18. Jason Kingsley
Chapter eighteen
Jason Kingsley
“Shaw and Sutton are both mad that you didn’t tell them, by the way,” Miles says as we walk down the shore. After eating our fill at the diner, Ellie suggested a night stroll on the beach. She made sure to tell us that this stretch of beach is not as pretty as Crescent Beach in Coastal Cove, but that she thought it was still worth seeing before we left. When Willow’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, I couldn’t say no.
“I expected that,” I say, dodging a little white crab scurrying by.
Up ahead, Ellie and Willow are walking and laughing, their phone flashlights illuminating the sand in front of them. It’s made me happy that she’s gotten along so well with Miles and Ellie. I’m sure it’ll be the same with all my friends, and my brother too. It’s hard not to like her.
“Emmett didn’t say much, but you know how he is.”
I nod. “I know he’s still not a fan of marriage in general after Shelby left. I’m sure how fast things are moving is a red flag to him.”
“It’s a red flag to all of us,” Miles says, concern furrowing his brow. “Don’t get me wrong, Willow is great. Probably too good for you.” I let out a quiet laugh. “But you don’t have to marry her next weekend. You can wait this out, get to know each other better.”
I sigh. Little does he know we can’t wait. The sooner we’re married, the sooner Willow’s visa situation is handled. Every day we wait is another day closer to her being deported.
“I know it seems fast, but it feels right. We’re in love, and I don’t want to spend another second not married to her.”
“And you don’t want a big wedding with all your friends and family there?” he questions.
“Is this your way of saying you’re mad you can’t come?” I joke, but he doesn’t laugh.
“I feel like something else is going on here. I know you, and this whole elopement isn’t your style.”
I lift my ball cap and run a hand through my hair. “You’re right that it isn’t my style,” I admit, because there’s no point in denying the truth. “But this is what’s best for the both of us right now. We don’t want to wait, so we’re eloping. Maybe in a year or two we can do a big celebration. But the wedding isn’t the most important part anyway. The marriage is,” I end with conviction.
“You know I agree with you.” He looks up ahead at Ellie and Willow. They squeal in tandem when the tide comes up higher on their legs than expected, wetting the bottoms of their rolled-up pants. “Before Ellie, I thought all of it–marriage, love, relationships–was a sham, but now…”
I smile at the girls and at his words. “Everything’s changed.” I reach out and squeeze his shoulder. “I’m happy you found Ellie.”
“I’m happy you found Willow, even if I’m concerned about how fast this is happening.”
“I promise everything is fine,” I lie. “Don’t worry about me.”
When this is all said and done, I’m sure Miles will think back on this conversation and wish he would have pushed me more to open up. I know I’ll regret pretending things were something they weren’t. Because the truth is, what I have with Willow isn’t the same as what he has with Ellie.
There’s attraction between us, sure, but not much more than that–at least on Willow’s side. I have no idea how these next few months of married life will go. The more my feelings grow, the more worried I become that when it’s time to say goodbye, I won’t want to.
“Jase, come look at this!” Willow yells over the sound of the waves crashing. She’s standing a few feet away, her phone light pointed at the ground. Ellie is a few feet further than her, shining her light on a different spot.
The smile that stretches across my face at the sound of my nickname on her lips is proof enough that this infatuation is quickly becoming something more. I jog in her direction without a second thought.
“Wait!” she yells, holding one of her hands up. “Watch where you step.”
I stop and look down, only to find two tiny sea turtles making their way to the water.
“Aren’t they adorable?” she asks with a wide smile. Her hair is wild and windswept, and her eyes sparkle beneath the light of the moon. She looks so happy, and I feel downright honored to witness it.
“They are. I can’t believe how small they are.” I watch the two turtle siblings pad their way across the wet sand. It’s not long before my eyes are drawn back to Willow though. Watching her awestruck expression is even better than seeing the turtles myself.
“Ellie found some more down there. She said that they usually hatch in the summer, but can come as late as October.”
“Sounds like we were just in time, then,” I say with a smile.
“I haven’t been to the beach in so long, and my first time back I get to see this.” She shakes her head in disbelief, a smile on her lips.
“We’ll have to come back again sometime. I know Miles would let us stay at his beach house.”
“Ellie already invited us on his behalf,” she says with a laugh.
“You two seemed like you were having fun.”
“She’s great.” Her smile falters as she looks over at Miles wrapping Ellie up in his arms. “It does feel weird lying to them though.”
“Yeah, I’m not a fan of it. The idea of keeping any secret is foreign to me. I’m more of an open book kind of guy.” I say with a half-hearted laugh.
Willow’s expression shifts, a look of worry taking over.
“Don’t stress about it though,” I say, trying to soothe her concerns. “Let’s just have fun tonight.” I glance down, noticing the sea turtles have disappeared into the water. “Want to see if we can find any more babies?”
Her smile is not as bright as before, but it’s something. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
We turn to head toward Miles and Ellie. Willow slips her hand in mine, intertwining our fingers. I glance down at her in surprise.
“Your friends are very affectionate. I don’t want them to think we aren’t,” she explains.
I smirk. “I have a few ideas that would dissuade them from thinking that.”
She bumps her shoulder into mine, knocking my arm into my side. I hiss at the unexpected pain.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, stopping in her tracks.
“It’s nothing.” I try to keep going, but she stays put, tugging me back. I could pull her along, but I don’t think she’d appreciate that.
“Are you hurt?”
I sigh. “I took a hit during the game and have a little bruise, that’s all.”
“I remember that hit. It looked pretty rough, but I thought you’d say something if you were hurt.”
Willow doesn’t know me that well, then. While I may hate keeping secrets, I’m not one to whine about any injuries. I tend to go home and deal with them in private. My physical therapists have scolded me for it, but I don’t ever want to seem like a crybaby quarterback.
“It’s really fine,” I say, but she shakes her head.
“Let me see.”
“What?”
“ Let me see ,” she repeats, letting go of my hand to grab at the hem of my sweatshirt. I put my hand over hers to stop her.
“If you wanted to see me shirtless again, all you had to do was ask. Though it might be dangerous, since we’re not officially married yet–”
She cuts me off with a glare. “I’m worried about you and you’re teasing me.”
My smirk softens into a smile. “I’m fine, Lo.” I let go of her hand. “But if you want to check, I won’t stop you.”
She lifts up my sweatshirt, pointing her phone light at my side. A gasp escapes her lips. A large bruise is beginning to form across my rib cage. What’s currently an angry red color will surely turn a nasty bluish-purple by tomorrow.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” I try to reassure her.
“Have you been in pain all night?” She lowers my shirt. Her cool fingertips graze my skin, making my abdomen tighten.
“I’ve been a little uncomfortable, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”
Willow crosses her arms over her chest. A flicker of uncertainty crosses her expression before hardening into determination. “You said your wife doesn’t carry bags, right?”
I raise a brow. “I did say that, yes.”
“My husband doesn’t hide injuries.” Her tone is no-nonsense, as if she expects me to protest. But I couldn’t deny her, not with how utterly and ridiculously happy it makes me that she called me her husband.
“Noted,” I say with a grin.
“Now that everything is settled, let’s go look for more sea turtles.”
I don’t tease her about calling me her husband, or for being nice to me. Tonight I simply want to soak up the joy she’s emanating and hold on to the hope that my future wife might be starting to like me.