Page 7

7

TASHA

I ended up spending a solid thirty minutes in the shower. Thanks to my drunk self lying in the sand, it took ages to get it out of my hair and all other places it shouldn’t have been. By the time I stepped out of the stall, my skin was pink from the scrubbing myself.

Drinking so many margaritas in a span of a few hours probably wasn’t the smartest idea. But it was nice to sit back with my best friends and not have a care in the world. We all needed it, and it was a good way to kick-start our time away.

With a headache starting to form, I wanted nothing more than to lay down and take a nap. But I knew if I did, I’d be even more off with the time change, and tomorrow, we planned on exploring the island. So as much as I wanted to sleep, I forced myself to get up and change out of my towel.

Not bothering to put in much effort, seeing as it was going to get dark out, I grabbed one of the twenty-something dresses I packed for the trip. I probably overpacked but you never knew what could happen. What if I needed twenty pairs of underwear, or I met some royal prince that invited me to dinner? I had to look nice cause you never knew .

Slipping on a light blue summer dress, I left my hair to air dry, the wet strands sticking to my back. Putting on a little bit of lip gloss, I called it good. After sliding on my flip-flops and grabbing my phone, I left my room. I glanced at Lydia’s door across from mine, but it was shut. Right after I left Trevor in the hallway and started for my room, our door opened behind me to Landon carrying a mumbling Lydia.

When Landon saw me staring, he grunted and moved past me to put Lydia on her bed. Bet that will go well when she learns who brought her up here. She was probably still passed out. Letting her be, I grabbed my room key and headed for the lobby, texting Josie as I waited for the elevator.

I fiddled with my phone as I rode the elevator down. When I got to the lobby I didn’t see any of my friends, so I awkwardly stood off to the side, waiting for replies to my texts. The main area of the hotel was surprisingly busy with guests coming and going. Some lingered with family as they chatted with each other.

“Feeling better?” My head shot up at Trevor’s voice, relief washed over me at the sight of him.

“Where have you been?” I found myself asking, ignoring his question.

“Did someone miss me?” His eyebrow raised as his lip lifted in a smirk.

“You wish.” I rolled my eyes, even though a small voice in my head told me yes . “Where is everyone?”

“Not entirely sure. Landon was in his room getting ready last I saw. Haven’t heard from the others.” Trevor shrugged. Subconsciously, I found myself looking him over, noting that he was wearing board shorts and a light jacket. His brown hair was a little bit curled, the sight of it making me want to run my fingers through it. It had gotten longer than normal but it fit him .

“I texted Josie, but she hasn’t replied.” I worried my bottom lip between my teeth.

“Probably still getting ready. Wanna head to the shore and wait?” As soon as the words left his mouth, someone shoved past me, hitting my arm and making me stumble right into Trevor. His hand grabbed my arm as my hand landed on his chest. I peered up at him from under my lashes. The smell of citrus with a hint of spice hit my nose. God, he smelled delicious.

“You okay?” Swallowing thickly, I nodded, stepping back. “Let's get out of here.” Trevor gently steered me out of the hotel and toward the beach, his hand lingering at the small of my back before he dropped it.

We walked in silence for a bit, following the string of people also looking to spend the rest of their night by the water. Silence grew between us and I knew I had to say something.

“Thanks for helping me to my room earlier.”

“Of course. Glad you guys didn’t do anything stupid or get in the water.”

“Excuse me. Stupid? We are smart drunks for your information.”

“Josie told us about the swimming pool incident in uni. Not sure I’d say that was smart.” Trevor said.

“First off, I didn’t know you knew that story. And second, we got away with it, so.” I shrugged.

“Let me take a wild guess that it was your idea?” He looked over at me with a raised eyebrow.

“Of course. Who else would have come up with such an iconic idea?” I grinned like a Cheshire cat. Trevor just shook his head at me. “You can’t tell me you didn’t do something stupid in school.”

Out of the guys, I knew Trevor was the troublemaker. He was probably the guy who went to tons of parties and slept around.

“I mean, everyone did,” Trevor answered but didn’t elaborate. I wasn’t letting him off the hook, though, not when he already knew one of my stories.

“And? Not gonna share?” I nudged him with my shoulder. I could make out the bonfire up ahead as we reached the sand. Waiting for his answer, I slipped off my flip-flops and started in the direction of where we needed to go.

“Okay, fine,” Trevor finally relented. Together, the two of us walked side by side. “It was my freshman year, we just won our tenth game, and decided to go out and celebrate.”

I listened intently as he spoke. This was the longest we’d been around each other, and I didn’t really want it to end. His presence next to me gave me this odd sense of security

“Long story short, I got super drunk. Drunk enough I barely remembered anything that happened. The next morning, Wyatt showed me his phone. Apparently, I thought it would be a genius idea to strip butt naked and run down the street singing at the top of my lungs.”

He barely finished before I was laughing. The thought of Trevor streaking and belting out lyrics made me cackle.

“Oh, there’s more.” The grin on my face somehow got wider as he continued. “On the video, you can see me running down the street,” Trevor paused for a moment as if preparing himself for the rest of the story. “At the same time, a family of four walked by with their kids.”

I lost it.

Bending over, my whole body shook with laughter. He ran naked in front of an entire family? I lifted a hand as if to tell him to stop because I couldn’t take anymore. I really couldn’t, not when I could hardly catch my breath.

“Tasha,” Trevor said but I couldn’t stop. “It’s not that funny. ”

“Y-yes, it is,” I barely got out. I looked up with tears in my eyes to find him giving me a flat look, which just made me roar that much harder.

“Uh-huh, keep laughing.”

“Oh God,” I wheezed, hands on my waist as I tried to calm down. “Sorry, that was just?—”

“I shouldn’t have told you that story.”

“Oh no, you definitely should have. Does Wyatt still have the video?” I wiped at my cheeks.

“Like I’m going to tell you that.” Trevor quickly shut that down.

“Why not?”

“Knowing you, you’ll send it to yourself and everyone else.” He said.

“I…” He sent me a look. “Okay, fine, I would.”

“Thought so.”

“I’m sorry, that’s too funny. You scarred those poor kids for life.” I could just imagine those children seeing Trevor running around obnoxiously. “They probably never recovered.”

“Gee, thanks.” I sent him a silly smile in return. “Remind me to never tell you an embarrassing story again.”

“Those are the best stories, though.”

With the bonfire behind us, the two of us continued down the beach in the opposite direction. The setting sun warm against our backs. Despite the silence blooming between us, it was…nice.

After a few minutes, Trevor broke it.

“So, you’re a therapist?” It hit me then that while we had known each other for a year, we didn’t truly know one another. We never sat down and asked each other questions about our lives. We just knew the basics from when we hung out as a group. Shame instantly hit me. I should have made more of an effort to get to know him before now. I'd just been so focused on keeping my walls up to try.

“Guess in a way I am. I’m considered more of a counselor,” I explained. “I can’t prescribe medication, but I give advice and help people cope with their struggles. Like this young girl I’m seeing,” I rambled. “When she first came to me she was so shy, couldn’t even look up at me and had no friends at school. But now she’s going to the mall with some girls from school and putting herself out there. It’s just… It’s amazing to see.”

It was the best part of my job, seeing my patients overcome the challenges that brought them to me. Watching them grow—it was one of the reasons why I kept doing what I did.

“She sounds lucky to have you.”

“It’s all her. I just helped guide her in the right direction.”

“No, take the credit. It’s because of you she’s doing so well.” For some reason, his words made my heart squeeze tightly in my chest. “It sounds like you picked the right career.”

“Yeah, tell that to my parents.” I scoffed.

“They don’t approve?” I could feel his eyes on me, but I kept mine down at my feet as they made imprints in the wet surf.

“That’s an understatement. To them I should have followed in their footsteps and became a lawyer or some big wig to fit in with their friends.”

All through high school, my parents pushed me to get straight A’s, to be at the top of my class so I could go to Harvard like they did. I learned quickly that they only wanted to brag to their friends about having a “golden child.”

I’ll never forget the look on their faces when I told them I wasn’t going to apply to an Ivy League college, and that I didn’t want to follow in their footsteps. The look of disappointment on their faces was enough to almost make me take back what I said. Almost.

“You didn’t want to?”

“God, no.” The thought of having to spend my time around people who would use you for their own gain, or had to kiss their ass just to stay in their good graces made me want to throw up. I'd spent enough time around them, thanks to my parents, to know what it was like.

“That atmosphere, the people… It’s not something I enjoy. I've been around it enough to hate it.”

“So, your parents flipped, I take it?”

“To say the least. Now every time we talk there’s always some jab regarding my job. That I ‘gave away a good future and wasted my potential.’” Those were my parents' actual words. That they didn’t raise a daughter to be like me. “But,” I sighed, kicking at the sand, “I love what I do.”

No matter how hard I tried not to let my parent’s opinions affect me, they still did. Knowing they didn’t approve of me and my job hurt more than cared to admit.

“Hey.” A hand on my elbow pulled me to a stop. I glanced up to find Trevor looking at me intently. “If it makes you happy, do it. You don’t need anyone’s approval, not even your parents. If they can’t see that, then fuck them.”

My eyes widened a fraction at his words and the intensity of them.

“You make a difference doing what you do. Don’t discredit that, Tasha.” My heart squeezed tightly in my chest. Josie was the only person who ever told me my job mattered. Hearing it from Trevor, and the conviction in his words, made tears prick the corner of my eyes.

My eyes bounced between his, finding nothing but sincerity in them. Vulnerability consumed me as his unwavering gaze remained on me. I cleared my throat and looked away .

“Thanks.” My words came out soft.

Wanting the attention off me, I started walking again, Trevor following.

“Sounds like you know a thing or two about shitty parents.” I said a moment later. The only sound around us were the waves crashing against the shore. It was like we were in our own little world, and I found myself liking it. Something in the air made me slowly let my walls fall as we walked.

“Yeah,” Trevor answered, his voice turning distant. I had a feeling he wasn’t going to say much more on the subject. Not that I expected him to. This was our first deep conversation, so I didn’t foresee him laying his entire past at my feet.

“My parents were alcoholics,” Trevor said after a moment. “They weren’t around much, and when they were, they were too hammered to do much.”

I stayed quiet, letting him talk. I knew that sometimes people simply needed someone to listen without receiving any pity back. I also knew firsthand how annoying that could be—people feeling sorry for you.

“My mom would get sober once in a while, long enough to remember she had a son and get some groceries, before she fell off the wagon again.”

“How old were you?” I asked softly, peeking up at him. His jaw was tense, and he was staring straight ahead, hands stuffed in his pockets.

“Eight.”

My chest squeezed painfully. He was so young and had to deal with absent parents who relied heavily on alcohol to get them through. I didn’t miss the underlying meaning of his words. That he had to fend for himself when his parents were under the influence. Just the thought of that made me want to embrace him in a hug and never let go. No child, let alone one that young, should have to take care of himself and his parents.

“So yeah, I know a thing or two.”

I suddenly saw Trevor in a different light. Yes, he was still the cocky playboy hockey player but knowing a little bit of his childhood, I could tell there was a lot more than met the eye with him.

When Trevor’s gaze met mine, something seemed to pass between us. I wasn’t sure what it was but instinct told me that wouldn’t be the last time I felt it.