4. Ashley
ASHLEY
T hirty minutes later, I was stalking Shane on social media, trying to give Fox some privacy as he braced his hands on his knees and spat on the floor of the parking garage.
The guy behind the rental counter had asked if Fox was going to throw up in the car. I assured him he was fine, but had to wonder.
“That’s alcohol poisoning,” I said as he straightened and came toward me in a wobbling step. “That’s not like you.” Shane and all his friends enjoyed a good piss-up now and again, but Fox was usually the caretaker who stayed sober enough to ensure everyone got home safely. “What were you drinking?”
“Couldn’t tell you.” He swiped the back of his wrist across his mouth. “But I’m never drinking it again.”
I studied his haggard profile sheened with perspiration above his shadow of stubble. Pity stirred in me, but I wanted to grab him by the shirt front and give him a shake, too.
“Where did you go?” What happened to make Shane back out on me?
“The usual crawl, but we started way too early and forgot to quit.” He hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his jeans. “I don’t know what got into me.”
The self-disgust in his expression seemed to go deeper than regret over a bender. He looked on the verge of saying something.
I instinctively braced myself, but he flicked his gaze past me.
“G231? The Audi?”
I turned to see the red convertible. Very Shane.
“I wasn’t paying attention to what it was.” I had signed the paperwork while trying to compose appropriate texts to Shane and all his friends. I hadn’t found the right words to ask if anyone had heard from him without revealing he’d dumped me.
I wasn’t ready to accept that I’d been dumped. I kept thinking that if I could just talk to him, he would still have time to get here before the ceremony. I’d planned it so we would have a few days to acclimatize and pamper before the wedding on Wednesday. Afterward, we would enjoy another day of vacation with both families before I headed into the sunset to enjoy my exciting new life with my new husband.
“Want the top down?” Fox asked.
“Sure,” I murmured and deleted what I’d started to text.
Fox took the key fob and walked to the rear of the car, popped the trunk and left his duffel bag inside it.
“Hey!” he called to an attendant. “I’ll give you ten bucks for your hat. Twenty,” he upped when the kid hesitated. Fox patted his own butt. His shoulders tensed. “Fuck me. Where’d I leave my wallet?”
“You gave it to me.” I dug it out of my bag. The rental clerk hadn’t been happy about my signing Fox’s name to the paperwork, but with Fox rushing outside to gasp like a carp and a line of people waiting, standard procedure hadn’t been the priority.
Fox found a twenty, exchanged it for the ball cap, and jammed the hat on his head. He shaped the brim as he dragged it low over his eyes, then he climbed into the driver’s seat long enough to retract the roof. By the time I hit Send, he was walking around to the passenger side. He reclined his seat as I settled behind the wheel. I was pretty sure he was asleep before I’d finished adjusting the mirrors.
I didn’t mind him passing out on me. I needed time to process. Before I pulled out of the spot, I checked once more for a message from Shane.
Nothing. Also very Shane. He didn’t like emotional confrontations or talking about feelings. What man did? Fox was probably right. Shane was likely stacking surfboards and mates into his jeep, heading off-grid. That’s what he’d done when a flash-flood had taken out the shop’s storage room. He’d flown to the west coast and hadn’t come back until the water had gone down and he was mentally ready to deal with the mess. The two times he and I had had a heated disagreement, he’d done the same thing, leaving me to wonder for days where we stood.
We hadn’t had a fight this time, though. Everything had seemed fine until...this.
I glanced at Fox. With a sigh that was more of a whimper, I started looking for the exit.