Once I was up, Morgan threaded her arm through mine, and we walked toward the water, turning to the left once we hit the edge of it. The sea lapped at our bare feet as we walked, and once we were far enough away from the wedding party and all her out-of-town guests, she let out a long sigh.
“I hate having conversations like this.”
I chuckled. “Uh-oh. Am I fired? Are you giving my job to Azra?”
It was a joke, but I didn’t miss the hurt in Morgan’s expression when she turned to me. “I would never. Is that what this is about? Are you feeling threatened by her? I love her, Jazzy, but she’s not you. You’re my best friend in the whole world.”
“Uh… I’m not threatened by Azra,” I lied, but it came out so easily and effortlessly that I even convinced myself a little. “I was joking. But clearly, you’re not. So, what’s going on?”
She sighed, watching her feet as we walked. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on, and honestly, I don’t really have the mental capacity to go over it right now — not with my wedding tomorrow. But Jacob isn’t here, and I can tell Azra makes you uncomfortable, and you and my brother keep looking at each other like the other one is responsible for poisoning your puppy.”
I gulped, heart racing in my chest more and more with every word she said.
She could see right through me.
Morgan pulled us to a stop, folding her arms across her chest. “I know I’ve been pushing you two to be friends, you and Ty,” she said, shaking her head like this was all her fault. “And I’m sorry for that. I guess I just really hoped you guys could put the past behind you and have a friendship. I wanted what we had when we were kids.” She laughed under her breath. “Silly, I know.”
My heart squeezed. “It’s not silly, Morgan,” I assured her.
“Well, regardless, I can tell there’s still bad blood between you two. And maybe part of that is my fault. I don’t know…” She blew out a breath, and I waited for her to go on down that path, to bring up what happened after my mom left, after Tyler and I crossed that line that we could never uncross.
But she didn’t.
She shoved her sunglasses up into her short hair, leaving them on her head so I could see her eyes.
“Look, I know it’s all complicated. And I don’t need to know everything in this moment. Right now, what I do need, is my maid of honor. And my brother. Tomorrow is the most important day of my life, Jaz,” she said, smiling as her eyes filled with emotion. “And I’m counting on both of you to be there — really be there.”
I swallowed, looking down the beach at where everyone was still gathered. My gaze caught on Tyler, who was standing at the edge of the shore with his father, lost in conversation.
“So, please,” Morgan begged when I looked back at her. “Whatever is going on, figure it out.”
I sighed, taking her hands in mine where we stood. “Morgan, I’m here. Okay? I promise. I know tomorrow is your day, and I love you and Oliver so much. I’m honored to be the one standing by your side. And I promise, everything is fine. Okay? Yes, there have been some… complications,” I admitted. “Between me and Ty. But we’re both here for you, and you’re what is most important. I feel that way, and I promise you, he does, too.”
She nodded, her little mouth pulling to one side. “Thank you.”
I smiled, pulling her in for a hug before we made our way back down the beach. She was instantly back in wedding mode, going over our agenda for the next day as we walked, and she steered us right toward where her brother and father were standing, no matter how subtly I tried to turn us.
When we made it to them, Morgan pulled her dad away on the pretense of needing him to fix a situation with the drinks that were available to the guests, but she gave me a pressing look over her shoulder as she left me alone with Tyler.
And when they were gone, the air crackled to life, and I turned to find Tyler staring at me in a way he never had before.
Pain was etched into every feature, and even though he wore sunglasses, I could see how tired he was. His mouth was flat, his jaw tense, hands in the pockets of his board shorts. But where there had always been a longing in his gaze before, I only felt anger rolling off him now.
It was as if I disgusted him, as if my mere presence was the bane of his existence.
“Morgan said she can tell something is off between us,” I said, and I wanted to crawl out of my skin, talking to him like nothing had happened in my room just two nights prior. “I feel like we’ve been doing a pretty good job avoiding each other, but maybe we should put on our happy faces. At least for the next couple of days. And af—”
“Why isn’t Jacob here?”
His words sliced through mine effortlessly, and I stood there with my mouth open, mid-sentence, completely forgetting what I was going to say.
Tyler’s gaze didn’t waver. It pierced through me even with the dark lenses of his shades shielding me from those deep brown eyes of his.
“Jasmine,” he said, his voice low, and I shivered at the sound of my name rolling off his tongue the way it had the night he took me in my room. He stepped forward, into my space, his calm demeanor somehow more threatening than if he were screaming. “Why. Is. Jacob. Not. Here?”
He said each word slowly, with punctuation and assumption, and I swallowed, looking out over the water as my ribcage squeezed painfully around my lungs.
“Because I broke up with him.”
I kept my eyes on the water for a long time, waiting for a response, but none came. My chest burned with every passing second, something between a longing for Tyler to hold me, and a need for him to never look at me again warring with each other inside my soul.
When I finally turned to look at him, his expression was unreadable.
He was stoic, as always, and I hated him for being so unaffected.
I sniffed, crossing my arms over my stomach as I pulled us both back to what was important. “Tomorrow is the biggest day of your sister’s life, okay? And she needs us. So, let’s just… let’s be here for her.”
I didn’t wait for a response this time, just looked at him once more to drive my point home, and then I turned on my heel, making a beeline for my beach chair.
I flopped down into it with a sigh of relief, squeezing my eyes shut as my heart hammered in my chest. I even pressed my fingertips into my hot, oiled-up skin that covered my heart, as if that would somehow help, as if I could physically relieve the pressure with the right touch.
When I opened my eyes and reached for my drink, I found my aunt looking at me with that same arched brow I’d left her with.
“Oh, Jazzy,” she said softly, shaking her head. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
Later that night, after the sun had set over the welcome beach party and all the wedding guests had slowly made their way inside their respective houses, Aunt Laura sat on my bed with a glass of red wine and a plate of cheese she’d snatched from the party. She tossed one cube in her mouth, not bothering to chew it completely before she tucked her legs under her and pointed at my chest. “Alright. Start talking.”
The sight stung my chest in a way I wasn’t expecting, because I could remember so many nights when I was in high school and she’d said those exact words to me. Aunt Laura was in tune with me like no one else, and she always knew when something was bothering me — whether it was the absence of my parents, a boy at school, homework, something with Morgan or another friend. She could always see it, and she always seemed to have the answer to everything.