“White wine is for fish,” Hasan said, his voice suddenly louder than usual. “Red is for steak.”
“Um. Bullshit,” Gracie fired back. “Red wine is for fish.”
“Excuse you?—”
“Hey,” I murmured when the argument got louder and distracting. “Are you upset?”
Ryan shook his head and swallowed thickly. “No. But…she’s serious, isn’t she? About making this a family thing.”
“Seems so,” I murmured back. “It’s not something you have to agree to, you know.”
He rolled his eyes a little, then squeezed them shut. “I know.” He took a breath. “Can we talk when we get back to the room?”
“I am all yours. In every way it’s possible to be yours,” I added. It was the closest to those three little words I wanted to say but couldn’t.
He bowed his head, then looked over at me and smiled. “Same.”
For now, it was enough.
Gracie and Hasan agreed to disagree after Tollin and Tarik refused to weigh in, and I had lost the plot a while back. Ryan just shrugged and said, “Drink whatever the fuck you want, who cares,” and that killed it.
Luckily, no one wanted dessert, which made my tension ease a little. All I wanted was to get back to the room so I could figure out what was bothering Ryan. I wanted to know what he’d wanted to say.
What he’d been holding back since Gracie had asked him about passion.
“Alright, so tomorrow—” Gracie started.
“No.”
“Dude, we came here to see you,” she whined. “And we’re going home tomorrow night.”
“Yes, and again, you showed up uninvited,” Ryan said. “I love you with all my heart, but you don’t get to demand my time. I have plans.”
Gracie turned to me. “Do you mind if we?—”
“No, sweetheart,” Hasan said, taking her arm. “We’re not going to do this. Dinner was enough. And if Ryan doesn’t hate the idea of a family trip, we can plan something together. Then you get to be demanding.”
She narrowed her eyes, but after a beat, she broke away from her fiancé and walked up, tugging me into a hug first and Ryan next. “You’re both pains in my ass. You deserve each other.”
Ryan laughed and squeezed her as Tollin came around and touched the center of my back.
“Can we talk for a moment? It won’t take long.”
I nodded. “Meet me at the room,” I said, leaning in toward Ryan. “It won’t be more than a few minutes.”
“So he gets to—” Gracie complained loudly, but I tuned her out as I followed Tollin away from the table and out the back door that led to the oceanfront seating. It was chilly, even near the equator, so no one was eating outside, but I liked the breeze on my face.
We moved to the little concrete bench that sat in a small half circle at the edge of the patio, and Tollin sat first, leaving me standing, staring out at the endless inky-black Caribbean.
After what felt like a short forever, Tollin said, “Is this going to be something? You and him?”
I looked over at him. “It’s not your business.”
“I know, but I sat back and bit my tongue with you and Raleigh for a long time. I thought I had no place because it was partly your job, and I regret that now. If I’d said something earlier, maybe that night—” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat. “Sorry.”
With a sigh, I moved over and dropped down to the bench beside him. My nerves were still flaring up, so I didn’t quite feel the chill against my skin, but I could feel the heavy weight of the stone beneath me.
“Do you really feel guilty about my accident?”
