Chapter 20
chapter twenty
Mia
Ifinish taking the photographs and head back upstairs to the hotel room. When I walk in, Luke is sitting on the bed with a serious expression on his face.
“Hey,” he says, gazing up at me. “You doing okay?”
“I’m fine. The photos went well. Everyone was really nice.
To be honest, I didn’t even see Rex. He went to do something with some of his football buddies from high school, and I guess that was more important than the breakfast with his fiancée.
But that doesn’t surprise me because he doesn’t seem like he’s going to be an amazing husband. ”
“Yeah, he seems like he’s going to be a bit of a jerk. I just want to see how we are.”
“We’re fine, Luke,” I say, putting my camera down on the table and going to sit next to him on the bed. “We’re still going to go and look for the clue at Kona Ice, right?”
“Yeah. I figured we could go in an hour or so. There is something I wanted to speak to you about.”
“Is it about the bear costume again?”
“No, unless you wanted to speak to me about it.”
“No, I’m not mad at you or anything.”
“I know.”
“Maybe I should be because I acted like a fool, going on and on about how Rex was such a great guy when it was really you. But it doesn’t surprise me that you did that for me because you’ve always been a stand-up guy and you’ve always looked out for me, and I guess … thank you.”
“I appreciate it. I was worried you would be mad at me, and you would think I was a liar or that I deliberately held it back from you, and—”
“Hey, I know you better than that. You’re not ill-intentioned.”
“I know, but I couldn’t help but think that you might be upset.”
“I’m more surprised, and I feel foolish. Thank you, Luke. You are one of only two men in my life who has really been there to protect me.” He smiles, one of those breathtaking smiles that makes my heart stop. “Don’t tell my dad or grandad that I said that, though.”
“Who’s the other one?” he asks me, and I see a flash of what appears to be jealousy in his eyes.
“Rafe,” I admit.
“I didn’t know Rafe had ever protected you. What happened?”
“I don’t know how to tell you this,” I say softly.
He shifts so that we’re face-to-face. “What is it?”
“I haven’t told you because I didn’t want you to get upset, but a couple of summers ago, I had been hanging out with this tourist who was in town.
One night, he wanted to go dancing at Cocktails I did that because of Rex, because of how he defined our relationship. And I’ve been doing so many things in my life defensively and not offensively, and I don’t want to do that anymore. I don’t want us to do that anymore.
“I love being with you. I love spending time with you. I miss the us that was in each other’s lives every day.
I miss laughing with you, and going to lunch with you, and playing games with you, and just lying in the sand, staring up at the stars and wondering how this universe was so uniquely and beautifully made, and watching the crabs as they crawl on the sand, and watching the fish as they swam and the dolphins as they jumped, and just staring at you as you swam like a mermaid in the water.
” He smiles at me as his fingers lazily trace down the side of my arms. “I miss just being us.” He takes a deep breath, and his nostrils flare.
“Who knew I could talk this much at once?”