Understatement of the year.
“Ask you something?”
“The last time you asked me that, you threw my entire world off-balance.”
I ignore the impliedno. “You have fun yesterday?”
Her face does all of the answering for her.Yes. And it was worth it. Until now, when I’m having doubts and regrets and if I squeeze my eyes shut tightly enough again, I won’t have to think about the answer to that question and the consequences of what it means.
Fair enough.
I shove up and off the bed, shaking it as little as possible. “What do you take for a hangover?”
“I don’t know. I—I’ve only been hungover maybe two other times.”
My phone has a text from Emma. Looks like she texted both of us, and she’s looking forward to brunch with Laney at ten. “Go back to sleep. Don’t have to be anywhere for a few hours. I’ll be back.”
“But—”
“And I’ll stay out of trouble,” I add dryly.
“I know,” she whispers. “You don’t look for it. It looks for you.”
“I’ll watch out for it and avoid it if I see it coming.”
A deep sigh comes out of her as her body sags back into the mattress. One of her legs is kicked out from beneath the sheet, and I can see a small bruise forming on her other shoulder.
Probably from where she fell out of bed last night.
“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you about your hand yesterday,” she adds, even more softly. “Ithurtsto have your arms wake back up.”
I smile.
And then I duck out of the bungalow, chuckling to myself.
This won’t last. I’ll never be the guy a woman like Laney needs in her life, no matter how satisfied I am with myself and my own life.
But I’ll make the most of it in the meantime.
18
Laney
There are notdark enough sunglasses in the world to erase everything that happened in the last twelve hours or so.
Or to block out the sun effectively enough.
“I’m so sorry I made such a fool of myself during your wedding week,” I tell Emma as we get settled at a cute little beach bistro overlooking the ocean for a late breakfast. The open windows let in a soft ocean breeze, and beach paintings line the walls behind us. The table’s a little wobbly, but there’s a pretty fishbowl in the center with more of those knitted hearts in it. Must be a resort theme.
She laughs. “Laney. Seeing you having fun was agift. I’m just sorry you’re hurting today.”
I grimace.
Itwasfun.
But I feel like an absolute idiot.
“Did Theo behave himself?” Sabrina asks.
