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Traveling and sight-seeing had always been on my bucket list, so getting handed an opportunity to live near the ocean—and miles away from my ocean of issues—was something I needed to seriously consider.
But I didn’t want to leave Tara.
I didn’t want to leave her father, either.
Love always had the upper hand.
“What’s the matter?” Tara wondered at my delayed reply. “Did you have other plans?”
“Nothing concrete,” I said quickly. “But what if something happened between us?”
She frowned. “What do you mean?”
I mean…what if you found out that I fucked your dad?
My face heated, and I swallowed hard. “What if something got in the way of our friendship? What if I did something to make you hate me?”
Silence slipped between us, only severed by squeals and laughter drifting from the shore. Tara pulled up on her elbows, staring down at me with confusion. “Halley…nothing will ever come between us. No fight in the world could make me hate you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Yes, I do. You’re like a sister to me. You’re my best friend—my family—and you’ve been through more crazy shit than anyone I’ve ever met. If you can survive the worst out of life, so can we. We’ll get through anything together,” she said with surety. “Even if you start to snore.”
I sniffled, emotion sinking its way inside. “I don’t snore.”
“Good.” Grinning, she bopped my shoulder with hers. “That was the worst thing I could think of, so there’s literally nothing to worry about.”
“You swear?”
Tara yanked me upright by my wrist and locked our eyes together, drawing out the moment. “Look into these eyes, Halley. Stare deep into my murky green depths that resemble swamp guts and discover the truth hidden within.”
A giggle slipped out.
“You’re laughing, but this is serious,” she said, unable to mask her own laughter. “I swear on Jared Leto’s sexy-ass soul that nothing will ever come between us. We’ll pinkie-swear on it.”
She snagged my pinkie finger and held tight. My smile stuck as I nodded, and our hands bobbed up and down. “Okay.”
“Great. It’s settled, then. We’ll get an apartment and one day raise little Josh and Scotty babies together.”
The elation deteriorated and I ducked my chin, releasing her finger.
“But not anytime soon,” she added. “Try to keep your ovaries in check for a few more years, even though Scotty’s walking this way, and he does look good without a shirt.”
Blinking rapidly, I glanced up and found Scotty headed toward us. “Um…I’ll be right back.”
Tara smacked me on the bikini bottoms and hollered to my retreating back, “Keep it in your polka-dotted swimsuit, Hals!”
Scotty strolled over to me, swiping his long hair back. “What was that all about?” He glanced over my shoulder at Tara, who was darting back to the netless volleyball game.
“Oh, nothing important. Can we talk?” The question spewed out of me before I could gather the reigns. I needed to confide in somebody, and I trusted Scotty.
Nerves raced through me as he met my eyes, evidently noting the terror that resided inside them.
“You look like you’re about to puke.”
“Probability is high.” I coiled my hand around his wrist and dragged him through the sand, over to a tent covering a spread of finger foods and munchies. “Are you good at keeping secrets?”
“Uh, sure.” He trailed behind me until we both came to a stop and looked at each other. “What’s this about? You’re kind of freaking me out.”