The waves crashing against the shore is the soundtrack to my breathe exercise. I breathe the salty air in and out. My pounding heartbeat begins to slow and even out. I’m no longer trying to stomp my anger out. It’s still there, but not all consuming the way it was minutes ago.
Maybe Emily is rubbing off on me more than she thought. I’ve watched her go over mediation techniqueswith Samantha countless times. Even Kate needs her help at times to cool off when a bride is being overly dramatic.
It’s a good thing I found these ladies when I did. Otherwise, there’s a possibility I would have gotten into an actual fight with my brother. Not that he’d lay a hand on me, but I don’t know if I would forgive myself if I lashed out like that.
Running and hiding seems like a much more viable way to handle things. The sun is setting and I need to head back, but I can’t bring myself to turn around. I wrap my arms tighter around myself to try to stave off the cold.
I feel something wrap around my shoulders and I turn too fast. My balance is gone, but I don’t hit the sand.
Arms wrap around me and I’m staring up at Tristan. “This time you tried to kill me.”
“Sorry about that.” His soft chuckle is everything I need right now. A friendly face to push away all the crap with my brother. “I tried calling your name, but I don’t think you heard me.”
“How long have you been following me?”
“Not long.” He helps me stand and adjusts the jacket he put over my shoulders. “I came after you, but you seemed like you needed some time, so I hung back.”
“Oh.” The fact he can read me better than my family is an oddity. We’ve been around each other a handful of times, but he seems to know me better than most despite every wall I’ve put up against him. “Thank you for the jacket.”
“No problem.” He shrugs and shoves his hands in his pockets. His thin, long sleeved shirt isn’t going to do much against the cold, and I feel bad he gave me his only source of warmth. “You didn’t take anything with you, and I thought you might get cold. Looks like I was right.”
Neither of us says another word. The ocean waves are the only soundtrack, and it feels easy. Like this is how it’s supposed to be. He doesn’t try to rush me back to the house. Only stands in solidarity until I decide whatIwant to do.
His phone dings in his pocket, but he doesn’t rush to pull it out. His sole focus is on me.
“Are you gonna get that?”
“It can wait.”
It dings two more times.
“You should probably see who that is.”
He shakes his head, but pulls his phone out and glances at the screen. His eyebrows pinch in confusion.
“How did he get my number?”
“Who?”
“Parker. He said they’re about to leave for dinner and we should hurry back.”
“I’m going to kill him.”
Tristan taps out a quick response and pockets his phone again.
“Why?”
“Because the little jerk went through my contacts. And if he saw our text messages, then heknowswe aren’t actually dating. He better keep his mouth shut.” Nothing about the past few minutes feels fake, though.
“That’s a future problem.” He waits for me to say something else, but I don’t. What else is there to say? “I told him to send me the address and we’ll meet them there.”
“We should probably head back.” I don’t want to burst this bubble of calm I have, but I know if we don’t meet up with the family, I’ll have to answer to my parents. Shockingly they weren’t the cause of this afternoon’s explosion.
“Whenever you’re ready. We go on your time, not theirs.” He slides his hand into mine. “I’m by your side, you don’t have to worry.”
Every part of me melts at the words. Not once has anyone put me, and my wants, first. It’s always what I can do for them.
“Sorry about earlier.” My focus is on the sand ahead of us as I lead us back to the beach house. I’m not even sure how far away we are.
