Page 14 of My Wife

Jesus Christ, can you imagine the kind of snotty comment Summer and Madison would have for me then?

“The cabins are that way, right? I can’t wait to see where we’ll be staying for the weekend.”

“I saw pictures. The owners told me they don’t do the modern cabins justice, but I thought it looked great already. I’m sure you’re going to love it, too..” I’m glad one of us is. “Trust me, love. You’re going to have the best weekend of your life. I promise.”

On Halo Island? I doubt it.

Three days, I tell myself as I fall into step alongside Tommy. Friday night, all of Saturday, all of Sunday, and a ferry ride out at sun-up on Monday.

How bad can it possibly be?

SIX

THE LAKE

The answer: not bad at all… so far.

I don’t normally like being wrong. In this case? I’ll make an exception since, hours after I stepped onto the island while battling feelings of dread and trepidation, I’m actually kind of enjoying myself.

Summer hasn’t made another snide comment since the ferry ride. Like I thought, having Tyler on the island has done wonders to put her in a better mood, and with her husband to distract her, I haven’t seen her sidle over to Tommy once. Even now, she’s sitting on the log opposite mine and Tommy’s, sprawled out on Tyler’s lap, her hands buried in his dark blond hair as they catch up on their day apart. They look so cozy together, I almost wonder if I’d imagined all of the nasty looks she gave me earlier today.

It wouldn’t be the first time I saw things that weren’t there.

Without her best friend commanding her attention, Madison was left on her own. She won’t usually start shit unless Summer tells her to. On her own, her default mode is one step past flirtatious. Simply put, Madison will want to find someone to fuck, and with both Tommy and Tyler taken, she’s set her eyes on Chase.

Chase Whitmore is too handsome for his own. Clay will always be boyishly good-looking to me; immortalized at twenty-two when he disappeared, his All-American boy next door looks are how I remember him. Tommy is effortlessly attractive, with his five o’clock shadow, messy dark curls, and crooked smile. Chase’s appearance screams moneyed lawyer. Everything, from the tailored shirt and khaki pants he has on—his idea of casual vacation wear—to his three-hundred dollar haircut is expensive, but beneath the veneer, he has model handsome features. Chiseled jaw, a slight divot in his chin, high cheekbones, and ‘fuck me’ hazel eyes.

Pity that, when I look athim, all I see are the red-rimmed eyes of a drunken teenage boy who was stronger than I thought as he held my head down…

I have to say, I did expect him to sit with Vee instead of Madison. There’s no denying that Vee’s been spending more and more time with the lawyer lately, and while she claimed she needed his professional services, something seemed off about the untouchable businesswoman.

Violet Lee is just as gorgeous as Chase, only everything about her is natural. She wears his straight black hair short, hitting chin-length, showing off the striking cut of her jaw. Her eyes are dark, her skin flawlessly golden, and as a hobby marathon runner, her body is enviable.

She’s currently stretched out on her own log, sipping the margarita she made in her solo cabin before joining us outside.

Tommy is sipping on his beer, the neck of the bottle nestled between two fingers on his left hand. His right arm is slung over my shoulder, tucking me against his side as the crackle of the bonfire flame’s echo all around us.

The three guys set it up after we all unpacked and got settled in. I put all of our supplies in the provided fridge, grabbing a can of soda for myself. Everyone else is enjoying themselves with adrink, but while I’ll have some wine every now and then, I feel like one of us needs to stay sober, especially with the large fire burning in the pit.

The sun’s gone down. This far out from the mainland, stars sparkle above our heads in the night sky. The fire drowns out the soft murmurs of conversation, while most of us are just enjoying our peaceful first night on the island.

I’m content. The first hour on the island, I was on edge. Seeing our pristine cabin with its three rooms—front room/kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom—that was actually bigger than the apartment I rented when I first moved to Gullhaven made me feel a little better about being here. It has a front door and a back one, both that lock with the key Tommy has in his pocket.

For privacy, I guess, since one of the main selling points of booking a week on Halo Island is that we have the whole damn place to ourselves. We don’t have to worry about other guests or locals sneaking into our cabins because there aren’t any. But with Chase claiming the cabin nearest to the one Tommy picked for us, part of me is secretly grateful for the ability to lock up when we got to bed tonight.

That won’t be for a while. Each of us grabbed food for dinner in our own cabins earlier, with Tommy carrying out the supplies he brought with him to make s’mores if we get hungry again. He forgot to bring something to skewer the marshmallows on, but Madison grabbed Chase by the hand, tugging him into the woods to find some sticks.

They came back ten minutes later, Madison wiping her smug lips, and Chase’s shirt just a little more wrinkled than it was before. Both empty-handed, tey claimed they couldn’t find any sticks in the fucking forest. Vee had rolled her eyes, walked off to her own cabin, and returned with two long fondue forks she found in her kitchen.

As she speared a marshmallow with more force than was necessary before jabbing it into the fire, I can’t help but think that the sharp prongs would make an amazing weapon.

Once Vee licked the last of the white, stringy, melted goo from her lips, she relaxed back onto her log, sipping the last of her margarita.

Madison brushed something off of Chase’s folded collar, giggling under her breath.

Tommy turns his head, kissing my cheek. I can smell the beer on him as he does, but he’s nursing the first bottle, simply enjoying have me right next to him.

It’s cozy. The fire is a blast of heat, knocking aside the chill from the ocean behind us. It’s actually a littletoowarm, if I’m being honest, and I nestle the bottom of my ginger ale can in the sand so that I can push back the sleeves of the sweater I tugged on before I came out here.

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