Chapter 5 Morning After
Morning After
Seb
Friday night
My best friends. And not one of them has something I want to hear. By now word would have leaked that Tasha and I are here. A joke about us hooking up will turn into rumor. And then the warnings will start. I don’t need to read them to know them, starting with the obvious:
Bro, stop thinking with your dick. It’s not only my dick that wants her. My heart and head are leading the discussion.
Don’t fuck things up before the wedding. I haven’t wanted her for this long to fuck anything but the woman I’m falling in love with.
Don’t hurt Tasha. Not planning on it.
Don’t do anything stupid. Too late. I have fallen stupidly and completely, head over heels, in love with the woman asleep in my arms.
Each time I try to fall asleep, I wake with a start, needing to pull her closer and kiss her forehead.
We’ve been friends for over ten years. Didn’t my parents always say the foundation to a strong marriage is friendship? Last night and today gave both of us a safe space to test whether we were willing to burn down the friends zone to try something more.
Every step since I arrived on the Island led me to last night. To Tasha and I sharing the tasting menu, sharing the bottle of wine I know is her favorite. I have half a case of it in my room, along with a platter of cheeses and artisan crackers. Although, I need to update the cheeses.
I can’t move past Tasha’s reaction to the soft cheeses.
Or the way she cradled her stomach minutes later.
There’s one possible reason … but her body, her choice.
Her secret to tell, if she trusts me. And if she doesn’t trust me enough to tell me the secret of the soft cheese, then is she worth blowing up a multi-million-dollar business arrangement? Yes.
“Mmm,” Tasha moans, rolling into me and flinging a slender leg over mine. “Seb?”
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
“Don’t leave me.” Her mumbled words are almost incoherent.
“Never.”
Her arm wraps around my chest. Any other woman and I’d be throwing back limbs, demanding personal space. Instead of making my skin crawl, Tasha’s need to be close is enough to allow sleep to overtake me.
Tomorrow, the other wedding guests will arrive, including her ex and her cousin.
Tomorrow, we’ll discuss the future. I’ll explain about New Zealand. If I open up to Tasha and prove I’m serious about building a future with her, then I hope she’ll open up with me.
But for tonight, it’s enough that she’s sleeping in my arms.
Saturday
I shouldn’t have fallen asleep.
Sebastian
I can’t.
Natasha
Seb to Tasha: RUOK?
Seb to Tasha: WTF?
Seb to Tasha: Yesterday was fun. Last night amazing. What happened between last night and this morning?
Seb to Tasha: Just tell me RUOK?
Tasha to Seb: CU at the rehearsal dinner
GuyChat: 72 unread messages