Colby swung Regan around as the music continued. Sweat lined her brow, and her cheeks hurt from smiling. This wasn’t how she expected to feel at Matt’s wedding. She expected that she’d drink enough to dull the oddness, but not enough that she’d get honest and weepy.

Her mind spun to possibility and to the day when she’d take this same leap. LaChelle’s laughter and Matt’s joining her, lifted Regan further. She didn’t have that kind of love now, but it would come for her. Tonight, all she had to do was keep dancing to every cheesy Caribbean song that Matt had put on their wedding playlist. Colby spun her again, deftly moving in an easy salsa. There may never be a point when she’d be used to this new version of her friend’s little brother.

The music shifted to another slow song, and Matt appeared next to them.

“Can I cut in?”

Colby gave a short bow and a grin before stepping back.

For the last hour, Matt and LaChelle had danced together, or with their parents. What did Matt want from her?

His familiarity made it easy for them to find a rhythm in Clapton’s old music.

“So…” Regan started.

“You,” Matt said, his tone serious. “You were my first everything. I love you.”

There was no urgency in his voice, only simple statement. Regan swallowed. Honesty was something they’d always had between them--that’s why she’d known they were over before they’d finally split. They both weren’t sure if their future rested with the other. They’d stayed together, both wondering if love was enough.

“I want you to know that when you find your guy, and you get married, there will be something weird about it, even though I know you and I aren’t a match that way anymore.”

She felt herself nod, her throat once again swelling. Matt was her past and LaChelle’s future. Someone would be her future as well. Someone who wasn’t Matt--she was letting the final pieces of that childhood fantasy go.

“I guess I just wanted you to know that I love you like a friend who shared so many things with me, and I’m glad we were what we were to each other. I can’t think of anyone else I’d have wanted to have my firsts with—even though our breakup nearly killed me.”

So much of their past dumped on her at once. “Really?” She’d always felt like he’d been half out the door and relieved when they’d finally called it off…Although, hadn’t she felt some small measure of relief as well? “Surreal, that’s the word,” Regan said.

Matt laughed—head tilted back, mouth open. His gaze found hers again, his smile still wide. “You still do that? Find the perfect word for a situation?”

Her cheeks warmed. “I still do.”

“Getting married is also surreal.” He spun her briefly before finding another friendly distance between their swaying bodies.

“She’s great.”

“I’m crazy in love,” he said, his attention floating from Regan—almost definitely to his new wife.

She squeezed his hand. “As you should be.”

“Anyway.” He released a breath. “I love that you’re here. I hope we get an invite when you get married.”

“You will,” she answered.

They danced in silence for the final few measures of the song. Matt grabbed her in a hug, and like she’d already known, he didn’t feel like her Matt anymore. He felt like a childhood friend. A cousin. Someone she loved. Someone she wanted to be happy. But not someone she thought of herself as being happy with.

He smacked a kiss on her cheek. “Thanks, Regan.”

“Thanks, Matt.” She pushed him. “Go get your wife.”

His eyes lit up as he turned. Another piece of her youth had drifted away.

Her arms dropped to her sides, and a moment later, hands slipped around her waist from behind. “Hey,” Colby said in her ear. “You good?”

“Sometimes growing up is hard,” she answered.

“Sometimes it is.” He lightly kissed her cheek. “And sometimes it’s spectacular.”

Regan turned toward him, and he caught her in his arms.

“Can you take off?” she asked. “Or do you need to stick around in case they need something?”

His brows slowly rose. “What did you have in mind?”

“I wanna check on Kylee and then I’d like to go for a walk, but I don’t know my way around the island.”

He took her hand. “I can help with both of those things.”

Regan didn’t look back as they stepped onto the dark trail. “Tell the owner that these trails could use some of those solar-fed garden lights. They’re super cheap.”

“I’ll do that.”

She tiptoed over the boardwalk in front of the cabins and slipped open her door.

Kylee laughed as she stared at her phone.

“Tell Trevor I say hello!” Regan waved. “I need to walk.”

“You always need to walk.”

Regan shrugged.

Kylee turned her phone toward the door, and Regan gave Kylee’s husband a short wave. His wave on the small screen was slightly slow and slightly stilted.

“Log on to the wifi,” Colby said. “Your connection will be better.”

Kylee shrugged and settled back into the bed.

Regan stepped back and grasped Colby’s hand. “I get restless a lot and need to walk. Are you sure this is okay? I could just walk to the large beach and then come back. That, I can do without getting lost.”

His fingers tightened around hers, pressing their palms together. “This is great.”

She let her heels drag on the sandy path as they moved up the path.

“You trust me?”

She bumped her shoulder against his. “I swam with sharks, Colby.”

“We go left here.”

The trail sloped slowly upward.

“What kind of things do you do around here?” Regan asked. “I’m still almost in shock that you’re here and working manual labor and…”

“I do a little of everything,” he answered. “I learned that I like working with my hands when I was in college. One semester my sophomore year, the only elective that worked with my schedule was a woodshop class.”

“Manual labor wasn’t on the list of career paths I’d have guessed for you.” Although, it had done some very nice things to his body.

His thumb stroked the back of her hand making her knees weak. Definitely full of surprises.

“Do you see the owner much?” she asked.

Another light chuckle passed from his lips. “Yeah.”

“What makes a person decide they need to own an island?” she wondered out loud. Out of all the things to spend money on, why a chunk of land in the ocean?

“Maybe a sense of adventure or wanting to build something.” Colby shrugged. “I think we all want to feel like we’ve put our stamp on something, you know?”

They were still climbing. “Where are you taking me?”

“Well,” he said, “most of the Bahamas are very low-lying, and this island is the same, but the viewpoint from the highest spot is pretty great.”

“You know it’s dark out, right?”

“You know we’re seeing by moonlight right now, right?”

The trail did have a unique glow, and when she looked up, she glimpsed the night sky through the branches; a wave of deep dark spotted withpinpoints of light.

The trees faded around her, and Colby pulled her to a stop. “There’s a deck up here. It’s new. Watch your step.”

She focused on her feet, where the white sand turned to wood, and stepped up onto the deck.

Colby released her hand and sat.

The ocean spread out on three sides, the moonlight glistening across the top of the waves. The sky felt like an endless mass of stars and wishes and hopes. Magical. That’s what this place was. Magical.

“Great up here, isn’t it?” he asked.

She sat next to him, resting her leg against his.

Colby shivered and then wrapped his arm around her. The cool breeze raced goosebumps across her skin.

“I used to have such a crush on you,” Colby whispered. “I mean, to the point that I probably shouldn’t tell you.”

Her heart gave an extra thunk. The definition of his arm rested around her upper back. His warm thigh pressed against hers. His smooth lips were so close. “Had?”

“Had…” His mouth tipped up in a gentle smile. “Have…”

She’d thought that Lara’s brother was maybe the equivalent of someone begging their cousin to be their date, but now…Colby definitely didn’t feel like her cousin.

“Regan…”

She leaned closer, tucking her knees up and resting them against his leg. “Yeah?”

A finger ran down her cheek as his gaze settled on her lips. Nerves danced in her stomach.

“I really want to kiss you.” The words were almost as surprising as how strongly she felt them.

He cupped her cheek and their noses touched. Regan ached for more.

“Please?” she teased with a laugh.

His lips cut off her laughter. But Colby didn’t just press his lips to hers. His lips began slightly parted, teasing, and he only deepened their kiss when Regan pulled him closer.

With one small kiss on the corner of her mouth, he stopped and held her against him.

“You, Colby Jenson, are a gentleman.”

“Who is having some ungentlemanly thoughts.” His laughter shook both of them.

Regan stretched out her legs, reveling in the feel of Colby’s arms, and stared in wonder at the ocean around them. What a completely unexpected trip.