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16
BEAU
Since I was still on leave, I decided to drive down to Bluffton to hang out with the guys while all their women—and Lyndi, too—had their monthly book club meeting with a few other friends. Including Ms. Hattie, of course, who I hoped wasn’t bugging Lyndi too much about us.
Paul, Will, and Trevor were involved in an intense F1 race with Grayson on the PlayStation, so Zac and I were cooking dinner without their help. Which was good because I wasn’t used to having a lot of cooks in the kitchen.
“So, you haven’t said much about your trip to see your dad,” Zac said, chopping up a head of lettuce on the other side of the counter.
I wasn’t much of a salad guy, but Zac was our resident health-food nut ever since he’d had to learn a ton about ingredients thanks to his son’s nut allergy, so dinner at his house was always a lot healthier than anywhere else.
“Not much to talk about. We hung out with Pops, did a little sightseeing, got some beignets.”
As I added a final layer of barbeque sauce to the six racks of ribs Zac had slow-cooked all day, all of the other stuff we did flew through my mind like a movie reel. All vivid and bright, the images tortured me with their intensity despite how hard I tried not to remember.
Sitting in comfortable silence while we read, my dad too—while also wheezing steadily in his recliner.
Sharing meals together at my kitchen table, joking about silly stuff and bonding over the best ’80s action flicks. Apparently, her dad and my dad would get along great.
Talking late into the night on Saturday while my dad slept, neither one of us ready to call it a night despite the long drive we had ahead of us on Sunday.
That freaking almost-kiss at Breakwater Park that could have ruined everything.
Not that it wasn’t already ruined on my end. I was totally and utterly into that woman, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it without asking her to compromise on what she wanted in a man.
“Uh-huh. Sounds charming,” Zac said dryly. “And did your dad buy it?”
The brush I held slipped out of my hand, but I caught it before I splattered barbecue sauce all over myself. “What? Did he buy what?”
“You and Lyndi. As a real couple.”
I stared at him, eyes unseeing. “Youknow?”
“Of course I know.” He leaned forward and spoke in a low tone. “Bro, do you know who my wife is?”
“I mean, I knew Layla and the girls knew, but I didn’t thinkyouknew,” I whispered, conscious of how close we were to the rest of the guys.
“Of course I know. So do they.” He jerked his chin over his shoulder.
I looked into the living room at our friends and his son, then my eyes zipped back to his. “No way. They haven’t said anything.”
“Yeah, and if they know what’s good for them, they won’t. All of our wives have sworn us to secrecy. So you’d better not let it slip that we know, or we’ll all be dead by the end of the day.”
I let my head fall back and stared at the light fixture on the ceiling. “Ugh, well, since you know… what do you think of the whole thing?”
I shouldn’t have even asked because I probably didn’t want to know, but I wasn’t on a winning streak as far as decision making lately.
“I don’t know. It’s dicey.”
“How so?”
He shrugged. “She doesn’t want to be with someone who’s leaving, and you are. Layla’s worried about her falling for you and then getting hurt when you leave.”
I had the same fear, since I already knew how much it was going to suck for me, and I didn’t want the same thing for her. “Well, at least she isn’t trying to change her mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. Not that it matters, because this isn’t going to turn into a real thing, but I guess I’m glad she’s not trying to convince her she should go to Hawaii with me. It wouldn’t be right.”
