Page 63 of Away With You
She’s going to hate it the minute she wakes up and realises what’s happened.
“You’re testing me,” I mutter to the Big Man upstairs. Whoever is running this universe must be annoyed at me and is punishing me by presenting me with the most perfect woman inmy bed and in my arms, and all I can do is try to figure a way out of it.
When every part of me is screaming:Stay like this. Forever.
“Right. Time to move.”
Katie’s sleeping form doesn’t rouse. This is good. It means there’s still a chance I can peel her off me and have her back on her side without her knowing about this brief excursion she took during her REM cycles.
My arm tightens around her for one long moment, and I inhale her uniquely sweet scent before I make the move. It’s a classic manoeuvre from our favourite showFriends. Hug for her, roll for me. And it works. Without even a murmur from my sleeping koala, she’s back on her side and I’m free.
“Shame,” I whisper to her still form. I gaze down at her for several long moments and draw in a deep breath. We made it through night one together; only six more to go.
I dress quickly into my running shorts, fasten my sneakers and write a note for Katie to let her know my whereabouts and then take off out of the bungalow. A morning run on the beach is what I need to get my head back on straight.
With my favourite playlist pounding in tandem with my pounding feet, my body and mind relax into a rhythm of nothingness. It’s the sort of Zen I can only find when exercising. The sand flicks up behind me as I run along the shoreline, and I take a moment to appreciate this place in all its beauty. Yes, I’m here under duress. And yes, I brought along a fake girlfriend whom I have very real feelings for. But that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy this setting for what it is: a tropical paradise here on Earth.
“Nathan?”
A deep baritone breaks through Bruno Mars’Uptown Funk, and I ignore it. My brother doesn’t get to marry my ex-girlfriend and ruin my morning Zen as well.
“Hey, Nathan.”
George steps in front of me, and it’s either stop, or run him over.Hmm, tricky.
“Can we talk?”
I sigh and take my AirPods out of my ears. I guess we’re doing this now. Annoyed, I wipe my hand over my sweat-slick brow and stare down at him. He shifts on his feet, and I revel in the pettiness of being several inches taller than him.
“You want to talk? So, talk.”
My brother holds my gaze for several seconds before turning to look out at the horizon. “I just wanted to check in, is all.”
Check in? He’s a few months late for that.“Sure…” I leave him hanging. It’s not up to me to make this situation comfortable for him.
He clears his throat, his eyes back on me. “Yes, well. I wanted to make sure you and your…girlfriend aren’t here to make any trouble.”
My hands curl into fists at my side. “Spit it out, George. What are you trying to say?”
His fair skin flushes pink from his neck to the tips of his ears. “It’s just that Victoria mentioned your girlfriend was rude to her last night. And I want you to speak to her and ensure that won’t happen again. I won’t let anything ruin this week for my fiancé.”
I’m speechless. I’m actually without words. Here’s my brother, the man who is supposed to love me and be loyal to me, who is getting married to my ex-girlfriend, and he has the nerve to speak to me about Katie—aboutmyKatie—like this?Never going to happen.
“George.” I step into his personal space and again enjoy his neck craning up to look up at me. “You can tell your precious Victoria that Katie has more class in her little finger than she does in her whole body. If—and I’m putting a big emphasis on the wordif—Katie said something that Victoria took offence at,it was deserved. From what I heard, your wife-to-be wasn’t very shy in expressing some pretty disparaging opinions.”
“Such as?”
I hesitate.Should I spare his feelings? Nah.
“She told Katie to enjoy her sloppy seconds.” George’s jaw drops, and I press on. “Which is a pretty rich thing to say, given the circumstances.”
He steps back, running a hand through his (thinning?) hair. “What does that mean?”
I survey him, taking in the drooping shoulders, the tightness around his eyes, the frown lines that weren’t there six months ago.Is he really happy with Victoria? And if he’s not, why is he going through with this and putting us all through this sort of heartache?
“What that means”—I put my hands on my hips as my lips curl into an evil smile—“is if Katie is getting her sloppy seconds, well, that would mean you’re getting mine.”
I see the minute the penny drops. He splutters on a breath, hemming and hawing with indignation, and I take it as my cue to get out of here. “Good luck with Victoria,” I tell him as I back away into a jog. “You’re going to need it.”
