Page 82 of I Could Be Yours

Tristan rubs the back of his neck. “Not to pass on a good time, but Bea would be pretty pissed if I ended up with broken body parts the day before the wedding.”

“Come on, Tris.” Brody nudges him. “Bea won’t mind.”

“Pretty sure she would.”

A guy jumps off the top and flails his way to a belly flop.

We cringe when he slaps the water, but Sam and Isaac clap and cheer.

“As the best man, it would be in my best interest to stay down here and watch you guys have a good time.” I don’t care if I get razzed. “I’ve already been stung by a family of jellyfish. I don’t need to tick any more injury boxes.”

“I’ll stay back with these two.” Dad pats me and Tristan on the shoulders.

“You two still in?” Isaac points at Brody and Chase.

“Absolutely!” Chase is all balls, zero brains, apparently.

Brody looks slightly unsure but still gives the guys a thumbs-up.

Chase snaps a selfie, sends it to someone—probably Cammie—and hands his phone to my dad. Brody does the same.

Sam slaps his palms together. “All right, let’s do this.”

He strides down the dock, Isaac beside him,while Brody and Chase rush to keep up. They reach the zigzagging staircase leading to three jump points.

“They’ll go all the way to the top,” Tristan mutters.

“Yup, and I’m happy to watch that happen from down here.” I heard about Dallas’s day-long excursion with those two that nearly killed him when he started dating Hemi.

“Those two are intense,” Dad observes.

“They’re actually pretty laid-back today,” Tristan replies.

“Huh. That’s…something else,” Dad muses.

“Yeah. Here’s hoping Brodes and Chase make it out alive.” Tristan doesn’t seem all that worried as he points to a restaurant with a view of the cliffs. “Let’s grab a beer and watch the adventure unfold.”

CHAPTER 25

NATE

We find a table and order a round of drinks. From where we’re seated, Sam and Isaac are dots leading the way up the never-ending stairs to doom. Chase and Brody are already lagging.

“You seem level, Tristan,” Dad notes after the server drops off our beers.

“Yeah. Getting Bea to take some time off before the wedding to relax has been great for both of us. I can’t wait for tomorrow. I’m so ready to make Bea my wife and start this life with her.” Tristan taps on the table. “I mean, I know we’re already doing that since we live together, but getting married makes it feel…more permanent. Like we’re making that commitment not just to each other, but to everyone we care about.”

Dad smiles. “Rix is good for you. You’re the happiest I’ve seen you since…well, in a long, long time.”

We know what he means. Before Mom left we were different. Life with her wasn’t easy, but neither was life without her. The way she left messed us all up. I thought I had relationships figured out with Lisa, but then she left, too.

“Aren’t you afraid it could all just disappear?” The words are out before I think them through. “Shit. Sorry. Ignore me.”

Tristan meets my gaze, empathy all over his face. “Fucking terrified, brother.”

“But you still want to take that risk.” I’ve shut down the conversation when he’s brought this up before, but if I can learn his secret, maybe I can make it work with Essie. Maybe when we’re back in Toronto I can ask her out on a real date and see where this goes. Maybe she’s worth being scared for.

He nods. “My life is better when Bea is in it. I’m a better person with her. Don’t get me wrong, it’s scary as hell to fall in love. But once I stopped fighting all the feelings, falling was easy. The hard part was not sabotaging myself.”

---