Page 12

12

TASHA

“ W hat the hell happened to you two?” was the first thing out of Lydia’s mouth. Four pairs of eyes turned to look at Trevor and me as we came to a stop in front of our group of friends. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what we looked like.

“This idiot,” I jabbed my thumb in Trevor’s direction, “decided it would be a fun idea to go on a hike. And then proceeded to shove me into a pond.”

“You shoved me first!” Trevor was quick to say.

“No, I didn’t! You lost your balance and toppled over.” I said as I turned to face Trevor in disbelief.

“Well, then you lost your balance too.” He shot back.

My mouth fell open at his words. “You are such a liar!”

“Is that why you’re covered in dirt?” Mila butted in. I glanced down at my soil-covered legs.

The trail back to town was pretty much loose gravel, which just clung to our wet shoes and legs. Didn’t help that the wind decided to pick up and pelt us. And add in the fact that we got lost for a good twenty minutes as well. My shoes, legs, and even my clothes were encrusted with what now looked like dried mud.

My clothes had spots that were still soaked and my hair was practically a bird's nest. Trevor fared a bit better but even he was covered. Between the two of us, we looked rough.

“It looks like you guys rolled around a mud pit,” Landon commented.

“Gee, thanks,” I deadpanned, self-consciously touching my hair. Wasn’t exactly how I wanted to look for this, but there wasn’t time to go back to the hotel and clean up. A hand on my lower back had me turning to find Trevor close by.

“You still look beautiful, Sunshine,” he whispered in my ear. I blushed at his words.

Trying to turn the attention away from me, I peered around Mila. “It hasn’t happened yet, right?”

“Not yet. Wyatt took her into a shop just a moment ago so we can get into position.” Thank God we didn’t miss it.

“Okay, everyone fan out around the lighthouse,” Mila whispered, even though she didn’t need to. Josie’s camera hung around her neck.

Excited for my best friend, I echoed the grin on everyone’s face. Josie had no clue what was going to happen, but lucky for her, all of us were going to be there to witness it.

Up ahead along the pathway was a gorgeous lighthouse that overlooked the ocean. It was situated up on a hill so it stood above the town. Its beautiful white stone and red roof stood out amongst the greenery of the island.

Leaving our spot from the pathway to the lighthouse we all branched out. As I speed walked toward a spot to hide, I briefly admired the tall piece of architecture. It truly was the perfect place for this. We were all kind of flying by the seat of our pants since we had no way to practice what was coming .

Claiming a spot near the base of the lighthouse, I had the perfect view of the ocean straight ahead, along with the cobblestone path and rock wall that was just in front of the lighthouse for tourists to sit and admire the view.

Glancing around, I saw Mila to the left of me a little bit, tucked against the building with Josie’s camera poised. Lydia was standing lower down the hill by the pathway trying to act normal. I had no clue where the guys were, but I briefly caught a glimpse of Bryton’s head over a bush further down the hill. We were all spread out along the lighthouse to get all the angles.

Poised and ready to go, I waited. I couldn’t believe this was finally happening. For years, Josie and I talked about finding someone to spend the rest of our lives with. A guy who was everything we wanted and more. And Josie found that. She found her person.

I'd never met someone who put my best friend above everything. Wyatt was the kind of man you searched your whole life for, and I couldn’t be happier that Josie found him without having to waste years of her life giving other guys, who weren’t right for her, endless opportunities. Back in uni, Josie was with such an asshole. He made her feel less than, and I vowed to never let another man make her feel like that again. When it came to Wyatt, I didn’t have to worry about that.

Blinking rapidly, I tried to get rid of the tears that threatened to spill. I was just glad I was here to witness their special moment.

Another minute passed before I heard Josie’s voice coming up the pathway to the lighthouse. Thankfully only a few other tourists were scattered around but none were near enough to ruin this perfect moment.

Josie and Wyatt appeared down the path, headed for the rock wall overlooking the ocean. The lump in my throat grew as I looked at my best friend. As briefly planned I lifted my phone up, pressed record, aiming the camera at the two of them. All of our friend group were supposed to record this moment from every angle so Josie could watch it back later.

“This place is stunning!” I heard Josie gush as she walked over to the rock wall, her gaze on the ocean.

As Josie talked, Wyatt peeked over his shoulder, catching sight of me. I sent him a thumbs up and smiled. He sent me a small, nervous one in return and patted his pocket.

“I almost don’t want to go home.”

“We can always come back soon,” Wyatt said, coming up to her side.

“Maybe we can make this a yearly trip.” From here I could hear the giddy-ness in Josie’s voice.

I watched silently as Wyatt gave himself a little pep talk, his lips moving like he was muttering something under his breath. When he inhaled deeply, I knew it was time.

“Josie.” Wyatt gently grabbed her waist and turned her to face him. The smile she had on her face made my heart squeeze. “You know I love you, right?”

“I would hope so. Especially after last night.” I almost choked out a laugh. Josie definitely didn’t know everyone was within hearing distance. Chuckling, Wyatt nodded.

“I made a promise to your dad that I would make sure you felt loved every second that you’re by my side. And the thing is Josie,” his hand came up to brush against her cheek, “I don’t want you to ever leave my side.”

My throat closed as tears once again pricked my eyes. I willed my hand not to shake my phone.

“I want to wake up to your horrible singing every day. I want to see the way your tongue sticks out of your lips when you’re thinking about something. I want everything that is you for the rest of my life.”

When Wyatt kneeled down onto one knee, my grin almost split it in half. Josie covered her mouth as she stared at Wyatt in shock. I kept my camera on them as Wyatt reached into his pocket.

“So, Josie, will you?—”

“Hell yes!” Josie interrupted Wyatt before he could finish. She threw herself at fiancé, who barely managed to stay upright. I could tell Josie was crying as her body shook. My own tears ran down my face.

Wyatt must have whispered something in her ear because she pulled away and nodded, extending her left hand. From here, I could hear her gasp as she stared down at the ring Wyatt slid onto her finger. The ring I helped Wyatt pick out a month ago.

It was a gorgeous pale pink diamond, resting on top of a rose gold band. It was beyond gorgeous and huge and absolutely perfect for Josie. I told him the day we looked at rings that Josie was more of a simple ring person, but he claimed he wanted the best of the best for her. We ended up compromising on one big diamond instead of multiple. This one was 100 percent made for her.

When Josie pulled Wyatt up into a kiss, I heard a loud cheer. Not even a second later, the guys came into view, pretty much tackling our newly engaged friends. I kept recording as they yelled, Trevor picking Josie up and twirling her around.

I waited until Lydia and Mila came out to congratulate the two, wanting to get it all on video, before finally putting my phone away. Walking down to where everyone was I caught Josie’s eye. All it took was one smile before the two of us ran toward one another.

Her body slammed into mine as I wrapped my arms around her tightly. I hugged the girl who was more my sister than anything else, practically squishing her. Pulling back a few minutes later, I sent her a watery smile .

“You’re getting married.”

“I am.” I reached up and wiped a tear off her cheek. “You did all of this, didn’t you?”

Smiling, I shrugged. “Wyatt did most of it, but I wasn’t about to let my best friend get engaged in some gross, sweaty hockey arena.” Josie laughed, tears still leaking out of her eyes. “And your boyfriend may be great but he doesn’t know how to pick out a ring to save his life.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“You’re welcome,” I joked.

“You’ll be my maid of honor, right?”

“Oh, I already got my maid of honor badge.” The two of us shared another smile. “I’m so happy for you, Jo.”

“Me too.” Seeing the look in Josie’s eyes almost made me cry. She looked happier than I'd ever seen her. After everything she’d been through, she deserved to be happy. It was then she seemed to take in my appearance.

“And what happened to you?” She raised an eyebrow at me. Feeling Wyatt’s eyes on me, I shook my head.

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later. You better get back to your boyfriend—wait, I mean— fiancé. He looks seconds away from pulling you out of my arms.” I whispered the last part.

“Love you, Tash.”

“Love you too.” Josie pecked my cheek before turning and heading back to her now fiancé. Almost immediately, Wyatt pulled her into his arms. With a soft ache in my chest, I stepped forward and lifted my phone to take more pictures.

“Okay, picture time!”

“I was surprised you never found out,” Lydia said a couple hours later as all us girls sat at the hotel bar.

“I had no idea. I mean, Wyatt was acting a little different earlier but that was it.”

“Wyatt called me at least three times, worried that you knew or had found the ring.” I said. Every other day, I swore Wyatt was texting me to make sure Josie hadn’t found out. I eventually just took the ring and put it in my drawer by my bed. The day before we left, I went by their apartment and gave Wyatt the ring before Josie got home from work.

“He’s so cute,” she mumbled, looking down at her ring for the hundredth time in the last twenty minutes. Not that I blamed her. It was absolutely gorgeous.

“I’m just happy we pulled it off. The videos and pictures we got were pretty good,” Mila said as she sipped the last of her cocktail.

“I was surprised the guys were able to get such good pictures,” Lydia commented. The pictures the guys took almost looked better than Mila’s. Who knew they could take good photos?

“Speaking of,” Lydia looked over at me, “what exactly happened with you and Trevor?”

“Yeah, why did it look like you rolled around in the dirt together?” Josie leaned forward in her chair as she asked. All eyes landed on me as they waited for an answer. I was tempted not to say anything but with the way they were all staring, I knew I couldn’t get out of it.

“After you guys left us at the gift shop, thanks for that, by the way.” I narrowed my eyes at Josie, who just grinned in response. “Trevor and I walked around for a bit before he overheard a couple talking about a waterfall trail.” I found it comical how each of them listened so intently as I spoke.

“Anyway, we somehow ended up on a ten-mile hike round trip together. Trevor nudged me and almost sent me into the water so I shoved him back…and he fell in.”

Josie and Mila snorted as Lydia shook her head.

“Not my fault the guy has no balance. But Trevor being Trevor, he shoved me in as payback. Long story short, we had to hurry back into town, and with the way the wind blew, we ended up covered in dirt. That’s all that happened.”

“Nothing else?” Mila asked.

“No.”

“You’re so blind.” Lydia shook her head at me.

“What?”

“You have no idea how smitten Trevor is with you.” Josie sent me a small smile.

“No, he isn’t. He lives to torment me.”

“Definitely blind.” Lydia restated.

The boys took that moment to come over, cutting our conversation off. My eyes instantly found Trevor. He was mid-conversation with Landon as I sat there staring at him. I could still picture him shirtless, water running down his abs. I had to shake the image from my head and look away before he could see the slight blush on my cheeks.

I didn’t know what was going on or what was in the water on this island, but the last few days, I found my walls crumbling. The feelings I kept buried were resurfacing, and I was helpless to stop them. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to stop them.

“Ready to go get dinner?” Josie shook me out of my thoughts. Nodding along with the others, I quickly drank the last of my cocktail and stood.

With the long day and Josie and Wyatt’s engagement, we all decided to go to dinner at a place the hotel front desk recommended. It was apparently a pretty high-end establishment and the perfect place to celebrate an engagement .

I felt more than saw Trevor coming up to my side. The others walked ahead of us as they talked.

“Got all cleaned up,” he commented. I smoothed my hand down the front of my pale yellow dress. The silk clung to my skin, showing off my developing tan. I didn’t typically wear the color since it clashed with my blonde hair, but with the way Trevor was looking at me, I was glad I decided on it for tonight.

After taking pictures of Josie and Wyatt, I immediately came back to the hotel to shower off all the mud and dirt. Ironically, the mud was just as hard to get off as the sand.

“You did too.” I glanced over at him. Of course he looked downright hot in his white linen pants and dark blue button-up. The sleeves were rolled up to show off his forearms, along with the tattoos that were there. Something was wrong with me as I felt my underwear dampen, all from the sight of Trevor. Get it together, Tasha.

We didn’t say anything else for a moment as we left the hotel. I could feel him glancing at me every few seconds, making me wonder what he was going to say.

“Ever going to admit you purposely pushed me in the water?” he said a moment later. Yep, there it was.

“Nope, cause it wasn’t on purpose.” I was being truthful. I really didn’t think he would fall into the water with the shove I gave him. Typically, the guy was an immovable wall. I mean, his nickname on the ice was The Beast.

“Uh-huh.”

“You’re the one who pushed me in on purpose.” I nudged him with my shoulder as we walked.

“Cause you did it first.”

“No I didn’t! You’re just clumsy.” My voice rose a pitch.

“Well you’re?—”

“Are you two done bickering like an old married couple?” Wyatt called out. Both of our heads turned to find everyone staring with raised eyebrows. Having been caught, I inconspicuously kicked the side of Trevor’s shoe with my heel.

“Ready to eat? I’m starving.” I suddenly said. Leaving Trevor’s side, I saddled up to Lydia’s and hooked my arm through hers. With the restaurant a few blocks ahead I all but dragged her forward. I felt multiple pairs of eyes on me as I walked but only one burned more than the others.