“It’s okay. I get it,” she said, lifting a hand. “We’ve all thought the same thing. Beau never cowed as a kid. It was easier to believe he’d become an elitist than to believe anything else. We had no idea what he was living through.” She was several feet away by now, opening the gate before I could bring myself to move again.
“I didn’t mean he wasn’t strong enough to resist his father. I meant his father must have been severely abusive to get past Beau’s own strength of will.”
“It’s all good. I asked more from the perspective of how different you two are. You’re preppy and he’s jock-country. He’s been knocking heads all his life, whether he wanted to or not. I’m not sure he understands life outside of football. People seriously talk about him being drafted into the NFL. His mom was the one who pushed his education,” she said. I let the gate swing shut behind me. “Sorry for rambling.”
“Not rambling,” I said, my hands fisting into my pockets. Still very much mentally obsessing over what I’d almost let slip. “Can I request you not say anything about him and me until we leave Thursday morning?” Apparently, her directness encouraged my own.
“Absolutely, but the people around here live a simple life. They work, get married, have a pack of children. They’re gonna see the way you two seek each other out and give those sly looks, him more than you.” She pointed her finger at me then over toward the dock. “Then when you look at each other…” An expression of pure contentment sent her eyes skyward. Her hand covered her heart. “It’s the sweetest thing ever.”
What?No.“I’ve been doing my best to keep from appearing overly affectionate.”
She giggled as if I’d said the words in jest. She was way off base. I was becoming a trained attorney after all. I knew a poker face firsthand.
A sudden slam of the gate drew our attention in that direction.
The shadow of a yeti stalked toward us. Luckily though, I didn’t have to test my oath of protection to Katie. It was Beau stumbling toward our car.
“Lauren’s tired,” Beau stated entirely too loud. “You’re drivin’. Come on. Bye, Katie.”
“He’s funny,” she said and started around her car to the driver’s seat.
I hadn’t made it to the actual door with Katie, but felt like I’d done my duty, and started for my guy.
Beau beckoned. I had no choice but to follow.
I saw a nap in my future.
In the foot and a half of space I’d been allotted on the mattress, I propped up against the headboard with a coursebook in my lap. My gritty eyes felt like sandpaper from lack of any real sleep.
I faced my own challenges with Beau’s reemergence into my life. Learning how to adapt to having someone with me twenty-four seven. I realized how much time I spent alone, how I’d isolated myself while waiting for Beau’s return. I had a solitary existence. Chandler had only moved in with me about a year ago. That was when I began spending most of my time in my bedroom.
I hadn’t adequately prepared myself for constant companionship. A flaw in my plans.
Apart from that, a drunk Beau snored like a bear. Anytime I managed to nudge him to his side, he tumbled backward, stretching out, claiming more space each time.
Another problem, Beau apparently liked to cuddle, scooping me up around him. Those heavy, stale alcohol breaths blowing down on me…really foul smelling.
Yeah, I had my own adjustment struggles to get past.
I ran my fingers through my hair out of pure frustration. I watched the alarm clock change from six fifty-nine to seven o’clock in the morning. The resulting beep was frequent and loud. Beau didn’t move a muscle. I pressed snooze for the sixth time. Now choices had to be made.
In this part of the world, they’d consider Beau to be sleeping in. I personally felt like it was the butt crack of dawn. Did I wake him? He’d committed to helping Scott’s family prepare the house and backyard for the wedding. He planned to spend the next thirty-six hours with Scott. Set up the venue, shop for clothes, bachelor party, final setup then the wedding.
They did extend me an invitation, but I declined. Beau didn’t need the added mental anxiety of explaining me to the rest of their schoolmates. Which allowed for the nap I wanted to take, and the studying I had to do to prepare for my exam.
So, do I wake him?
As if the answer was sent from above, Beau rolled into my side, pushing one leg off the bed, the other wrapped into his body like a soft body pillow. My hip bumped against the end table.
“Beau,” I said loudly. “The alarm went off.” My palm ran the length of his hair, gently trying to wake him. Nothing happened.
“Wake up, Beau,” I said more firmly, with a pat of my hand on his cheek. He didn’t move.
“Beau!” I hollered, and used force with my hand, knocking his head away from my hip. His eyes squinted a crack, only for him to roll over again. Me and my textbook were knocked to the floor. He stretched out across the mattress as I was picking myself up.
“Get up, Beau!”
His eyes opened slightly wider than before. The confusion was real. “Why?” he croaked and moved his tongue around his mouth, searching for saliva. “Are you on the floor? Why does my mouth taste so bad?” He flipped away from me, landing face down on a pillow.
