Page 13 of And the Best Man Ran Away With the Groom

“Nope.” He offers another one of those blinding smiles before throwing an arm over my shoulders and directing us up the path toward the main resort.

Instinctively, I snuggle in closer to his side, enjoying the feel of a strong body right beside me. And then I realise what I’m doing and rush to put some distance between us. In my hurry, I somehow manage to trip over the uneven path and go hurtling forward. I try to right myself, but there’s something wrong with my feet and I can’t seem to get any traction.

“Whoa! You alright?” Trent asks, his strong arms steadying me before I manage to follow through with the faceplant.

I nod, my face burning with embarrassment. I know I’m not always the most graceful of people, but a full on faceplant when I’m stone cold sober? That’s a new low. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“No dramas. That one looks like a goner,” he says, glancing down at my feet.

Confused, I follow his gaze and let out a sigh of annoyance. So that’s why the trip was so bad. I must have caught the tip of my thong on the path, and it somehow caused enough stress on the shoe for the toe piece to break off.

I bend down and slip the ruined shoe from my foot, bringing it up to examine it closer. Yep, it’s definitely a goner. “Bugger. I really like these ones.”

Trent offers me a commiserating smile. “Well, at least you won’t have much trouble finding some new ones around here.”

Seriously, is there ever a situation where this guy doesn’t see the glass half full? I guess he’s right, though; there wouldn’t have been many options if we’d stuck with that private beach Jack and I had booked for the honeymoon, but here in Chaweng there’s no shortage of places to buy beachwear.

“You should go to the bar,” I suggest, bending down to remove my other thong before turning back in the direction of my bungalow. “I’ll just change shoes and then meet you there.”

Trent shrugs. “It’s cool, I can come with you.”

I arch an eyebrow at him. “What? You think I’m going to do a runner or something?”

He releases a breath of wry laughter. “It did cross my mind that once you get back to the bungalow you might not want to leave again…”

Given my behaviour earlier, I can understand why he might think that. To be honest, though, now that I’m out and walking around I’m actually looking forward to a few cocktails and some decent food. I’m not about to let Trent know how easily he’s won me over though.

It doesn’t take long to get back to my bungalow. I unlock the door and turn back to Trent. “I’ll be two secs.” I step inside and toss the broken thongs on the floor. Then I stride over to my suitcase and rummage through it, retrieving a pair of white canvas slip on shoes. I’m about to shove my feet into them and head back outside, but then I glance down at myself and frown. If I’m going to be wearing dressier shoes, I think these boardies need to go.

I dig a pair of navy chino shorts out from my suitcase and get to my feet. I’ve discarded the board shorts and are in the process of pulling on the chinos when I hear a voice behind me.

“Oh, shit. Sorry.”

I snap my head around, finding Trent standing there awkwardly, his gaze now fixed on the ceiling.

I let out an annoyed huff and tug my shorts up the rest of the way. “You know, generally people knock before they enter someone else’s private room.”

“You came in to get different shoes,” he points out. “I didn’t realise that would involve getting half-naked.”

My face flames with embarrassment, which only makes me more annoyed. I cut him with a frosty look. “Not that I need to justify myself, but I decided to change my shorts. Boardies don’t really go with these shoes.”

Trent gives a brief glance to the shoes I’m now slipping on my feet, then shrugs casually. “If you say so.” He turns for the door of the bungalow and heads back outside.

I quickly stuff my phone and wallet in my pockets and follow after him. “Alright, let’s go.”

We resume our stroll towards the resort’s bar in companionable silence for a minute or two; and then Trent says something that makes me almost trip over my own feet again.

“Nice jocks, by the way. I wanted to get those ones, but they didn’t have my size,” he adds with a helpless shrug. Then he casts me a wry smile. “I’ve got to admit, I wouldn’t have picked you for a fluro Hawaiian print kind of guy.”

I’m pretty sure every inch of my pale skin is burning red with embarrassment right now. It’s bad enough that Trent saw me getting changed in the first place; the decent thing for him to do would be to pretend it never happened, not bring the whole thing up again. “Whyare we talking about my underwear?”

His grin spreads wide, lighting up his whole face. “I was paying you a compliment. It’s part of the bonding ritual.”

“Well, you don’t need to compliment my undies. It’s weird.”

He lets out a breath of amusement. “You’re a lot pricklier than I was expecting.” He reaches over and ruffles my hair playfully. “Don’t worry, it’s not like I was checking you out or anything.”

“I know,” I say with an eye roll. “That’s what makes it weird. Do you regularly go around complimenting guys on their choice of underwear?”

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