keep this sort of thing from me.”

“Wait—”

She reaches for the door. “No. I’m leaving. Don’t follow me.”

“But, Tegan—”

“Oh, and I quit your stupid job! Serves me right for fucking the boss. Again.” The door slams behind her and the timer on the light clicks off, leaving me in darkness.

I lean forward to let my head thunk into a pile of towels. I miss the towels and hit the metal frame of the shelving unit with a thud instead. Why did I think I knew how to handle this? I feel bad for all the times I berated Luke and Noah for how they handled their relationships in the past.

Clearly I know nothing.

What the hell am I supposed to do now? I have to get her back. I have to!

If I chase her now, she’ll only run faster and might do something reckless. If I know Tegan, she’ll be driving back to Sydney today as soon as she’s packed her things.

I hate the thought of her driving by herself while she’s upset. That doesn’t sit right at all.

Fuck.

Fuck!

Racing from the storeroom, I yank the door to reception open and look around. “Mom? Dad? Noah?”

Silence.

Where the hell are they? Typical of them to come blow up my life and then disappear.

I forget, of course, that I just told Noah to take them elsewhere.

I snatch my phone from the counter and ring him. He pinks up after only one ring.

“Oh man. Exactly how much trouble are you in?”

“Would you knock it off? Where are you? Where are Mom and Dad?”

“You wanted space. We went up the road to Luke and Mia’s.”

Oh no. The last thing Tegan needs right now is to run right back into my whole family while she’s feeling like this. “Fuck. Is Mia there?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Get her. I need to talk to her.”

There’s a pause and a rustle. I hear muffled voices. Then Mia says, “Jack?”

“Hi. I’ve done something really stupid. No time to explain. Tegan is on her way, and I don’t think she wants to see my family again right now. Can you head her off?”

“Oh! Oh my god. Everyone is here. She’s coming here?”

“Any moment. She just left Inlet Views.”

“OK. Leave it to me.”

“Thanks. And, Mia?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you tell her I’m really sorry?”

Tegan

I’m out of breath by the time I’ve stormed up the hill to Luke and Mia’s house. I’m still boiling mad, though. I can’t decide if I’m more angry with Jack or with me for letting myself fall for another fuckboy.

In my defense, he was really well disguised as a nice guy.

Underneath maybe they’re all fuckboys.

Every. Single. One of them.

Mia’s house is in sight, which is a relief because my chest feels tight and tears are stinging the backs of my eyes. Mia rushes out of the house and waves to me with a panicked expression on her face. “Tegan! What happened? Are you OK?”

Oh great. Has Jack called everyone to let them know how he had me fooled this whole time? How humiliating. “No. I’m not OK. I don’t care what happens, just never let me sleep with another guy ever again! I’m officially gay now. Oh I wish I was gay.”

I’m still marching toward the house, tears wetting my cheeks. Mia grabs my hand. “Wait! Everyone is here. Luke’s parents. Noah. Everyone. Jack said you might not want to see them.”

“Well he’s right. Given they all just watched our homemade porn and witnessed me discovering he’s been lying to me, I don’t want to see any of them. Mia, I can’t stay here. I have to go.”

“Go?”

“Back home. It’s time for me to go home.”

Mia blinks. I can see she’s fighting back tears, but she nods. “What do you need?”

She sneaks me in the back door, and I pack my suitcase. We share a tearful hug.

“I’ll call you when I get home. Please don’t worry. I just need some space.”

“Are you sure? I can ask them to all leave. I’ll even kick Luke out.”

I sniff. “Don’t do that. I just want to disappear.”

“Tegan?” She stops me as I bend to pick up my suitcase. “Jack said to say he’s really sorry.”

The knife twists in my gut, and I press my eyes closed for a moment, determined not to cry more. “Yeah, well that’s nice, I guess. I don’t know what he wants me to do about that. It doesn’t make it better.”

“What happened?”

I sigh. “Turns out he knew I am his fated mate all along. All along! And he kept it from me.”

“Oh,” Mia whispers.

“What?”

“Well, it’s just that Luke didn’t tell me either. Not when he first found out.”

“That was different.”

“Yeah, it was.”

There’s a pause.

“Did he say why he didn’t tell you?” she asks.

“He said he didn’t think I’d want to hear! As if I wasn’t freaking out about it.”

“Yeah. I see why you’re upset. Don’t be too hard on yourself, OK? Or Jack. We all make mistakes.” She squeezes my hand.

“I seem to make the biggest ones when it comes to guys. Big fat mistakes, all of them.” I finally grab my suitcase and turn for the stairs. “Well I’m done. I’ll talk to you later, Mia.”