13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Thirteen
Blaze
Where is she?
I search the lobby for Addy and try to ignore the worry tugging at my heart. All I can think about is how I almost kissed her last night.
What the heck was I thinking? Sure, I blew it off as a joke, but that wasn’t fair—and I owe her an apology. A real apology. I shouldn’t have pushed the boundaries like that.
But ugh, if only I didn’t want to.
Everything that happened between us last night reminded me so much of how I felt about her in college. The way I pined so hard after her, letting her wear my jersey and hoping she would show some interest in wearing it for the rest of her life.
But now, I can’t risk losing what we have for a pipe dream like that. Especially given that I have limited experience with romantic relationships.
As I walk toward the double doors, I catch sight of Aurora jogging inside.
“Hey, have you seen Addy?” I ask, straightening out my Rolling Stones T-shirt like she might judge me for it.
She nods. “Yeah, she’s out by the water. She seems a little stressed out. I don’t know what’s up with her.”
“Oh,” I say, my brow furrowing. “Okay, thanks.” I walk past her, pushing the doors open.
“Wait, Blaze,” Aurora calls after me.
“Yeah?” I turn back to her.
“You should’ve just kissed her last night. It was so cute. Everyone thought so. No one cares about PDA. It’s all good.”
“Right,” I force out. “Noted.” I spin back around, my face feeling hot as her words echo in my mind.
Wait … did she say everyone thought we were cute last night?
I drop the thought as I catch sight of Addy in the distance, sitting on the sand with her legs partially in the water.
Only she would sit like a toddler in the water .
It’s adorable.
And so is Addy.
I pick up my pace because I made some plans for us this morning, and we’ve got to get going. After everything that happened last night, my goal today is to make it up to her—and prove that I won’t push the boundaries anymore.
We’re just friends. I’m not obsessed with touching her.
Nope. Not even a little.
“Hey,” I breathe out as I reach her.
She startles and peers up at me. “Hey.”
“Whatcha doing?” I can’t hide my grin as she splashes in the water with her hands.
“The water’s warm.” Her short reply is abnormal, and I don’t like it. Not one bit.
I have to fix this.
“I made plans for us today,” I say quickly, offering her a hand. “And we need to get going. It was kind of last minute, and I had to pull some strings.” A lot of strings, actually. But she doesn’t have to know that.
“Hmm,” she says, taking my hand and letting me pull her to her feet. “What am I supposed to wear?”
I glance at her T-shirt and shorts. “You look perfect to me.” Gorgeous, actually.
She rolls her eyes. “You don’t have to keep that up. No one can hear you.”
Shaking my head, I grab her hand. “Come on.”
She pulls her hand away from mine. “No one can see us. You don’t have to hold my hand.”
I raise my brows and then motion to the resort. “Anyone could see us, Addy. I’m just trying to stick to the story. Once I get you away from here, I won’t touch you. I promise.”
She nods slowly, taking my hand again. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.”
“I messed up last night,” I admit readily. “I drank a little too much, and I just… I thought… I don’t know.”
“You thought you were being funny,” she fills in. That’s not even remotely the truth.
“No, but it’s fine,” I say quickly, tugging her toward the car waiting for us. “I just pushed the rules. That’s it.”
She gives me a weird look but doesn’t say anything. I almost want to blame it on the fact that I’m just a guy, and she’s freaking beautiful—but that sounds horrible, and I don’t even know if it’s the truth. I’ve just never felt such a rush with someone, and I don’t know what’s wrong with me.
The driver greets us with a smile and opens the back door. “Good morning.”
Addy eyes him. “Morning…”
I chuckle, gesturing for her to hurry. “Come on.”
She slides into the backseat, and I join her, relaxing against the headrest. I breathe a sigh of relief. We can finally be the normal Addy and Blaze now. No more weird touching or rules. But as I glance over to her, sitting there in her T-shirt and shorts, I can’t help but stare.
Why did I have to pick a best friend who’s so perfect?
“What?” Addy asks. “Do I look bad? Is my hair crazy?”
I blink to clear my vision. “No, uh, I don’t know.” I rip my gaze away and look out the window, feeling overwhelmed.
Get it together.
“Welcome to Surfing 101.” Aaron, a guy with tan skin and blond hair, claps his hands together. I stand beside Addy on the beach, both of us now wearing surf shirts and board shorts. “We’re going to get you two surfing before the day is over.”
Addy looks over at me with a wild expression on her face. “What?!”
“Yeah.” I burst into laughter. “It’ll be fun.”
She turns back to Aaron, a funny look on her face. “Aren’t you Cam’s old friend from high school?”
He nods. “Yeah, he called me this morning and told me y’all were here.”
Addy looks at me. “Look at you, pulling all these strings. Very smooth.”
I shrug. “What can I say, I can have some game.”
She giggles as Aaron heads over to grab a couple of surfboards from a shop that’s located right on the beach. “I’ve never surfed before, so this is probably gonna be a mess.”
“Well, I have. But I already know I’ll be wiping out more than I’ll be hanging ten—or whatever the surfer guys say.” I laugh.
Aaron returns with our boards and starts giving Addy a quick lesson. She listens and laughs, practicing her stance on the board. He helps her position her feet, showing her how to lean.
I watch Addy in admiration, just happy to see her spark back.
Maybe I haven’t messed everything up.
I mean, it’s only our first full day here in Hawaii. We have several more to go before we’re on a plane back home. If I can fill the days with things like this, we’ll be so busy just being us that maybe the rules and pressure won’t be so bothersome.
“You’re gonna be great at this,” Aaron says, meeting Addy’s gaze. “I can already tell. You know how to move your hips.” I narrow my gaze at him as he gives her the flirtiest freaking look. “So, you’re here for a wedding?” he asks her.
“Yeah.” Her blonde hair blows in the ocean breeze as she steps off the surfboard. “My sister is getting married.”
“Ah, so it’s not your wedding.” He looks at me, then winks at her.
Oh no. I don’t like that.
“No.” Addy smiles. “It’s definitely not my wedding.”
“We’re not engaged … yet .,” I blurt out. “But it’ll happen one of these days.”
She whips her head around, glaring at me. “Oh? Will it?”
“Yep.” I pop the p and sweep up my surfboard, tucking it under my arm. “Let’s go surf, baby .”
She blinks a few times in shock, and Aaron laughs, grabbing his board and catching up with me.
“Dude, I’m sorry. Cam said you two were just friends. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
“All good,” I tell him coolly, internally stressing over why the heck I just ran my mouth like that.
“Your girl is beautiful, though. You’re a lucky guy.”
“I know,” I say, crashing into the water just as Addy joins me. She grabs my arm, and I spin around, smiling at her while she shakes her head at me.
“You’re a brat.” She laughs, and I’m relieved she’s not mad as she nudges me. “I wasn’t into him anyway.”
We paddle out and help Addy along when she struggles to keep up, reminding us that she’s “just a dog walker.” We laugh it off, though, and spend the afternoon surfing and playing wipeout in the ocean. Aaron eventually goes back to giving surfing lessons to other patrons and running his board rental shack, so I get Addy all to myself.
“This was an amazing day,” Addy says as I shove our boards into the sand to take a break. We plop down on the sand. “Thank you for planning this.”
“You’re welcome.”
Her ponytail has long fallen out, her hair falling in natural unkempt waves past her shoulders. “You always know how to make my day better.”
“Not really,” I admit, leaning back and resting against my hands. “Honestly, I’m usually just taking a stab in the dark, hoping you’ll like it.”
She tilts her head at me. “You always seem to have it together.”
“Ha.” I snort, shaking my head. “I don’t think I’ve ever had it together. I’ve always just had to rely on myself to figure things out, you know? I’ve never had a dad or mom to call or rely on to help me work through things. I’ve always had to do everything myself—well, until you.”
She smiles softly. “I’ll always be here.”
“I know,” I say with confidence. “And that’s why I’m here, playing fake boyfriend for you.”
“And ruining my chances of hitting it off with some hot surfer dude,” she teases, poking my arm.
I raise a brow. “I thought you said you weren’t into him. Do I need to go tell him the truth? Set you up on a dinner date?” I say it as a joke, but my chest aches with what I recognize as jealousy.
Which is nuts.
I’ve seen Addy with plenty of guys over the years. I’ve even seen her kiss them or whatever, but now…
Now that I’ve threaded my fingers through her hair…
And danced with her like she’s mine …
I don’t like the idea of someone else doing it.
“I don’t want to go on a date,” Addy muses. “I think I’d rather go back to our room, order pizza, and watch a movie.”
“You want me to invite him?”
She rolls her eyes. “No. Just invite yourself. I like our movie nights to just be the two of us. No need to have him crash the party.”
“Three is a crowd,” I reason, smiling. “But isn’t four a party? I think that’s how it goes. I don’t know.”
Addy laughs. “Why are you so weird sometimes?”
I shrug, tipping my head back and looking at her. “I have no idea, but in my defense, I think I learned half my weirdness from you.”
“Ah, yes,” Addy hums, standing to her feet. “I suppose that makes a lot of sense. I do have a tendency to rub off on people.” She extends her hand to me, and I take it, letting her work to pull me up and off the sand. “You know, we really should try to enjoy tonight. Tomorrow we’ll both be busy.”
I freeze as I stand to my feet, instantly concerned by the tone in her voice. “What do you mean by that? Do we have another one of those dinner parties?”
She gives me a wicked, ornery grin. “No, it’s much, much worse.”
“What is it?”
Addy laughs. “Robert wants you to go to his bachelor party while I’m with Aurora for her bachelorette.”
I huff.
You’ve got to be kidding me.