Page 60 of Rum Sips and Salty Lips

We join Autumn chatting with some of her teaching coworkers. It looks like Carina invited everyone on the island.

I am thoroughly impressed with everything she has done. Everyone is entertained and celebrating what Haley has accomplished. Truly, no one knew what was happening until they absolutely needed to. I haven’t seen much of Carina in the past week, except for the time we spent on my boat. I would have thought I would have noticed her planning this.

That hits me too—I want to have noticed she was planning this. I want her in my space as she does it. I have a home office I haven’t used yet. It faces the sea. She could work from there in her lounge pants and crop tops, planning her shenanigans. I could simply exist around her.

I keep an eye on her and who she’s talking with, and I can’t pretend I don’t see her walls up around these people. Thepeople she gathered to celebrate her friend. They should know everything about her. Not me. I just got here.

I watch Beckett steal Sienna away. I expect them to make an exit, but he leads her to another corner. They look cozy together. She’s smiling, so I dismiss some of the skepticism I’ve had about him. Eric, the fisherman Haley is dating, pulls her to the dance floor. I met him earlier and almost asked about the good fishing spots. But something about him made me stop.

“Is he good for her?” I ask, sliding up next to Carina.

“What do you mean?” she replies, her straw resting on the corner of her mouth.

I want to wrap my arms around her and shout to everyone about how amazing she is. As if they aren’t fully aware.

“I don’t know.” I can’t put my finger on what rubbed me wrong about him.

“It’s not serious. Why? You want to make a move on her?” She pushes back from the table, crossing her arms and pouting.

Fucking hell.I should take it as bait. Pretend she’s trying to get a rise out of me. She was so happy a second ago, and now she’s hurt.

“No, I wouldn’t do that to you,” I say.

“It’s a small island. Everyone is someone’s ex. And we never hooked up so it’s not even an issue.”

The outright lie to my face is new. I roll my eyes. “If I’m going to date anyone, which I’ve told you is not something I’m looking for right now, it would be someone who gives me shit as good as I give to them.” It’s a lie that I’m not looking to date right now. I don’t really want to date Carina. I want to settle down with her. Anchor with her. Build a home with her.

“Haley never gives me shit,” Carina says.

My watch vibrates with an alert reminding me to leave. I want to stay and figure out what’s in Carina’s head right now, but I can’t and still be fresh for the morning fishing charter Ihave. I want to take care of her and get her to stop taking care of everyone around her, just for once. She’ll be the absolute last person to leave this bar tonight. If she’s not, I’ll fucking give her my house.

“Good night, princess,” I say, standing up to close out my tab at the bar. I should ask her to come home with me. She looks at me like she might want me to, but I can’t.

She’d say no anyway.

twenty-two

CARINA

I triedto put Orion out of my mind when he left Paradise on Thursday night. And Haley and Sienna are my priorities, as much as I want to follow Orion.

Sleeping with him again wasn’t a mistake. I don’t think that. But it’s not going anywhere and I shouldn’t get in any deeper than I am already.

Not that I wanted to do it again. Absolutely not. He can keep his attentive penis to himself.

That’s at least what I’m telling myself.

He’s a distraction from work and a distraction from the wedding planning. Beckett isn’t much help, claiming he doesn’t have any opinions on floral arrangements.“Sienna can do whatever she wants. It’s important to me that it’s her vision.”So we’re packing as much in-person planning as we can into this one weekend, all the things Sienna can’t do from a distance. We go to her first dress fitting. Both her mom and Beckett’s break into tears when she walks out. We all smile. She looks so happy and ready to be married.

Then we’re shopping for her undergarments and choosing the table settings.

By the time Friday night rolls around, I’m so fucking exhausted. I don’t want to move.

We end up at Paradise because Sienna loves the food, and we won’t have to make any decisions since we know the menu like the backs of our hands.

Orion sits at the bar, and I’ve never been so relieved to see someone. He’s an oasis in my energy desert. The barstool next to him is empty. He rests his foot on the bottom rung. We’re on our way to a booth at the back when I stop next to him, letting Haley and Sienna continue without me for a moment.

I try to move the stool. Not because I need it, but to start a fight with him. His foot presses down.

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