“I ended up in a…situation, if you know what I mean. It happened before we broke up. We were going to run away together. I packed a bag and went to meet him, but Harry didn’t show up. He’d been hit by a car and didn’t survive. It just about killed me.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “Anyway, my parents wanted to send me away to deal with my situation, and I went, but didn’t do what they wanted. I raised our baby girl on my own and told her all about her daddy.”
“Jesus.” I couldn’t believe what she’d told us.
“You were so brave,” Alex told her. “That had to be so scary and difficult.”
“It was, but I wasn’t going to give my child away, this perfect little person who was part Harry, part me. He would have been proud of me.”
“Yeah,” I told her. “He would have been.”
“So anyway, my point in sharing all that is: don’t ever settle for the wrong person. And when you find the right one, hold on as hard as you can. Don’t let anything come between you. If Harry and I had stood stronger from the start or left earlier, we would have had a happy life together. You two hang on to each other.”
I didn’t bother to correct her, to remind her we were just friends. It felt like devaluing what she’d shared with us. “I’m not going anywhere. He’s stuck with me,” I teased.
Alex’s voice was more serious when he said, “I’m not going anywhere either.”
She nodded, reached over, and squeezed my hand. “I’ll leave you boys to it, then. I need a nap.”
“You and me both.” She closed her eyes, and I leaned my head on Alex’s shoulder and did the same.
The next thing I knew, he was shaking me awake because we’d landed. “Wow…I can’t believe I slept the whole time.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “You can’t?”
“Okay, maybe I can.”
We said our goodbyes to Gladys after we deplaned, then grabbed our luggage. I didn’t have all the right clothes for Puerto Vallarta, but I’d make it work.
Out front, a man wearing a suit was holding a sign with: Alex and Jack. A stab of annoyance pierced me, even though I had no reason to feel like that. It wasn’t as if the guy knew they hadn’t gotten married.
“Hello. That’s us. My husband and me,” I told him. I knew without looking that Alex rolled his eyes.
“Good afternoon. Welcome.” He took our bags and put them in the trunk, then opened the passenger door for us.
“You’re so extra on this trip,” I teased Alex, because of his fancy ride. We usually just took a cab or something.
“Shut up, Mr. Bailey.”
“Hey, who said we’re taking your last name? We’re gonna have to hyphenate that shit. Hill-Bailey.”
“Or Bailey-Hill,” Alex countered.
“Oh my God. You’re so picky.”
Alex laughed.
It wasn’t too far to the resort. The driver talked with us most of the time, and I kept the charade going, of Alex and me being married.
When he pulled up at the resort, I got out and took it all in with rising excitement, in awe of the sprawling building sitting right on incredibly white sand and blue water. It was busy, lots of people walking around, and by people, I meant men, most of whom were half-naked. Alex’s mini-trunks had nothing on all these Speedos.
“Let’s go, husband.” I winked, and Alex indulged me like he often did.
He checked into the room, which was under his name. When the man at the desk finished, he said, “Congrats on the wedding. I hope you and Jack have a great time here.”
Was it me, or was he flirting with us? The way his gaze flittered back and forth, I was pretty sure he was. “Actually, it’s Caden. He dumped the other guy and married me at the last minute.” I wasn’t going to be called Jack all week.
“Jesus, Caden.” Alex groaned, and the man laughed.
“Oh, you two are fun. I can tell. If you need anything…anything at all, you can ask for me—Armando.” He held out a card for me, but Alex snatched it.
“Thanks,” I said, “but I only have eyes for him.” I wanted to be playful but not lead someone on.
Alex dragged me away. “You’re not even queer, or did you forget?”
“That’s why I told him I only have eyes for you. I didn’t want him to think something’s possible.”
“Yes, but now he probably thinks something isn’t possible with me either.”
“Wait.” I stopped. “They already think you’re here on your honeymoon.”
“I don’t have to keep that story going.”
“You’re going to hook up on our honeymoon?” I asked, feeling more hurt by that than I had a right to be.
“It’s not really our honeymoon, Caden.”
He had a point. “Yeah, but it’s our vacation. I thought this would be Alex and Caden time.”