“And do you realize that because you climbed over that fence to get into a clearly marked no-trespassing property, you could face a first-degree trespassing charge?” He shook his head, almost like he was our parent, before calling out some sort of code into his radio along with our location. “Couldn’t even be smart about it. Flashlights? Really? I saw them from the road.”

“And do you realize you’re being a class A fuck boy right now?”

“Rhodes!” I warned, shocked at his disrespect. I was trying to talk us out of the situation, Rhodes was ready to make it worse.

“Wait,” Officer Martino interrupted. “Rhodes? As in William Rhodes?”

Rhodes didn’t answer. His jaw ticked and he kept his hard eyes trained on the cop, who was now looking at Rhodes in a completely different way. It was as if he recognized him, or as if he was seeing a ghost of his past rise right out of the ground. I knew Rhodes was in and out of juvie when we were younger, but had that reputation really stuck for this long?

“Copy. Calling the property owner now,” a woman’s voice called over the radio fastened to the officer’s hip, breaking the awkward silence stretching between us. It was my turn to add another twist to the night.

“Here,” I offered, reaching into my pocket for my phone. The officer pulled his gun, pointing it straight at my chest.

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Rhodes stepped in front of me again, scowling at the cop. “Are you fucking crazy?”

“Keep your hands where I can see them!”

I panicked, dropping my phone completely and letting it shatter on the ground as I lifted my arms above my head. “I’m sorry,” I said with shaky voice. I sounded weak, and in that moment, maybe I was. I’d never been in trouble with law enforcement. I didn’t know how to act. I didn’t understand why this man looked at me like a criminal. “I was just going to call him for you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Shifting on my feet, I glanced at Rhodes before answering. “I’m Natalie Poxton.” My eyes found the officer’s just in time to see recognition set in. “The property owner is my dad.”

I’d never stared at my feet for so long.

My eyes were tracing the stitches on my Keds, following the lining of the laces through each hoop and back. I could hear Mom tapping her finger on the edge of the kitchen counter and even though I hadn’t looked yet, I could feel Dale’s eyes on the point of contact where Rhodes’ hand held mine. None of us had said a word since Officer Martino left, and I definitely didn’t want to be the first to break that silence.

Disappointing Mom and Dale wasn’t something I was used to. Before now, my only offenses had been minor party incidents that they usually scolded me for before breaking out into laughter. It was child’s play. Something all teenagers in Poxton Beach went through.

This, however, was not.

“Mr. and Mrs. Poxton,” Rhodes started, his deep baritone sounding so foreign beneath the blanket of silence we’d been under. “I just want to apologize for our actions tonight. Natalie had nothing to do with what happened. It was my idea.”

I snapped my attention to Rhodes, mouth open and ready to correct him, but he gave me a stern look that made me shut it, instead.

“Well that much is obvious,” Dale retorted. “But you’re notorious for bad ideas, aren’t you, Rhodes?”

“Dale!” Rhodes squeezed my hand tighter, but I refused to let Dale talk to him that way.

“Don’t raise your voice at us, young lady,” Mom warned. I couldn’t remember the last time she’d called me young lady.

“Mom, it wasn’t his fault. It was my idea to break into the boat barn tonight.”

“Honey,” she said the pet name with a hint of sympathy, as if I didn’t know what I was saying.

“It’s true! It was my idea. And I’m sorry. But look, nothing was taken, we didn’t break anything. We were just…” My voice trailed off when I realized I couldn’t exactly tell them what we were doing.

“You were just what, Natalie?” Dale probed. His brows were set in a firm straight line over his hard eyes.

“I can’t tell you.” I murmured the words, just barely audible over the hum of the refrigerator.

“Why?” Mom asked. She was heated, angrier than I’d ever seen her. I glanced to Rhodes, but that only fueled her fire. “It’s clear that whatever you were doing, it was something you didn’t want us finding out. And that won’t fly in this household.”

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen—”

“Again?” Dale asked, laughing a little. “Oh, you bet your ass it won’t. I don’t know who you’ve become hanging out with this delinquent,” he added, gesturing to Rhodes. “But stealing my keys and trespassing on a property you know you shouldn’t be on is absolutely unacceptable.”

“Stop talking about him like he’s not standing right next to me!”

“Bug, it’s fine,” Rhodes soothed, rubbing the pad of his thumb along my hand. “I’m just going to wait outside.”

“Oh no you are not, young man,” Mom said. She was shaking slightly, her face red and blotchy. “You are never to see my daughter again. Ever. Do you hear me?”

“Mom!” I choked on her name, my heart jumping to attention at her implication. It didn’t slowly accelerate. It jumped. It galloped. I felt it threatening to break through the confines of my rib cage.

“Do not argue with me, Natalie! Now I have had enough of this nonsense. Rhodes was your trainer and that was all he was ever meant to be. Clearly he has seduced you, that much is obvious, but that all ends tonight. I will not stand for this any longer.”

“Are you serious?” I cried incredulously. I dropped Rhodes’ hand, stepping toward her. “Do you hear yourself? Do you hear the way you’re talking about a human being who’s standing right here in your kitchen?”

“This isn’t up for discussion.”

“You don’t get to decide what I do with my life!”

“As long as you live under this roof, we do. Now stop disrespecting your mother and walk him out,” Dale demanded. He wouldn’t even say Rhodes’ name.

“Then I’ll move out!”