Page 11

11

TASHA

“ T hen he asked me to move in with him!” Mila gushed, the widest grin on her face. She was giddy as the four of us walked down the cobblestone street that weaved its way through the little town on the island. “He said he wanted to buy a house for the two of us.”

I smiled at the way she was almost bouncing on her toes as she walked. She was like the energizer bunny this morning. Not that I blamed her. Moving in with your boyfriend was a huge step. She and Bryton were the cutest couple; he basically worshipped the ground she walked on.

“We’re so happy for you.” I grinned at her.

“Told you this vacation was going to be good for us.” Josie beamed, looping her arm through mine.

At her words, my head moved on its own, glancing over my shoulder at the person walking behind me. The sight of Trevor made my stomach flip. Last night didn’t go as planned. After going back and forth during dinner, I made the decision to tell him, despite being scared out of my mind. I didn’t want him to look at me differently, but he did deserve an explanation .

It felt oddly nice to tell someone besides Josie. It had been weighing down on me for months, and while I wasn’t healed from it, I did feel a bit lighter telling Trevor.

What happened that night in the club was… There really weren’t any words to say what it was. It should have never happened to anyone, and yet it did. At first, I felt ashamed. Ashamed that I put myself in that situation because I should have known better. The shame and the guilt was what kept me from telling Josie immediately. I also figured that as a counselor, I should be able to deal with my own trauma.

It wasn’t until one night when the two of us were sitting in her living room having our weekly wine night that I broke down and told her everything. It was her words that night that helped me. It wasn’t my fault. It would never be my fault. But even I knew it would take some time before I fully believed that.

So, I took Josie’s advice and went to Florida where my parents had a condo. They rarely ever went there, so I was safe to go and be alone. I hated not having anyone with me, but in the end, it really helped.

When I finally came home, I felt better. A lot better. I wasn’t going to let one moment define me or my future. So, in a whole new headspace, I was happy to get back to my daily rhythm. Happy to get back to my life.

But then, when that night with Trevor happened, I wasn’t expecting to freak out on him. I hadn’t been with anyone after being assaulted, so feeling someone’s hands on me sent my mind reeling. I did the only thing I could in that moment and ran

Later that night, all I could picture was Trevor’s face and how he would react if he knew the truth. If he knew the reason I freaked out, he’d probably think I was damaged goods. I highly doubted Trevor would want to be with someone like that. And as much as I liked him, I couldn’t subject him to that.

With all that in mind, I kept my distance. I forced aside my attraction and kept our interactions to a minimum. But being on this island… Things were starting to shift. The hold on my feelings was slipping with each day that passed. I didn’t know if Trevor sensed it last night, but I did.

“I’m excited to finally see the island.” Lydia’s voice broke me out of my trance. Looking away from Trevor, I nodded along with the others. Having spent the last few days at the hotel, it was nice to finally see more of what Whitsunday Island had to offer.

In my hand, I held a pamphlet that we got from the hotel this morning. It labeled some of the popular places to see, recommended restaurants, and a small map of the town.

“Where to first, ladies?” Wyatt came up, putting his arms over mine and Josie’s shoulders.

“Should we look at some of the stores first then maybe go see some sights?” I suggested, catching Wyatt’s eye.

“Works for me.” He grinned, dropping his arm from my shoulder and steering Josie toward a store in front of us. I stared after the two with a grin.

“Think she knows?” Trevor’s voice spoke next to me a second later.

“I don’t think so. I think Bryton asking Mila to move in has helped to distract her from the possibility of anything else happening.”

“Look at my boys growing up.”

“When’s your turn,” I joked, elbowing his side.

“Ha ha.” He looked down at me. “I’m fully grown.” Trevor gestured to his body.

Scrunching my nose, I shook my head. “Physically, yes. Mentally…no.”

“That hurts, Sunshine. ”

“Good.” I flashed him a grin before starting after the others who were already ahead of us.

“You know, I think you’re jealous.”

“Oh, am I?”

“Yep, you want to be me. I get it.” He said it so seriously.

“Again, I am?” I asked.

“You just see how awesome and amazing and think to yourself, ‘Damn, I want to be him so bad.’ I don’t blame you.”

My lips twitched as he smiled broadly at me. I knew what he was doing. Without saying the words, he was letting me know that last night would stay between us, and we didn’t need to talk about it unless I wanted to. And right now… I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to push that conversation to the back of my mind and just enjoy today.

“Uh-huh. I think it’s the other way around. I think you want to be me.” I remarked.

“Why would I want to be you?” he asked.

“Cause I’m prettier.” Trevor looked me up and down before shrugging.

My mouth fell open at his words. “You did not just say that!”

“I only speak the truth.” Trevor answered.

“Okay, I see how it’s going to be. Watch your back, Trevor Hall.” I narrowed my eyes at him. I would get him back for that comment. Giving him a fake stink eye, I brushed past him into a store.

The cute little shop we were in was your typical touristy place. Filled with shirts that had the island's name on them. Little souvenirs and trinkets. They even had an adorable stuffed turtle that I secretly wanted to get. I walked around on my own until I heard Trevor’s voice.

“What do you think of this?” I turned and paused at the sight before me.

Standing there, he wore a hat that had feathers sticking out the top. It was clearly a few sizes too small and barely rested on top of his head. With my attention on him, he did a little pose with his hands on his hips.

“So cute.” I said.

“I think it matches my outfit.” The bright purple hat didn’t match his green shirt. At all.“It’s missing something.” I tapped my chin as I walked toward him, a rack filled with sunglasses catching my eye. With an idea popping into my mind, I searched for the ugliest pair. Upon finding pink ones that had little stars on the sides, I grinned.

Turning to Trevor, I stood up on my toes, reaching to put the sunglasses on his face. I purposely picked a pair that would fit a toddler, not a six foot three grown man. They barely perched on his nose and didn’t even cover his eyes.

“Perfect.” I beamed up at him.

When Trevor popped his hip out and pretended to fling hair over his shoulder, I lost it. He looked beyond ridiculous but in a cute way. The only thing missing was a feather boa to tie it all together.

“Think I’m ready for the runway?”

“Oh, definitely. Give Gigi Hadid a run for her money.” I grinned ear to ear.

“You know it, honey.” He made his voice higher pitch as he brushed past me, walking down the aisle with a sway in his hips. A huge exaggerated sway. My laughter echoed around the shop, and I tried to stifle it but with each sashay and flick of Trevor’s hands, I couldn’t help it.

“Work, work, work,” Trevor said under his breath as he strutted. A few people in the store started staring at us, but Trevor paid them no mind.

When he came to a stop in front of me, I clapped and gave him a nod of approval.

“Beautiful.”

“I know.” He winked, taking the hat from his head, and placed it on mine. My breath caught in my throat when Trevor crouched down, getting level with my eyes before gently taking the sunglasses and sliding them on my face. His fingertips softly grazed my cheeks as he pulled back.

“Think they fit you better.” The grin on my face faltered at the intensity in his eyes. His gaze held me, his eyes lingering with an intensity that sent a chill through me. He looked at me as though he wanted to consume me entirely.

Swallowing thickly, I watched as Trevor’s eyes followed the movement. His jaw muscle twitched before he blinked and took a step back.

“Let’s see your model pose.” He said. Ignoring the fluttering in my chest, I flashed Trevor a wide smile.

When he pulled out his phone to take pictures of me, I rolled my eyes but started masquerading around. Each pose was crazier than the last. Trevor pretended to be my photographer as he gave me instructions and snapped an endless amount of pictures. After a few minutes, I was laughing too hard to continue.

“Should have been a model, Sunshine,” Trevor said, plucking the hat from my head and returning it to the rack.

“I know I missed my true calling.” I laughed, shaking my head. Glancing around, I looked for the others but found no one. “Where is everyone?”

With Trevor taller than me, he looked above my head and down the aisles.

“I think we’ve been abandoned,” he remarked.

“They just left us?” Making a face, I reached into my pocket for my phone. Finding a text from Josie, I quickly clicked it and read what she wrote.

Looked like you and Trev were having a great time, so we all went ahead to look at more shops. Text me in a bit. Have fun!

She followed the text with a winky emoji. I couldn’t decide if I was pissed at the group for leaving us or happy to hang out with Trevor alone. Probably a mix of both.

“Yep, we’ve been left,” I said, shaking my head as I pocketed my phone.

“Let them miss out on the fun we’re having.” Trevor waved it off. “Let’s go do whatever we want.”

The thought of doing something spontaneous with Trevor made butterflies erupt in my stomach. Before I could overthink, I said, “Let’s go explore.”

“Look how stunning,” I breathed. The sight before me was absolutely beautiful. One of Whitsunday Island’s secret waterfalls was directly in front of us, looking everything like the locals told us about.

The waterfall cascaded down into a crystal-clear lake, rocks and moss growing all the rocks surrounding the pool beneath. The sound of the waterfall hitting the rocks a gentle roar. The sun filtered through the tall trees, highlighting the water. The scene felt like a hidden paradise.

When Trevor and I set out on our solo adventure, we explored the little town, visiting a few more shops and some historic buildings. It was surprisingly fun walking around with Trevor. He really was the type that went with the flow and made anything enjoyable. We were the typical tourists as we took picture after picture of the beautiful town. There was so much to see.

We had stopped to grab something to drink when we overheard locals talking about a waterfall. Being the nosey person that Trevor was, he interrupted them and asked them about it. Of course he charmed the pair, especially the wife, and they gladly told us about a secret path that most tourists didn’t know about.

“The hike was worth it, wasn’t it?” I didn’t miss the mocking tone Trevor had.

One thing the couple didn’t tell us was how rigorous the way up would be. It was all uphill with some rocky terrain. Thankfully, I wore tennis shoes, but I wasn’t prepared for the walk to be that hard. Or for how out of shape I was.

The whole time, Trevor just casually strolled ahead as if the incline didn’t bother him at all. He barely broke a sweat while I followed behind panting so hard my ribs hurt.

“Think the complaining was necessary?” he continued. Without looking away from the waterfall, I gave him the middle finger. Trevor laughed, the sound echoing around us.

I may have complained a little bit—okay, more like a lot. About halfway, I started getting tired, sweaty, and hungry. It was Trevor’s bright idea to come, so it was only fair I gave him my wrath. But seeing the waterfall did make it worth it.

“Want to sit down for a minute?”

I barely let Trevor finish his sentence before brushing past him toward a big rock near the water. My legs were tired and definitely needed a break before heading back.

“When we get back you are so buying me some food,” I grunted as I heaved myself up and sat down. The rock was a little slick from the water raining from the waterfall. Thank God I decided to wear a tank top and shorts, or else I would have died. There was no way I’d be hiking in a dress, either.

“I’ll get you the biggest pizza we can find,” Trevor promised, taking a seat beside me. At the mention of such food, I almost moaned. That would be so good right now.

The two of us sat on the rock, looking at the waterfall in comfortable silence. Trevor’s big frame took up most of it, so our legs were touching. We were the only ones nearby, and we didn’t pass a soul on the way up. It was so peaceful here. The sound of the waterfall and birds overhead was like our own little nirvana.

“I can admit the hike was worth it,” I said after a moment. From the corner of my eye, I saw Trevor open his mouth to say something. “Don’t even say it,” I interrupted him before he could.

“Say what?”

“I just know you’re dying to say it but don’t you dare.” He knew exactly what I was talking about.

“I wasn’t going to,” Trevor said with a shit-eating grin.

“Uh-huh.”

We lapsed into silence, but Trevor let out a giant sigh next to me. I ignored it at first but then he did it again, this time bumping his knee with mine. On the third sigh, I threw my head back and groaned.

“Fine, just say it.” He waited for me to look over at him.

“Told you so.” There it was.

“You just had to, didn’t you?”

“Only cause I was right.” I swore Trevor’s grin grew wider.

“It was your bright idea to go on a five-mile hike. ONE WAY! We weren’t even prepared.” I exclaimed, throwing my hands up.

“Five miles isn’t even that long,” he had the nerve to say.

“Says the guy who works out every day. Us normal people don’t do that.”

“I don’t workout every day. I take Sundays off.”

“Oh, cause that’s so much better.” I rolled my eyes. I knew being a hockey player, they had insane workout schedules and meal plans. You couldn’t play at the top of your game if you weren’t healthy.

“You can come workout with me sometimes if you want.”

“I wouldn’t want to embarrass you with how much I can lift,” I teased. Yeah, cause that was the real reason I didn’t want to go workout with Trevor.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep. These muscles don’t build themselves.” I brought my arm up and flexed.

“I can see that. Although, I think mine are better.” Trevor mirrored my action, making his T-shirt strain against his muscles. The sight of his forearms and biceps made my mouth dry but like hell if I was going to let him see how he affected me. Why did he have to be so attractive with those damn tattoos?

“I don’t see anything? You sure there’s muscle there?” I made a show of squinting my eyes as if I didn’t see anything. The guy was insanely huge and had biceps the size of my head.

“You’re a little shit.” Using his shoulder, he shoved me to the side. I was already close to the edge, and since the dude was stronger than he realized, I tipped to the side, ready to fall off the rock. Before any noise could even leave my mouth, a pair of hands grabbed me by the waist and yanked me back.

I smashed into Trevor’s side with a yelp. If I had fallen off the rock, I would have ended up in the water. Turning in his hold, I slapped his arm. “You almost made me fall in the water!”

“Yeah, but I saved you, didn’t I?”

“You are so mean!” With each word, I smacked his arm harder, which only made him laugh.

“It’s not like you would have died.”

“We don’t know what’s in the water! I could have hit my head on rocks or something.” When he just kept laughing, I shoved him. Catching him by surprise, he tilted to the side. I did nothing but sit there and watch as he slipped and fell right into the water .

Trevor landed with a loud splash. Scooting forward, I peered over the rock as Trevor’s head reemerged. Wiping water from his face, he glared up at me.

“Sorry,” I squeaked. I didn’t mean to shove him hard enough to fall in.

“Tasha.”

“I truly am sorry.” But the damn smile on my face appeared again.

“That was on purpose.” He pushed through the water toward me.

“It really wasn’t.” My eyes roamed his face, stopping on the hair stuck to his forehead before finding his shirt glued to his upper body. I swallowed thickly at the sight of the fabric clinging to his abs and chest.

“I don’t believe you.” He came to a stop right below the rock and stared up at me. There was something about seeing him fully clothed and wet. Who knew a T-shirt could form so well to a body? No wonder guys liked wet T-shirt contests.

“How’s the water?”

The look on Trevor’s face had me snorting. He looked less than amused. “Help me up, will you?”

“No. I’m not that much of an idiot.” I shook my head. I knew if I tried to help him, he’d pull me right into the water with him.

“I won’t.” Trevor promised, extending an arm up.

“Yeah, I still don’t believe you.” Gesturing to a few smaller rocks to the right of us, I said, “Try getting up over there.”

“Wow, you push me into the water and won’t even help me out? You really are mean.”

“I didn’t push you in!”

“Come on, Sunshine, please? The water is getting colder.” I stared down at him with a raised eyebrow. “I promise on all things holy that I won’t pull you in,” he added .

Seeing nothing but sincerity on his face, I let out a sigh.

“Fine, but if you pull me in, you will regret it.” Moving to the edge of the rock, I got on my knees and held out a hand. I wasn’t sure how much help I’d really be. I watched him wearily as he put one hand on the rock and the other grabbed mine.

I pulled his arm up hard, trying my best to help lift him out of the water, but the guy weighed a shit ton. Trevor did most of the work in lifting himself. Helping was pretty much worthless.

Water ran off his clothes and soaked the spot we were just sitting on. Seeing just how soaked he was, I was glad I put both of our phones in my little bag the last time we stopped to catch my breath.

“Have a nice swim?”

“Want me to throw you in?” he threatened.

“You wouldn’t.” I narrowed my eyes at his threat.

“Oh, I would.”

I took a small step back, shaking my head. “Nope, you promised.”

“But I—” Trevor started to speak, but the sound of one of our phones ringing cut him off. Surprised we had service, I reached into my bag and pulled out my phone. Lydia’s number flashed across it.

“Hello?” I quickly answered.

“Where the hell are you? We’ve been trying to call for the last half hour.”

“Sorry, we haven’t had service.” Movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. While Lydia talked away in my ear, all I could focus on was Trevor grabbing the neck of his shirt before pulling it up and over his head.

My mouth instantly went dry. Holy fuck. Nothing could top the way he looked shirtless covered in all those tattoos. My eyes followed the path of a line of water droplets as they ran down his chest and in between his abs. The things I would do….

“Tasha!” Lydia’s voice snapped me out of the dirty thoughts racing through my mind.

“Yes?” I answered but my mind was elsewhere.

“You guys need to get back.” My mind worked overtime trying to remember what our plans were for the rest of the day. “The lighthouse,” Lydia emphasized.

Shit, the lighthouse.

“We’re leaving right now. I’ll text you as soon as we get close.”

“Try and hurry cause we can only hold off for so long.” Her voice went soft. I knew what she meant as I quickly said bye and hung up the phone.

“We got to go.” I moved to step around Trevor.

“Why?”

“Lighthouse,” was all I said.

“Oh shit.”

“Here, hold this so I can get down.” Not even thinking, I handed over both my phone and my bag to Trevor. I was so busy looking down that I didn’t see the smirk on his face, which was a huge mistake.

I had absolutely no warning as Trevor’s hand touched my shoulder and gave me a shove. It wasn’t a soft shove either. I barely shrieked before my body crashed into the water. Breaking the surface of the water, I sputtered before turning my gaze to Trevor. He stood above on the rock, staring down at me with a wide grin.

That fucking asshole.

“How’s the water?” He had the balls to throw my words back at me. A wave of calmness settled over me as I swam toward him.

“You are so dead.” My voice came out even, which only amused Trevor even more. He extended his hand out to help me up but I ignored it, grabbing onto the rocks and pulling myself up instead. My wet clothes weighed me down.

I stood in front of him, completely drenched. My hair fell out of its ponytail as I leveled him with a glare.

“If we didn’t have to get back I’d be shoving your head under the water right now.” We didn’t have time to mess around, but boy, was I tempted to tackle him right back into it.

“You looked a little warm. Thought I’d help out.” Trevor shrugged. The movement brought my attention back to his bare chest.

Shaking my head, I pulled my hair over my shoulder and squeezed out the excess water. I felt it trail down my spine and the back of my legs, making me grimace. My socks squished in my wet shoes. Great, now I’d have to walk in them.

“You better watch your back.” I was going to get him back one way or another. Grabbing my phone and bag from his hand, I turned on my heel and started for the trail.

“You’re welcome!” Trevor called out as I walked off. The only response I could muster was lifting both hands and giving him double middle fingers, Trevor’s laughter following me back down the path.