Tonight is about us and that’s it.
Once I’m dressed and ready to go, I head downstairs to the kitchen and grab something to drink while I wait for her to join me. The house is quiet, but it’s a pleasant kind of quiet. Even with the doors and windows closed, I can still hear the roar of the ocean. I walk over to one of the massive windows and just look out at the beach.
I could get used to this kind of view.
Not that I’ll ever have the chance. I don’t do a lot of coastal jobs, and this is the first time I’ve been to the beach since I was a kid. Still, it’s a beautiful view and I’m always going to remember how relaxed and happy I felt here.
I hear Olivia walk up beside me as she stares out at the view too. “I had forgotten how peaceful this kind of view is,” she says softly. “I’ve been living in a small town just outside of Seattle and there aren’t views like this, and when I was in Alaska, there were fantastic mountain views, but I think this is my happy view.”
I nod because I feel that way too.
We stay like that for several long minutes before she quietly sighs. “Ready for me to order a car?”
“I got it,” I assure her.
When our car arrives ten minutes later, I take her hand in mine and prepare to give her the romantic evening I think she’s been missing for far too long.
All good things must come to an end.
And I don’t think it’s fair.
Zayne doesn’t text me until three the next day to tell me they’re getting a late start. Once I text him back, I reach out to Mike and relay the news, and he tells me he and Loren will be back around seven and they’re bringing dinner.
Awesome.
Olivia and I make the most of our last precious hours alone by skinny dipping in the pool and then going inside and making love loudly with the bedroom door open. It seems silly, but we both agree that it’s what we want.
By the time Zayne, Vanessa, Roxie, and the dogs pull up, the house is straightened and the two of us are completely cleaned up.
There are a lot of tears when we greet everyone at the door, and the dogs are going absolutely insane, running around and barking after Zayne had taken them for a quick walk.
“I’m so glad you came back!” I hear Olivia tell Roxie. “I wasn’t ready for our time together to be over!”
“Me either. And I’m sorry I left the way I did. That was shitty of me.” Roxie turns to me before giving me a hug. “Thank you for taking care of my dogs when I was a little too inebriated the other night. You’re a good man, Ash.”
“Thanks, Rox. And what are friends for?”
We all make our way toward the kitchen, and I announce the plans for dinner and even though everyone sounds excited, their faces say anything but.
Still, we all talk about everything and nothing and it’s like we’re all dreading when Mike and Loren—but mostly Loren—show back up.
Earlier, I finally told Liv about what Mike texted last night and she was equally surprised that he wasn’t exactly defending his fiancée.
“I know you’re supposed to always have your spouse’s back, but it’s nice to know that doesn’t apply when said spouse is so obviously wrong,” she said. “I guess dinner will be like a peace offering.”
“And you’re okay with it?”
“Hey, as long as she is genuinely sorry and doesn’t come in here like she’s being forced to apologize because she doesn’t think she was wrong, sure.”
So now we’re all waiting and wondering.
“I don’t know what they’re bringing, but I could use a glass of wine!” Vanessa announces, and we all accept a glass of cabernet sauvignon before going out onto the deck to enjoy the sounds of the ocean.
Roxie asks if Olivia has worked on the book, so we all throw out ideas for the plot and, as usual, she shoots them all down.
“Romantic suspense,” Zayne says, “That’s like an action movie with sex and stuff, right?”
“Um…not exactly,” Liv replies, but then stops. “Or maybe…yeah. Exactly like that.”
