Married to My Best Friend

Our guide was awesome, and after telling us a bit about the area, gave us space to do our own thing. The scenery—the mountains and landscape, with the city in the distance—was incredible.

“Holy shit. This is amazing,” Alex said.

I looked at him, watched him take in the world around us, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe, like my heart swelled so damn big, it was crowding my lungs. “Yeah,” I said softly. “Amazing.” He was amazing.

“What?” Alex’s gaze darted down, almost bashfully. “You’re looking at me funny.”

I pulled my phone out. “Let’s take selfies.”

He put an arm around me, and I did the same with him, using my other one to hold the phone out and snap a couple of photos. When I stuck my tongue out in one, so did he, and then we were laughing, and I kept snapping as the sun set behind us.

Alex was warm and a little sweaty. We pressed our temples together for another, and I turned my face toward his, my eyes falling closed without any direction from me, as I took one more photo. I just wanted to be close to him, wanted to document everything I could from our time together.

I felt him press closer, both his face and his body, his nose in my hair as he breathed in deep. Whatever we were doing was crazy and different and I didn’t want to stop.

“You stink,” he finally said with a laugh, stepping out of my grip.

“No I don’t.”

“No you don’t,” he confirmed. “We should probably head back. Our four hours are ending soon.”

“Okay.”

We had just as much fun on the way down as we had going up. Before I knew it, we were back at the resort. Alex was quieter than usual, which didn’t surprise me. I wasn’t dumb. I could feel it, the change in the air, the way I looked at him and touched him—his hand, his leg, the small of his back when we walked—simply because…well, because sometimes it felt like I would die if I didn’t. I’d always been pretty dramatic.

In many ways, I knew it was inevitable, the two of us part of some bigger plan, or maybe I just thought too highly of myself. But I’d known from the start that Alex and I were special, and now we were transforming, as if we’d gone to Vegas a caterpillar, and in Puerto Vallarta we were turning into a butterfly. It was scary as shit, but fear didn’t change the truth, the one I’d spent my whole life burying or ignoring or denying.

I didn’t acknowledge the shift, and he didn’t either. I knew Alex, and when he was up in his head, it was better to give him space. Or maybe I was just a coward.

I put the last photo of us as the screen saver on my phone, and then couldn’t stop picking it up to look at it, at us, feeling at peace in a way I typically didn’t.

We showered, then went down for a late dinner, still quiet and introspective. There was a party on the beach, so we headed over, both of us likely afraid to be alone.

“Wanna dance?” Alex asked after a while, but I shook my head. That was a sign something was off. I’d always loved dancing.

A few songs later someone asked him, this sexy guy with creamy brown skin and big, smoky eyes, and wait…sexy?

“Yeah, sure,” Alex replied, making my insides freeze, my heart cracking like an icicle falling to the concrete. He’d said yes? Why would he tell the guy yes? We were on our honeymoon.

It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real.

I watched as Alex walked away with the guy, not looking back at me once. They found space on the beach—of course, right where I could see them. I guessed that was a good thing, because my ass would have been stalking them if they hadn’t.

I nursed my soda as they moved to the music. Alex was a good dancer. He always had been, and…why was that guy touching him? Didn’t he know we were together? Well, not really together, but it looked like we were.

He pushed his ass against Alex’s groin, swirling his hips in a way that made me see red, made my whole body overheat and pain squeeze my chest. Alex pulled back some, but a few minutes later the guy was doing it again. Then he turned and wrapped his arms around Alex’s neck, and I watched as my husband said something in the guy’s ear.

I meant, my best friend.

What did he say? Were they making plans to meet up? Alex had every right to, but hadn’t we said…

I shoved to my feet. I didn’t know what I was going to do or say when I went over there. I just knew I’d lose my fucking mind if I didn’t. This was our time, our FriendsWhoAreMarriedMoon, and this pretty man was going to try and ruin it? Fuck that. Alex was mine.