Page 39 of Beached Wedding

And there it was, the mockery and complete disregard of my feelings that had gutted me that morning. I didn’t understand why it felt like such a knife to the gut, but it did.

“You know what? I’ll wear mywedding dressto bed.” I whirled into the bathroom only to realize there was no door to slam. “What a stupid bathroom!”

I stood there, impotent and furious, able to hear him exhale with impatience.

“We’re too tired for this, you know that, right?”

He’d been sleeping on and off all freaking day, but okay.

“Let’s not say things that can’t get unsaid. I should have asked first. Okay?” He was dealing his words out slow and precise. “I honestly didn’t think you would mind, but I should have asked and I shouldn’t have laughed when you got upset. I honestly thought you were playing it up.”

I stood there out of sight, eyes clenched shut against my reflection so I wouldn’t see my cringe of mortification. Yes, it had been an overreaction, but I was still somad. Why?

“I don’t understand why you’re still angry,” he continued in that ultra-civil voice from the main room. “But I accept that you are. I’m sorry. Wear the T-shirt or don’t. I’m going to bed.”

“You laughed at me,” I blurted, and immediately wanted to swallow the words, but more came out. “And so did your girlfriend.”

A thump of silence, then, “Ex-girlfriend.”

“She slept in your room!”

“I slept on the couch and why does it matter?” His voice was suddenly close enough to snap my eyes open.

We stared at each other in the glare of the bathroom vanity lights surrounding the mirror, neither of us able to hide our tension or hurt or frustration. I felt hideously exposed. My heart pounded as though I’d come face to face with a mountain lion.

“I didn’t enjoy having someone I didn’t know laughing at me. I thought you and I were friends, but you paired up against me to make me the butt of your stupid joke.” That’s what had hurt, that he’d taken that woman’s side against me.

Fox stared at me for a long minute, expression inscrutable. His jaw worked as if he wanted to say something, but thought better of it.

“I was using you to get her to leave,” he finally admitted through tight lips. “I could tell she was sizing up the house, thinking if Shane’s girlfriend was living there then I’d welcome permanent company too. I didn’t want to start up with her again. That’s why I slept on the couch when she was more than willing to share the bed. Your snap-show made it easy to tell her she should probably look elsewhere for long term accommodation.”

“Why did you even bring her home from the pub if you didn’t want her around?”

“I don’t know. She had just got back into Sydney. She needed a place to flop for the night. I thought I wanted sex, then I didn’t. The T-shirt’s on the bed. Go to sleep.” Seconds later, the pullout creaked as he yanked its frame from the sofa.

FOX

Iexchanged the voucher for the board at a shack run by a sleepy local kid.

“Shane not with you?” the kid asked.

“Nah, mate, sorry.”

He looked pretty crestfallen. He’d probably volunteered to open early for the chance to meet an idol.

I wondered if and when word would get out that Shane had canceled his wedding. We’d played it up online. Anyone who followed surfing closely knew the former champion was getting married in Hawaii. I should probably ask Ashley to help me draft a statement, but I wasn’t sure how that would go over.

It was one more piece of mental plastic floating in my head as I clasped the board beneath my arm and headed down to the water.

I’d slept well enough, but the minute my phone had pinged with the depth-sounder that was my alarm, my brain had swelled with every word I had exchanged with Ashley last night.

That shit about her Dad, for instance. I sincerely hoped I never met him. No wonder she was always going the extra mile and trying to keep the peace. That was a lot to carry, especially when she’d been a kid.

She didn’t usually pick fights either. That regurgitation of our argument over Jasmine had caught me off guard.

I still regretted bringing Jasmine home that night. She had been planning to meet a friend who was finishing a shift at a different pub. The beach house had been closer and she’d casually suggested coming home with me. I thought,What the hell. We’d managed to stay friends through a couple of on and off spells. She traveled a lot, so she preferred to keep things casual. She was only planning to stay in Sydney until she’d built up her savings for another overseas trip. I hadn’t been with anyone since Izzy and could have used the exercise.

I’d changed my mind by the time we were pulling into the drive, though. Jasmine had been surprised when I’d given her the bedroom and I’d wondered what the hell I was doing myself.

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