Page 75 of Last Night Was Fun

“Also painfully obvious.”

“And when you told me about your parents’ dream for your future and then showed me your scar days later. I definitely didn’t put two and two together.”

Their laughter fell to a simmer, and Emmy regretted broaching the serious topic. “Sorry, that one’s not as funny as the others.”

Gabe paused walking and reached for Emmy’s arm. They’d stopped on the sand a few feet from the path’s edge. The powder had cooled to soft white dust in the dark. She turned to him and could see in his eyes he was about to walk through the door she’d opened.

“Emmy, I’m really sorry about your brother. I didn’t know what to say when you first told me in your apartment that day, and I obviously hadn’t put two and two together to know that was the family tragedy you’d texted about. I should have realized it’s a sensitive subject for all of you and steered clear of it tonight.”

She gave him a sad half smile. “It’s okay. You don’t need to know what to say.Idon’t even know what to say, and it’s been fifteen years.” She let out a big breath and gazed out at the water. The sea rolled like an inky black blanket with a shimmering streak of moonlight. The sight of it, an endless expanse, and the feel of Gabe beside her, his warmth, his steadiness, drew words from her mouth with a whole host of feelings she normally kept locked up. A pair of silent, giant tears budded out of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “I do okay with it most of the time. It’s just things like this—life events—that really hurt because he’s not here.” She turned to look at him and found a sincere crease of sympathy between his brows. “And that’s so unfair.” Her voice dissolved into tears. Hot, angry, aching tears. She hated how much it hurt still. That the price of loving someone was carrying the pain of their loss forever.

“Emmy,” Gabe said on a soft breath. He wiped her tears with his thumbs and then pulled her into his chest. He held her there while she quietly sobbed, gently swaying with the breeze, and letting her empty out all her feelings. She hadn’t cried so hard in years. The smell of him, the warmth of his sturdy embrace, it drew emotion out of her like a toxin. She cried into his chest until she had nothing left. Until she was drained and only upright because he was still holding her in his arms.

She pulled back and wiped the tearstains on his chest. “I ruined your shirt,” she said in a clogged voice.

“You didn’t ruin anything.”

“I invited you to Mexico to cry all over you. Probably not what you expected. You have such nice shirts. I’m sorry.” She smoothed her hands over the fabric she’d soiled.

“I have plenty more, don’t worry.”

“Stop being so nice to me.”

He kissed the top of her head.

She stilled in his arms.

“Sorry,” he said, stiffening. She could feel his heart beating harder in his chest.

She tilted her head to look up at him. The moonlit night sky framed his face. His lips hovered inches away. All she’d have to do was push up on her toes to kiss him. “You don’t have to be sorry,” she whispered.

He blinked his long lashes and gazed down at her. Time seemed to slow. It became sand slipping through an hourglass at half speed, and Emmy could feel every grain. He moved closer, and her eyes had started to flutter closed when a shout in the dark snapped them apart.

“Thereyou are!” Piper squawked like a gull. She appeared from the walkway dangling off Ben’s arm. Both of them looked boozy and exhausted. “I’ve been looking all over for you!” Piper sang and launched herself at Emmy.

“Uh, hey, Pipes,” Emmy said, trying to recover from her sudden appearance and nearly being tackled.

“Hey,” Piper said. “Ready for bed?”

“Umm, sure?”

“Great. Let’s go.” She grabbed her arm and started pulling her toward the villas.

Emmy shot a desperate look at Gabe. “My room is that way.”

“Not tonight, it’s not,” Piper said, and kept dragging her. “I’m not sleeping by myself down here, and I obviously can’t sleep with Ben.”

“Obviously?” Emmy nearly tripped as she tried to keep up literally and figuratively.

Piper stopped yanking on her and pivoted to face her. She was barefoot and holding her shoes in one hand. Her white jumpsuit looked wrinkled and ready to be peeled off in exchange for pajamas. Her lipstick was smeared outside the lines of her lips like she’d made out with her fiancé on the drive back from dinner.

Emmy glanced back at Ben to see, indeed, red smudges painting his dopey grin.

“ObviouslyI can’t sleep with Ben because we can’tsee each othertomorrow until I walk down the aisle,” Piper explained in a tipsy tirade. “And how are we going to notsee each otherif we wake up together?” She smacked the heel of her hand on her forehead and then grabbed Emmy’s arm again. “So it’s you and me tonight, sis. Let’s go. We need our beauty sleep.”

Emmy stumbled after her, tripping in the sand, and throwing another desperate look back at Gabe. “Um, see you tomorrow, I guess?” she called.

“Good night!” Gabe called with a wave. She could see the disappointment on his face even from far away.