“I’m so sorry,” she says, panting as she hangs her hands on her hips. “I tried to stop him, but that damn dog is worse than a toddler.”
Greg barks out a laugh, kissing my forehead before he swings Tucker up onto his shoulders. “Come on, partner. Let’s see what else we can catch.”
“Yeehaw!” Tucker yells in his best accent, and then they gallop out the door, and I watch the two of them chase Benji around the yard before Julia closes the front door on a chuckle.
“Have I told you how much I love him?” Julia asks, pointing a thumb over her shoulder. “Because I really, really love him.”
“Oh God, please don’t tell me my wife is going to try to hook up with my best friend now,” David calls from the kitchen. “I’m still not used to my mom in that scenario, I can’t take anymore.”
“You’re the only man for me,” Julia promises, planting a smooch on his lips before they both stare at their newborn baby girl sleeping in David’s arms.
My heart fills with an unending warmth as I watch them, and then I walk to the window, watching Tucker and Greg play with Benji in the yard.
It’s funny how time seems to pass by at the speed of light when everything in life feels right.
School once seemed like an impossible task to me, but now, I’m a year out from my grad school graduation, a handful of internships under my belt and a little office in a building on the south side of Tampa secured for my first private practice. There was a time when I thought I’d never make it, and now, I look back and wonder how it all went by so fast.
Maybe I was caught up in the whirlwind of it all — selling the house, buying a new one with Greg, falling into how sweet living life was with him.
It was as easy as breathing, finding our routine, and we lived together as if we’d never known anything else. I tended the garden and forced him to help me pick out every little detail of the house, so that it wasn’t just my home, but ours. We split the cleaning and the cooking, him taking over when I had a big week of tests, and me taking over when surgeries kept him at the hospital from before the sun rose until well after it set.
And now, finally, and much to Greg’s dismay — we’re splitting the bills, too.
I know we don’t need to. I know Greg can handle our mortgage and bills with ease on his salary alone. But he also understands how important this is to me, how hard I’ve fought for the ability to pull my own weight.
I gleefully pay those bills every month, and Greg respects me enough to bite back his argument and just say thank you.
As much as the routine was easy to fall into, what I love most about living with Greg is that he won’t let routine swallow us whole. We still carve out time for our list, for spontaneous date nights, for adventures — like the tattoos we got two years ago, or the road trip we took our first Valentine’s Day together, or the karate lessons we took and failed at miserably together.
Or like right now, driving our whole family to Colorado to climb a fourteener.
Of course, they won’t be climbing. No, that torture is reserved for me and Greg. But Julia and David will watch Benji while we’re gone, and then we’ll spend the next week and a half exploring the area as a family, enjoying actual fall weather and foliage that we never get in Florida.
Sighing, I survey our backpacks again, checking our list and rummaging through to make sure we have everything we need. After dinner, we’ll meet our guide and a few other people climbing with us at the base of the mountain, where we’ll camp. Then, before the sun wakes up tomorrow, we’ll start our climb, all with the intention to be on our way down before the afternoon storms have a chance to wreak havoc on the peak.
Greg is like a kid in a candy store, exhilarated just by the thought of the hike. And while I’m excited, too, I’m also nervous.
Not because I think I can’t do it, or because I think I’m too old to do it.
But because of what I’m fairly certain will happen when we reach the top.
The front door swinging open snaps me from my thoughts, and Julia is already herding Tucker back to the bedroom he’s staying in to get him cleaned up for dinner as Greg scrubs behind Benji’s ear. He ducks into the kitchen long enough to pour him a bowl of water, and Benji slurps it up happily, dripping half of the water on the floor as his tail wags and wags.
“What did I tell you?” Greg says, slipping his arm around me as we watch our dumb dog. “Just like a kid.”
I snort, but can’t fight back my smile as Greg plants a row of sloppy kisses on my neck.
“Ugh,” David groans.
“Alright, alright,” I say, winking at Greg as I playfully shove him away. “Let me make us dinner before you ruin my son’s appetite.”
We all gather around the table for an Italian feast, pasta and chicken and bread with olive oil and salads bigger than any of us need prepared by me and Julia. Once we’re stuffed, we get bundled up in our warmest clothes and load our packs into the rental car, hugging Julia, David, and Tucker goodbye.
It’s a quick drive to the base of the mountain we’re climbing, and our guide meets us with an enthusiastic smile and help setting up our tent. We hang by the fire for a while before he encourages us to get some sleep for our big day, and then we crawl into our sleeping bag and snuggle up close.
“Well, baby,” Greg says, planting a soft kiss at the back of my neck as he wraps me up in his arms tight. “You ready?”
I smile, wiggling even closer as I think about the past five years, about how much my life has changed, about how happy I am after an entire lifetime of wondering if true happiness existed at all.
Greg tasked me with double-checking everything we needed for our hike, and I took that task very seriously. I made sure we had emergency equipment and food and water and hand warmers and spikes for our shoes in case we hit ice and everything else on that list.
Greg knows I made that list and checked it twice.
What he doesn’t know is that, in the process, I found that little black velvet box tucked into the very bottom of his pack.
I didn’t have to open it to know what was inside, but it’s that little guy that’s had my stomach in knots the past twenty-four hours.
But right now? All those knots are gone, the butterflies sleeping, and I twist in Greg’s arms until I’m facing him, running my fingertips along the line of his stubbled jaw.
He may not know what I discovered, but there’s one thing we both know without hesitation.
When he gets down on one knee, my answer will be a loud, passionate, resounding yes.
“Ready,” I tell him.
And I kiss my boyfriend goodnight for the last time.
Because this time tomorrow night, he’ll be my fiancé.
WANT MORE BAYSIDE HEROES?
Thank you for reading Washed Up! I hope you loved Greg and Amanda as much as I love them.
Keep reading for a sneak peek preview inside SCREWED UP, which is Dane’s story! You won’t want to miss the chemistry between him and Dr. Larsen Belle.
Can’t get enough of Amanda and Greg? Get an extra bonus scene of them getting their tattoos together here!
If you enjoyed this book, you’ll love the rest of the Bayside Heroes. Check out the entire series here!