Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
His good morning text from his best friend wasn’t encouraging.
Rob
You. Me. Beach. Now.
The text had arrived a minute ago. Dax had been checking his phone periodically since he’d woken up, hoping for one from Rob about going on a run so he could talk to him about last night. From the tone of his message, it sounded like Tiffany had talked to him already.
He set his phone back on the side table, his already knotted stomach tightening further, like when he was cinched into his seat belt and shoulder harness before executing a particularly challenging test flight.
Well, it was what it was. No putting it off. Besides, he was eager to put this behind him.
He hadn’t been able to go to sleep after he and Ariel had made love, a rarity for him. Ariel had been out almost immediately. Sometime near four, he’d finally fallen asleep, only to feel her leave the bed when it was still dark outside. Maybe to let Sherlock out? Somewhere in between then and now, she’d come back to bed and fallen back asleep, pressed against him wearing that funny black T-shirt Bubba had given her with the cartoon rooster on it with the words STAY COCKY with giant fire sticks exploding outward.
As a homey gesture—he didn’t know if she’d meant it like that—it was reassuring as hell. They’d taken a few steps further down the path with each other last night. The sex had been raw and electric and deeply emotional. They’d both understood they could lose something precious, and they’d drawn a line in the sand.
He was about to leave the bed when she stirred in her sleep, and he leaned over to soothe her with a gentle caress, feeling the silky warmth of her skin. She smiled, and his heart turned over. God, she’d come to mean so much to him in such a short time. Whatever happened, he was glad he’d come here. He’d met Ariel, and he planned to keep on being with Ariel. Regardless of how things went with Rob.
Dax fitted a pillow beside her when he slid away. He was happy she was getting more shut-eye. She was a cuddler, and while she frowned in her sleep as she touched his pillow replacement, she still curved her body around it and stayed asleep. He kissed her forehead softly and left the bed, heading into the bathroom to dress quickly. He was used to running on little sleep and pressure in the Navy, but even he could see how drawn his features appeared. They were both tuckered out and for good reason. This morning wasn’t going to change any of that.
Sherlock was standing outside his door when he was leaving, his soulful brown eyes almost humanlike with empathy. Last night, the dog had been a comfort while he’d waited for Ariel to leave the bar. Yeah, he needed a dog as special as Sherlock. He reached down and gave him a good rubdown. “You’re a good dog. Do you need to go out again?”
After letting the dog back inside after a brief break, Dax headed to the beach where he and his buddy had met to run that first morning. Usually, the breathtaking view would have filled him with awe—the roll of the waves breaking near the beach, the brilliant sunrise of golds and blues—but not today. He had another view, one he knew didn’t bode well.
Rob stood at the edge of the water, his hands planted on his hips, tension emanating from him.
“Hey!” he called.
Rob swung around and Dax’s mouth flattened further. Rob was wearing one of his favorite T-shirts, the one with his life motto on it: Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about. The young officers feared Rob for it. The brass loved seeing him running in it when they were on base. Dax had always found it funny. Now it only soured his already sick belly. He wondered if it was for him or Rob.
“At least you’re not tardy, Captain,” his friend ground out, his face a rigid mask of control.
“I was hoping you’d text about a run.” He walked until he stood in front of his friend, battling his own emotions. “I wanted to talk to you, but from your text, I think you already knew that.”
Rob inclined his chin. He hadn’t shaved either, and it made him look more intimidating this morning with the dark shadows under his eyes. Not only the outcome of drinking and passing out, Dax thought. “I heard about your adventure last night. Thanks for finding Tiff. She’s really sorry for the trouble she caused.”
Dax could just bet how sorry. “Glad Sherlock found her.”
The already rigid planes of his friend’s face seemed to tighten further. “Yesterday was really hard on her. She couldn’t stop crying when she got back. I don’t know the full details because it’s wedding related, but I heard her mother was a real bitch to her. Like crazy bitch, which Stormy excels at. Maybe Ariel mentioned it.”
He wasn’t going to throw Ariel into this.
His friend’s mouth tightened, realizing it. “Look, man, her mother said some things I would hit a man for, and it really pushed Tiff over the edge.”
Dax was waiting for the punch line.
Rob took an almost bullish stance, feet planted wide, fists at his side. “About last night… I know you think you saw something, but Tiff was only talking to an old friend.”
Dax rolled his tongue over his teeth. So that’s how it was going to be. Fuck. “He’s her ex-boyfriend, Rob.”
“Emphasis on the ex part.” Rob’s tone was as harsh as he’d ever heard it. “Look, like I said, he’s a friend, and someone Tiff feels she can talk to. I was passed out last night since Tiff being so upset really bothered me, and it’s not like I could run down Stormy and give her a piece of my mind. You know how I get. My temper isn’t my best side, that’s for damn sure.”
He could feel himself grinding his teeth. “Jesus, Rob. Are you serious right now? You drinking and passing out justifies your fiancée seeking out an old flame? Come on, man.”
Rob stepped closer until their heads were inches apart. Like he was about to dress him down. “Hey! Stop this. I believe her, okay?”
Dax took a step back and crossed his hands over his chest, reminding himself not to lose it. “Why?”
Rob exploded into action, punching a finger into Dax’s chest. “Because I want to, dammit!” He stalked away in a flurry of anger, crunching shells under his feet. “Because I understand why she might be acting out, and I want to be a good husband and a good father. I need to believe in the woman I love. In the woman I’m marrying, Dax.”
The emotion in his voice caught Dax by surprise. “Rob?—”
“No!” His shout caused the gulls to shriek and Dax’s insides to further tighten. “This stops right now. I know you saw what you saw, but your conclusions were wrong. Dead wrong.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “That’s it? I’m supposed to pretend I don’t know how to read situations like the one in that bar last night? That I don’t know my fucking best friend? Something isn’t right with you, and you’re asking me to do what? Bury this? Jesus Christ, man. You’re kidding, right?”
“Dax, I want you to bury this.” There was a plea in his friend’s eyes, one that left Dax raw, because they both knew what it cost him: his pride.
“How can you ask that of me? I’ve been your wingman since we were eighteen! I know you. It’s my duty?—”
Rob threw his hands out. “Fuck duty, man. I’m asking you to bury this. Right now. We never speak about this again.”
Dax let out a harsh breath, pressing his hands to his eye sockets. “You know this is the second time you’ve asked me that in the space of a few days. Man, you are not in your right mind.”
Rob was in his face instantly, shoving him back. “That’s enough. I’m fine. I’m more than fine. I’m in love, dammit. Something you don’t know anything about. And I’m doing what I think is right here.”
His usually iron-clad stomach somersaulted in his gut. “So am I.”
They faced each other across the expanse of the beach as the tides crashed. Dax wanted to haul his friend into the ocean in the hopes a slap of cold water to the face would snap him out of whatever delusion he was in. But he couldn’t. Even he knew that would be going too far. Rob was dug in, and when he turned stubborn, there was no reasoning with him.
“Fine.” He knew his voice carried and was past caring. “But you get what you get. I am not going to pick up the pieces like I did with Erin.”
“I knew you were going to bring that up again!” Rob stalked over to him and shoved him back. “You’re like a broken record. I told you that was done.”
And yet here they were again.
“I know! I helped you get it done. Dammit, Rob, when Erin cheated on you, you lost your shit. You almost blew your exams because you were so upset. I had to sober you up and practically pour coffee down you to get you to class?—”
“Tiff wouldn’t cheat on me,” he ground out through clenched teeth.
“How do you know?”
Rob dug his toe into the sand and stared him down. “I just know, okay? Stop asking me so many damn questions. I said I’m cool with what happened. Because nothing happened. She didn’t even kiss the guy. They just talked.”
He’d waited until the last moment, hoping he wouldn’t have to do it, but Rob didn’t budge. “I took a photo of them together last night so you could see it for yourself.”
His friend grabbed his hand when he reached for his phone. “I don’t need to see it, and I want you to delete it right now.”
Dax ripped his hand free. “Rob, for God’s sake. Take a look. It was cozy?—”
“Enough!” he bellowed, giving him another hard shove. “This is the kind of thing you see good officers do when they’re on TDY all the time. Talk with a girl at a bar. Trade some secrets. Because you’re lonely. No. Big. Deal. Hell, I’ll probably be doing something like this at some point. It happens.”
An oppressive quiet lengthened between them before Dax bit out, “This is different.”
His friend’s scowl blackened to the point where Dax barely recognized him. “You need to get an attitude adjustment.”
He stepped forward, sticking his chin out. “Or what?”
“Or I can find another best man for my wedding.”
The silence between them was deafening.
“Don’t make me do that, Dax.”
Dax spun around, not wanting his friend to see his face right now. “Fine. But I don’t want to hear dick about any problems between you two. Ever.”
“Understood.” There was relief in Rob’s voice. “I wasn’t planning on telling you anyway. You’re too perfect to understand.”
Dax slowly turned around, his muscles locking. “What in the hell do you mean by that?”
Rob gestured to him rudely. “Look at you. You get everything you’ve ever wanted. Your family is like the fucking Waltons. You graduated the Naval Academy with honors. You got the first commission you wanted and every other one since. Now you’ve landed a private jet gig with a signing bonus big enough to buy a Bronco. Shit, man, you came to this wedding and might have landed your one and only on the first night.”
Ariel. He couldn’t deny his thoughts were going in that direction.
“So what?” Dax flung his hands out. “This is about jealousy?”
Rob waved him off and started to stalk away. “No, this is about you not realizing that some of us don’t have it so easy, and that when we get something good, we want to hang on to it. Even if it doesn’t meet your vaunted standards.”
He left Dax alone on the beach, striding off in the other direction. Vaunted standards? Was Rob kidding? Having a woman not cheat on you was an elevated view of a relationship? That was bullshit. Absolute bullshit, and they both knew it.
He picked up a shell and winged it into the sea, wishing there were bigger shells and rocks to hurl into the ocean. Because he had so much pent-up anger right now that he wanted to tear something apart.
He began to run. A few strides into it, he was sprinting up the beach, giving himself the kind of punishing run that hollowed him out and left him spent. When his legs were burning so much they were practically trembling, he stopped and bent over at the waist, his breathing harsh to his own ears. The Morris Lighthouse caught his eye. That’s how he felt, he realized. Surrounded by water. Isolated from what he’d once known and valued.
God, what had they done? He and Rob had been friends since they were eighteen. They’d grown up together. As guys. As pilots. As officers. He started walking, not caring that the tides rushed over his shoes.
Should he leave? Would it be better if he did?
Except how could he leave Ariel? First, he didn’t want her to face the wedding alone. Second, he’d promised her he’d be at her side. Third, he wanted to be at her side.
Shit, this was such a mess.
When he grew closer to the cottages, she was sitting on the steps of the back porch facing the beach, a cup of coffee in her hand. Sherlock was beside her, plopped down with his face near his paws like he was exhausted. Dax tried to smile. But he couldn’t. There was this ball of lead in his chest, one he wished he could reach inside and rip out with his bare hands.
Her mouth tightened like she understood. She lifted a to-go cup of coffee toward him. “I made you some coffee. And brought you a water. I saw Rob a while ago. He looked a little like you do.”
He sat down next to her and took the coffee, scrubbing his face. “How do I look?”
“Pissed off and sad.” She laid her head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry. Rob said he’d straightened you out about last night and then he thanked me—and Sherlock—for finding Tiffany and understanding what had happened.”
Turning sideways, he studied her face. She was still a little pale, and her hair carried a messy bedhead look, but to him she looked both beautiful and somewhat resigned. “Am I the only one who doesn’t understand?”
“No, Dax.” She put her arm around his waist. “But I have a bigger scope than you, and while I understand how Tiffany ended up there last night, I’m not saying it’s the choice I would have made.”
Meaning going to one’s ex for comfort.
“Me either.” He deflated at her quiet understanding, then leaned down and kissed her softly. “I want you to know that.”
She traced his jaw, her blue eyes filled with warmth and empathy. “I already do.”
He kissed her again, slowly, trying to settle himself as much as assure her. This must have shaken her as much as it had him. “So what now?”
“We do our job.”
His mission was her. It had to be. The rest of this was going to grind him down. “That’s what I was thinking.”
She rubbed Sherlock’s head when he butted it between the two of them to watch a pelican fly past. “Speaking for myself, I’m going to hope that this wedding is the happy occasion Tiffany and Rob want and that they will be happy together.”
Dax heaved out a sigh as he leaned back against the steps. “Do you believe they will be?”
She lifted a shoulder. “I gave up thinking about anyone’s shelf life when I started going to weddings. The odds aren’t so hot, and it’s damn depressing.”
He choked out a laugh. “God, I don’t know if that’s funny or tragic.”
“Both.” She put her arm around him, moving Sherlock to his former place, and took a sip of her coffee. “Want to start the day with wig-pong? We didn’t get to it last night. I thought today should be a fun and games day. We both need to wash this out of our mouths.”
“Isn’t the saying, ‘wash it out of our hair’?”
“I have no idea.” She tipped her face toward the rising sun. “All I know is that I want to feel good today. What’s done is done. The wedding will go on, and while it may be hard to believe, the details are in good shape. I don’t want it to take up all of my time anymore. Let’s finish some of our errands and then turn off our phones for a bit. Go to the beach or have a spot of lunch by the water. Something that would make us both happy again.”
He pulled her to his side. Yeah, he didn’t want to feel like shit for the rest of his time here. He could avoid Rob if needed, but he didn’t need to dwell on something he couldn’t change. Ariel was here, and she was right. They could have fun together.
“Sounds like a plan.”
When she slid her glance his way, a warm smile touching her lips, he felt his heart swell in his chest. God, she was so beautiful. She made this trip worthwhile.
Because even though he felt like he was moving further apart from the best friend he’d ever had, he was getting closer to Ariel—a woman who meant more to him than any woman ever had.