15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
Blaze
I stare at my phone, watching the three dots pop up while I wait for my second beer. This tiki bar is obnoxious, and everyone I came with is already wasted, so it’s a really good thing that the bar is attached to the resort.
Addy: I think I should’ve worn a grass skirt like these dancers, lol.
I laugh, then sober. My brain brings up the image of her in the hotel room. I’ve never been more attracted to someone before. It’s got to just be the fact that we’re in this fake dating mindset, but jeez , I wanted to touch her. I wanted to kiss her.
It’s plaguing my mind with worry.
I mean, I’ve always had a slight urge to kiss Addy. There was a time I thought about kissing her constantly in college, but those feelings faded when I realized that ensuring Addy remained a lifelong friend was much more important. So I chose to practice self-control. If we didn’t kiss, or date, or cross any lines, there was a strong chance we could be friends forever. The decision paid off. Because now, a decade later, she’s become so much more than a friend. She’s family.
Though, as I said, the urge to kiss her never really went away…
And it’s at an all-time high right now.
“Hey, big fancy hockey player.” Robert claps his hand down on my shoulder. “We’re almost finished up here. You wanna go with us to the next bar? It’s just right over there.” He drunkenly points to another beach bar, this one closer to the ocean. “I think the girls might meet up with us.”
“Isn’t that against the rules?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing is against the rules, my man. Plus, it’s never as much fun without Aurora. She makes everything so much better.”
“So does Addy,” I blurt out, my mouth moving faster than my brain.
“Yeah, I know. You two are a good match. I can tell. I have that kind of intuition.” He slurs the last word, breaking into a chuckle. “I’m gonna text them to meet us.”
I pick up my phone again and quickly type out another text to Addy.
Me: Robert is planning for all of us to meet up at the beach bar next to the tiki bar. Let’s ditch them all and go to the pier.
The read receipt pops up a few minutes later, and I wait for her response, suddenly worried that she might’ve read into my message more than she should. I’ve been much more flirty with her than usual, and while it’s technically not breaking the rules, it might start breaking something inside of my chest.
Especially when all this is over and we have to go back to normal.
My phone pings with a reply.
Addy: Deal.
I smile to myself and ask the bartender for a water. The last thing I need is to get the same kind of buzz I got the first night we got here. It’ll lead to me doing something I shouldn’t. I can already feel my self-control waning, and the giddy excitement and anticipation building in my chest over meeting Addy at the pier…
Well, it’s concerning.
Because I don’t want to ruin our friendship.
And that’s what I keep telling myself as I slip off the bar stool to find the hottest woman on the island and take her someplace where we can be alone.
“Wow,” Addy says the moment she catches sight of me. “You look handsome.”
I glance down at my khaki slacks and white button-up. “I feel lame.”
She grabs my arm, leading me away from the bar and off toward the beach. “You look the part of a wealthy young man.” She says the words with an air of goofiness, and I chuckle, ignoring the warmth of her arm tucked in mine.
We’ve done this a million and one times.
This time is no different.
“It’s dark out here,” Addy comments as we hit the sand, heading for a rock-lined pier that juts out into the water. “I’m surprised they don’t have many lights.”
I flex my muscles, tightening her arm against me. “No worries. I got us. The boogeyman runs the other way when he sees me.”
“Does he?” She tips her head back to look at me, the moon casting a glow across her pretty blue eyes.
I swallow hard and look away. “Oh yeah, for sure. I’m way scarier than the boogeyman.” I lead her down the pier, not stopping until we reach the very end, where one lone bench sits. “This is way less fancy than I thought it was.”
Addy laughs, releasing my arm and plopping down on the bench. “Nah, I think it’s perfect. Sometimes things can be too nice, you know? It’s nice to just be normal.”
“Yeah, I don’t know if I know what normal is, though,” I reason, resting my arm on the back of the bench. I’m keenly aware that it might look like my arm is around Addy, but it’s not. It’s on the bench. And I’ve put my arm behind Addy many times.
Stop being weird.
Addy leans back, the ocean breeze blowing through her hair and creating a picture-perfect moment. “What do you think about Robert and all his friends?”
“I think they’re fine. Robert is the better of them, honestly.” I shrug, my eyes rolling down the feminine shape of her nose and well-defined lips shaded in red. Her eyes are on the water, and I’m not going to lie, I’m glad she’s not looking at me.
Because I’m thoroughly enjoying taking in every small detail of her.
“Do you think you could be friends with them?” She keeps her gaze locked on the water. “Like maybe we could do things with them once we get back from Hawaii.”
My heart takes an extra thump. “They might not want me around.”
She looks at me, her dark brows creased. “Why?”
I take a deep breath, my eyes falling to my hands in my lap. “Well, one of us will have to break up with the other after all this—and I doubt they’ll want me around when they think I broke your heart. They all think really highly of you, Addy.”
Her hand lands on mine, squeezing it. “I’ll be the one to call it off. You don’t have to do it. After all, this was all my idea.”
I shake my head. “I can’t let you do that.”
“Why?” she whispers.
I shrug, shaking my head. “I’m not gonna leave you to have to answer their barrage of questions. If I’m the one who does it, they won’t do that to you.”
“Oh,” she says, pulling her hand away.
We fall into silence for a while, listening to the ocean waves as they kiss the shore. I rarely ever visited the ocean growing up, but when I did once with a foster family, I remember being taken aback by it—and the peace that it brought to me. Right now, though, it doesn’t bring me peace at all.
It feels like there’s a storm brewing inside of me.
“If you had a bachelor party, what would you want to do?” Addy’s voice draws me out of my thoughts. “You know, like if you were getting married.”
“Well, first, I’d have to be in a position to get married.” I laugh, eyeing her. “And I don’t see that happening any time soon.”
“Yeah, okay, well let’s just say you had to marry me,” Addy says with a shrug. “It’s like mandatory or something, so now, you have to think about getting married. What would you do for your bachelor party?”
I raise a brow. “Okay, I’ll play along with this. Where is this forced marriage happening?”
“Right here in Hawaii.”
I rack my brain, trying to picture Addy as my fiancée, and it’s borderline terrifying how easily the image comes to life. “Um, honestly, I’d probably want a joint party.”
She makes a face. “Why?”
“Because you’re my best friend, and everything is always better when you’re there,” I say easily. “Maybe that’s weird, but you’re already the person I do everything with. You’re my emergency contact, too, so I guess … I guess I wouldn’t have to change that.”
She bursts into laughter. “Only you would somehow twist a bachelor party into a conversation about emergency contacts.”
“Well, you’re missing the point.” I shift my body and angle it toward her. “You’re everything to me, Addy. I have my teammates, and they’re amazing—and like family—but you are my family outside of that. I mean, I spend every holiday with you. I don’t know what I would do if I lost that.”
Her face softens, her eyes welling up with fleeting emotion that causes me near panic. But then it disappears. “I guess I’d have a joint bachelorette party with you, too.” She looks away from me. “I’d want the wedding to be beachside, though, not like Aurora’s. It seems silly to come all the way to Hawaii for a wedding just to have it indoors.”
“It could rain.”
“That would be so romantic. I’d want it to rain.”
I chuckle. “Only you’d want that, Addy.”
She turns to me. “Would you be mad if it rained?”
I sigh. “No, you’re right. It would be romantic. Maybe it’d make all the guests—and even the officiant—run for cover, and then I’d pull one of those Notebook -style kisses.” Even in the moonlight, I can make out her blushing at my comment—and once again, I feel panicky. “But”—I clear my throat—“obviously that wouldn’t happen because I wouldn’t ever kiss you. It’s against the rules.”
Addy’s smile disappears right off her face. “We were just talking hypothetically.” Her voice is flat. “Obviously, I know that.”
“Yeah, you’re like a sister to me,” I say stupidly.
“Yeah,” she says, turning her gaze back to the ocean. “Duh. Besides, we’ve been best friends for a decade. If something was going to happen, it would’ve happened by now, you know?”
“That’s a strange angle to come at it.” I furrow my brow. “I mean, things sometimes take time. I’m sure there are people out there who’ve been friends much longer than we have that ended up together. Maybe they just hide their feelings.” I don’t know why I’m saying any of this, especially when I just made it clear that we aren’t like the people I’m talking about.
“Yeah, but I was talking about us.” Addy sighs, raking her fingers through her hair. “I don’t want to talk about other people.” I can tell by her tone that I’ve said something that bothers her—and I hate that.
But I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.
“You know, what we have is really special,” I say. “I don’t think many people are lucky enough to have a friendship like ours. We’re like the best of everything.”
She nods, albeit slowly. “Yeah, of course.” Addy pushes herself up off the bench. “I think I’m ready to call it a night. Are you tired?”
I’m not. I’m pretty sure I could sit here with her all night, but I nod anyway. “Yeah, I guess so. I probably need another shower, too.”
She laughs softly, but her smile doesn’t reach her eyes like normal. “Yeah, same here. I have so much makeup on my face, I’m pretty sure I could peel it off in one-inch layers.”
“Let me see.” I lean toward her, my finger heading toward her cheek.
She dodges me and swats at my hand. “Don’t even think about it. I’ll cut your finger off.”
“For touching your face?” I laugh, shaking my head. “You’re dangerous, Adeline Harper Williams.” I say it in the same snooty tone her granny does.
Addy bursts into laughter, and finally, her smile reaches those pretty blue eyes of hers. I breathe a sigh of relief.
Night saved.