Every Girl Does It (18 page)

“Okay
,”
I answer
,
trying to hide excitement from my voice. “We’ll manage I’m sure—
”

“Panda
,
” she interrupts
.
“I know you
'
r
e
mad because I keep forcing you and Preston together
,
and I promise I wouldn’t have done it
except…
well except
…”
She pauses on the other end of the phone.

“Except what?” I ask
,
curious. I stop in my tracks.

“Except, well
,
Brad made me promise not to tell
.
And
he only just found out
,
and now I feel like a terrible friend
.
And
I promise Preston
’
s safe and all
,
I just didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“About what?” I ask again
,
frustrated.

“Ask him about his
ex-
wife.”

And then she said she had to go
,
leaving me totally dizzy with rage. “
Your wife
!” I
shout
at Preston as I throw my phone at his head.

“What?”
he
asks totally stunned by my revelation.

“When were you going to tell me
,
huh? Do you just run around and propose to
e
very girl you meet? Get them trapped in that little fireman web of love then tell them you believe in polygamy!”
My voice is so loud
that people are staring.

Preston is still
gaping
at me with registered shock on his face “We need to talk
,”
He says as he pul
ls me underneath the waterfall.

I begin to talk again before he covers my mouth with his hand.

“I don’t even want to know how you got such information
,
but I can tell you one thing. Before you jump to conclusions
,
you should just ask.” He releases his hand from my mouth as I start to protest.

“But that isn’t something I think about asking when you don’t wear a
ring
a
nd when you kiss me at every chance you get
.”
My voice
rises
as the emotion becomes unbearable.

Preston
’
s eyes light up with fire before his lips crush down hard on mine. His warmth cascades over my body in waves
,
making me melt into his arms all the more. I wrap my arms around his neck as he pulls me closer and let out a small moan as he releases me.

“Stop talking so much
,” he
says breathless as he pushes me against the rock wall and kisses me again. I want to
scream
assault
,
but again I
’
m betrayed by my body as my arms wrap around his neck.
The pressure from his lips sets me into a da
ze as I hungrily push for more.

“
You’re
not forgiven.” I manage to say as I push him away and begin to walk anywhere I can to
remove myself
from his intoxicating presence.

“Not so fast
.” He
pulls my arm
,
stopping me in my tracks.

“I
was
married
,” he
says
,
but he holds up a finger in protest. “She cheated on me.” He
leans casually
against the rocks. “Actually
,
it was more of a mutual cheating
,
but we can talk about that later.” He wraps his hand around mine and leads me silently back to our hut.

“She was always selfish
,
but then again
,
I always was
,
too
,
”
h
e says
,
sitting on the couch
,
while I take a seat in the
fluffy
chair. “She wanted things I couldn’t give her. I started working at the fire department about two years ago
,
when I finally found out.” He giv
es me a smirk then continues, “N
ever trust your best friends
.
Especially
around your pretty wife.”

I want to ask him who he
’
s referring to
,
but it
's
n
one of
my business. “She left me for him, not that he married her or anything. I tr
i
ed to fix thin
g
s
,
but we had grown apart in more ways th
a
n one. It
'
s actually what turned me to God
. And
in an odd way
,
it brought me back to
H
im.” He
stand
s up to get a drink of water.

“But you said you cheated
,
too?” I ask shyly
.

“I did, in my heart
.
I never really loved and cherished her
.
I just liked what I saw on the
outside
and the pleasure she brought me. I sure didn’t honor her with my actions or my thoughts, nor did I fight for her when she chose to go the other way. I should have fought.” He looks down at the sink and shrugs as he fills up his glass with water.

“She finalized the divorce
,
and I did nothing. Once I got my life back on
t
rack
,
I tried to make
things
right. It doesn’t help that my ex
-
best friend still works at the same station. I
’
ve been trying to get on at other ones
,
but it’s kinda hard with how competitive my job is.”

I look at him and
try not to cry
,
but
i
t
'
s hard. I feel so sorry for him
.
And
yes
,
I
still
want to kill Kristin for setting me up with a broken man, but I can’t blame her for thinking we could help each other. I still can’t help but think she knows more than she
’
s willing to say. I
’
ll have to ask her later but for now…

“I owe you an apology
,
” I say quietly
.

“No, you don’t. I should
’
ve said something about the ex-
wife to the new wife
.
I
t only makes sense
.
” He smiles widely at me
,
while I roll my eyes.

“I’m not marrying you
,
” I say again
,
this time
even more
unconvin
cin
gly
.

“You will, we
’
re perfect for each other.” He then leans in and plants a soft
and gentle kiss on my forehead.

“So
who’s
the ex best friend?” I ask curiously
.
“
Anyone
I know?”

Presto
n
’
s jaw
clenches,
he
shakes
his head
,
and abrubtly
looks
away
,
clearly giving the message that he
doesn’t
want to talk about it.
“Don’t worry about it
,
panda
.”

“Stupid fat bears
,”
I say
,
punching the pillow next to me.

“
You’re
not stupid and
you’re
not fat, we’ve been over this
.
Pandas are cute. Have you ever heard the
panda
story?” He asks curiously

“It makes me cry
,
so if you tell it
,
I’ll
have to punch you in the face
,”
I say
,
smiling back at him.

“Deal
,
” he says
as he swallows some more water.

I look at his lips and immediately feel dizzy as I remember t
he kiss under the waterfall. It
was kind of romantic minus all that
ex-
wife and cheating talk.
I sigh and flip on the TV.

“No
,
” Preston says
,
pulling the remote from my hands. “It’s basically a punishable crime to watch any sort of television in Hawaii.” Preston
turns the TV off
.

“Fine, what
'
s your idea?” I say
,
feeling a little exhausted.

“Midnight swim
,
of course
,
” he says
,
jumping off the so
fa and running toward his room.

I slowly get up and change into a different suit before following him out to the pool. It
’
s
kind of nice
. We’
re the only
two in the pool
.
Well
,
us and two old people who
,
I fear
,
might have stroke
s
if they keep kissing like that.

“Gross
,”
Preston says as we swim past them.

“Come on, it
'
s kind of cute
.
” I smile sheepishly as I stare at them. I mean
,
it
’
s a little gross they are all over each other
,
but how great is that? They still have that little spark.
”

“
Oh,
I think it’s grea
t.
I
t
'
s the
public display
of
affection
I don’t like
.
Get a room
!” he yells before I laugh and shush him into the corner of the
pool where you enter the hot tub.

I punch him in the arm and wade into the boiling water. The only time you can get into these things in Hawaii is when it
’
s night time
,
and even then it
'
s sometimes a little sketchy.

I sit down on the nearest step and let out a relaxing sigh
,
That
is
,
until I see something dark in the corner of my vision.
Preston notices my panic as his eyes widen in realization as to what the object is.

“Amanda, don’t freak out.
It’s
okay just don’t freak out.” He
’
s leaning toward me slowly with a look on his face that I can only describe as pure terror. Oh my gosh
,
this is it. It has to be some sort of wild animal.
It’s probably going to start gnawing
on my neck any minute. Perfect
. Well,
at least I
’
ll die in
Hawaii
.
So long
,
perfect world
.
I close my eyes as he quickly grabs the object and tosses it into the bushes. As soon as
it’s
gone
,
I jump into his arms shaking.

“What was that?” I ask in near hysterics.

“A leaf
,” he
answers
,
smiling.

I look at him expecting him to say
,
“haha
I’m
kidding”
,
when he just returns my stare with a blank one of his own. “Then why did you panic and get all big with your eyes?” I
’
m now pointing at his eyes and making giant movements with my hands.

“I thought it would be funny to see your reaction, then I felt bad because I could feel your heart beating through the water. I nearly thought it was going to stop. Sorry about that.” He laughs
,
still holding onto me tightly.

“Let go
.”
I pout
,
struggling to let myself go free.

“No
,” he
says
,
holding me tighter.

“I don’t like you
,”
I say
,
looking away from him like
a
small child.

“
Oh
,
come on
,
Amanda
.
We
both know you’re a terrible liar
,” he
says as he leans down toward my face
.
“Marry me.”