I jump at the sound of Georgie’s voice, crashing into the wire fencing with a soft curse. “I thought you were gone,” I gasp.
She twists her lips up in a smirk. “And miss watching that show? I never would have guessed a llama would be so intent on staying in a pool.”
I brush my hand through my hair to keep it out of my face, all too aware of Georgie’s eyes tracking the movement with unveiled interest. She really needs to stop looking at me like that. I fold my arms, trying to cover some of myself up. “He loved the pool at Uncle Bill’s, but mine is too deep for him. It’s a miracle he hasn’t drowned yet.”
“Why don’t you drain some of the water out so it isn’t so deep?”
Her question hits me hard. Too hard. The solution is so simple, but it never once crossed my mind because I’ve been so tied up trying to keep everything else afloat along with Prince Harry. To my shock and horror, tears well up in my eyes, like all the emotion I’ve been tamping down is finally pushing back against my efforts.
I hate that Georgie is the only thing that’s been able to save me from drowning when she’s the one who pushed me in in the first place.
I clear my throat and turn toward the house. “That’s a good idea.” By some miracle, my voice comes out clear and calm. “Uh, I’ve got a family coming in for surf lessons today, so I probably won’t be able to stop by the bakery.”
“I can come by when I’m off.” Georgie’s voice sounds smaller than normal. “King, are you—”
“It might be a couple of busy days, honestly, so we’ll have to find some way to make sure people know we’re really married. I’ll, uh, text you.”
I slip inside the house and don’t stop moving until I’m safe in my bedroom, but even then I feel like Georgie’s eyes are on me. I know I shouldn’t hide from her like this, not when I need to play the part of loving husband, but I’m already getting sucked into her pull, imagining how much better my life could be with her in it.
If only I knew she could stay.
To make it through this, I’m going to have to change my strategy and avoid her whenever I can. This marriage is going to be the biggest wave I’ve ever attempted, and to make sure I don’t wipe out, I’m going to have to find my balance and ride this wave all the way through.
“Will you stop staring at me like that?” The question comes out of me rougher than I’d like, but I can’t help it. This is the first time I’ve gone out with the guys in weeks, and they’ve been looking at me like I’ve grown a second head. “What is with y’all?”
Coop snorts a laugh. “Don’t even pretend you don’t know what you did, Kingston.”
I sigh, gritting my teeth as the sounds of billiards and darts in the pool hall fill in the silence left behind by Coop’s comment. I came out to The Shallow End, Willow Cove’s local hangout spot, to try to get away from my new marriage, but of course my friends aren’t going to ignore the elephant in the room. That would be too convenient.
“So it’s true?” Duke asks, lifting an eyebrow at me. “You really married What’s-her-face?”
“Georgie,” Perry grunts, lining up his shot.
Beck frowns as Perry knocks two balls into the pockets at once. “Isn’t she the one who always got you into trouble over the summer?”
“She’s the one who turns King into a flat-out moron whenever he’s around her,” Coop says before I can argue. “Put the two together, and there’s one brain cell between them.”
I shoot a glare at him, but it isn’t all that effective because the other guys laugh. These guys have known me my whole life, which I would have thought would put them on my side, but apparently not. “Pretty sure you’re overreacting, Coop,” I say and then turn to Beck. “I didn’t get into that much trouble.”
“You once stole Carl Pinnock’s boat because Georgie wanted to re-enact that scene from Tangled,” he argues.
“One of the lanterns set fire to part of the boardwalk,” Duke adds.
“And almost got my dad’s plane,” Coop says.
I glance at Perry, wondering if he has his own addition to this attack, but he’s busy planning out his next shot. Hopefully that means I’ll have at least one ally tonight. The problem, though, is I can’t say anything about the Tangled incident because it was my idea. Not Georgie’s. “This isn’t a big deal,” I mumble. “So I got married. It’s not going to change anything.”
I’m met with four deadpan stares.
I guess I can’t blame them for disagreeing with me. They’re all as single as I was up until three days ago when I said, “I do,” and that’s unlikely to change. Clenching my hand into a fist, I shake my head and try to focus on Perry’s attempt to get another striped ball.
Coop doesn’t let me. “Dude, it’s like you forgot how this girl broke your heart.”
Duke and Beck both murmur agreement, and Perry makes his shot. He misses. Then he looks at me, and I feel like he’s trying to tell me something but I don’t know what it is. It would be helpful if he used his words more often than he does.
“I didn’t forget,” I say, trying to look at each of them so they know I mean it. “I don’t think I could ever forget.”
“Good,” Duke says. “Because you were the worst after she left.”
Beck chuckles. “I’ve never seen a guy mope the way you did.”
Again, I can’t argue, and I’m regretting more and more my decision to come out tonight. But if I had stayed home, I don’t think I would have been able to avoid Georgie. I’ve been doing my best to keep my distance the last couple of days after the incident with Prince Harry, but each night it gets harder. I’ve found myself staring out the window into the backyard, hoping for a glimpse of her.
I got one earlier tonight. She was talking to her phone—a video call, probably—and pacing along the edge of the pool in a t-shirt and cutoff jean shorts, her hair pulled up in a high ponytail that spilled her curls up and out like the top of a pineapple. I had a hand on the back door before I caught myself, and I was out the front door and driving into town a moment later.
With the way the guys are looking at me, I might have been better off facing my attraction to Georgie than dealing with their judgment.
“She called me, you know,” Beck says, raising his eyebrows as he watches my reaction.
I try not to clench my jaw and glare at him, though I’m not sure I succeed. “Did she?”
“Seems she has plans to renovate your uncle’s bakery and needs a contractor.”
“Yep.” My voice breaks on that one, and I clear my throat. “Whose turn is it? Mine?”
Coop pokes me in the gut with his cue. “You’re sitting out this round, dude.” Then he nods for Beck to take his turn.
