16. WES

16

WES

"Well, look who decided to come to work!" Jay strolls in and Maverick and I rush him, taking turns picking him up and pushing him around. "My cousin, the married man!"

"All I did was propose, we're not married yet," Jay explains.

"That's the hard part. What if she said no?" Maverick questions slyly.

"There's still time for her to run," I tease.

"In fact, I'd probably expect it," Maverick throws in for good measure. "You're a real loser."

Jay's answer is a quick flip of the finger and we all burst into laughter again. "Seriously, bro, congrats. I'm happy for you two."

"Now comes the fun part. Hazel was already beating down the door today asking a thousand questions about wedding plans," Jay tells us.

Hazel . Almost eight years later and that woman still gets me tongue tied just by hearing her name.

"Those two together are going to be wild so you better hang on tight," Maverick says.

"Not just me, it's all of us. They've got wedding fever, which means it's going to bleed into other wedding ideas if you catch my drift." Jay gives us both a pointed look.

My heart races thinking about it. Hazel knows I never want to get married. We've had this discussion a thousand times, and still she accepted it, accepted me and all my bullshit, though I still have no idea why.

All it does is leave me with more guilt for how I treated her in the past. She's in the prime of her life but she came back to Magnolia Point and she's still here waiting and hoping for me to change my mind one day.

I got dressed the morning of her graduation with every intention of going and sitting in the front row to watch her begin her new life. I had a key made for her and wanted to officially ask her to move in with me. I began to daydream about our life together and suddenly all I saw was me holding her back from so much more.

And then all the times I had already failed her came rushing to the forefront of my mind; I was rude to her the night we first met in the bar, I strung her along for months after that. I took her virginity for god's sake because it made me irate that someone else would get her when she was all that I wanted.

So, when an emergency call came through the shop, I took it. I needed to make a statement to make her see she deserves more than my poor track record.

And much to my horror, it worked a little too well. She wasted years accepting every poor decision I could possibly make, and then she left me shortly after that final shitty decision.

And she had every right to.

I wanted her for myself, but who was I to steal her time?

Jay looks like a cat who ate the canary. "Don't get comfortable, Mav. If Nina has her way, you and your author friend will be next."

"Next to blow up their little business you mean," he replies dismissively.

I don't know what they're talking about but I don't really care right now. I'm back to letting the guilt consume me.

"You working today or what, man?" I cut them both off, needing to move.

"I'm here, aren't I?"

"Then enough of the bullshitting around and let's get this job finished."