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“My intentions? I see. This is the official brother questioning. Well, let me ease your mind.” He takes a long swig of a water bottle before sitting on the bench beside me.
“I like her. A lot. Maybe more so than should be possible given how little time we’ve shared together. I can’t say that it’s love yet, but I can quite easily admit to it heading there.” He sighs almost wistfully, and I’m frozen in place with shock. “Kathryn is a remarkable woman, is she not? She has this way about her that challenges you to be better, yet there’s nothing but love and acceptance wherever you are now. She’s an enigma in so many ways, and I can’t help but fall into her orbit as if she’s the earth and I’m just a moon. She’s fierce, yet soft. Bold, yet demure. Confident, yet modest. To be all those things at once? I don’t really think I had a choice but to fall for her.”
He goes quiet for a moment, and I stay silent until he can shift through the sand of his thoughts.
“My intentions…yes. I intend to date her. To stay with her. To follow her through whatever path she chooses to pave for herself. And one day, if she’ll let me, I intend to marry her.”
“Right.” I can’t deny that if I were a girl right now, I’d probably be swooning. Swooning. Is that actually a thing? Anyways. Pretty words or not, I wouldn’t be doing my due diligence if I didn’t…poke him a little.
“Yeah. Bold claim. But what about the other guys?” Wyatt’s jaw tights surreptitiously his hands balling into fists and I nod. “Yeah, the ones that affect you like that. What happens if they feel the same way? What happens if she likes them too?”
His face contorts as if thinking hard, or maybe like he’s smelling something bad, and he goes silent. Lost in his thoughts.
“Yeah, I thought so.” I stand, stretching out my back with an exaggerated groan. “I’d definitely figure that shit out before proposing for sure.”
Then I’m off, striding towards the exit with a grin. Okay, so maybe I am having a little fun.
“Wait! What do you mean if she likes them too?”
Oops. Sorry, bro. I’m already gone.
Alright, Sharpe Clan, where is Wilder? Swiping away Kat’s texts again, I smile when Annabelle's cousin Mary immediately sends a photo of Wilder surfing out at beach number five. I take off at a run, my stomach grumbling angrily at me about its lack of sustenance.
Soon, my boy. Dinner is soon.
Rounding a corner, I instantly know where Wilder is based on the gaggle of teenage cousins fanned out in bikinis giggling with their gazes aimed out at the ocean. Rolling my eyes, I walk straight up to the group of them.
“Go find something else to do.” I hike my thumb over my shoulder.
“Oh come on, Ethan! Don’t ruin our fun!” Mary instantly whines with a chorus of groans and moans from the other girls to back her up.
“Alright, well don’t blame me when Kat comes down here and catches you lot ogling her man.” They let out piercing squeals before grabbing all their bags and gear and booking it off the beach.
Yeah, Kat can be scary.
As I wait for Wilder to finish riding the waves, I pull off my shirt and soak in the sun as I text Annabelle with an update. She fires off rapid responses about doing her best to keep Kat distracted from her need to chase after me and put a stop to all this.
I glance up to see Wilder finally walking towards me in just his swim trunks, surfboard in hand, and dripping with water. His face is turned away from me, so I quickly snap a photo and shoot it off to Kat with the text: target number three acquired.
She will simultaneously hate me and love me in equal measures for all of this, I’m sure. But hey, that’s what family is for. Right?
“Hey, Wilder! Over here.” I catch his eye and he jogs over to me with his telltale smirk on his face.
“Hey, brother. What can I do for ya?”
“I just wanted to ask you something.” I scan his face for signs of anything. Not sure what. But the only thing I see is openness with just a dash of confused bewilderment.
“Alrighty, shoot.”
“What do you want from Kat?” He laughs as if I just told a joke.
“What do I want from Kat? I’m not sure what you mean by that one, kid.” Ignoring the kid comment, I push on.
“You’re crazy, but not stupid. You know what I mean. Kat’s like my sister, and I can tell this isn’t professional between the two of you anymore. So I want to know what your intentions are.” Maybe I’m pushing his buttons a little, but honestly? It seems like he’ll need far more than that to not be a jackass about this. He’s just too stubborn.
“Ah. You caught on to that, did ya?” He chuckles dryly, shaking out his shaggy blonde hair. “Well don’t worry. Kat’s a full grown woman and we’re just having fun. So why don’t you just…” He tries to wave me away and I narrow my eyes at him.
Why the insolent little…
