“CAR BOMBS!” MATT, THE PRESIDENT of Omega Chi, yells as we burst through the open doors of Irish Kevin’s. Skyler and her sisters weave past us and make their way to the front of the stage where a small band is set up. They’re doing covers of popular songs and taking requests in the form of cold hard cash, and Skyler is the first to pull out a twenty.
She waves it in the air and calls out, “Sweet Caroline!” The bar cheers and the tall, lanky guy behind the mic starts flirting with her as she drops it in the jar. When he takes note of all her sisters filing in around her, I just shake my head.
He has no idea what he’s in for.
“I can’t believe so many of us are still hanging in after day drinking at Smathers all day,” I say to Matt as we slide up to the bar. The bartender is already pouring up our car bombs.
“Shit, you know how it is when Omega Chi and KKB get together.”
“Fucking insanity?”
He waggles his eyebrows, handing me a car bomb and tipping his toward me. “Damn straight.”
Matt’s sporting a sunburn along with the rest of us, though his shows as lobster red and mine as dark chocolate. The tightness of my skin only reminds me what a kick ass day it was as we drop the shot of Bailey’s into our mugs of Guinness and chug. Slamming them back down on the bar, Matt throws me a high five and wades through the crowd to where Skyler is. Poor guy, he’s been trying since we got here to move in on her since she’s not with Adam anymore. The thing is, I don’t think she plans on giving Matt another round in her bed — especially not with literally thousands of other choices on Duval Street.
I whip out my phone to check for texts from Shawna, frowning when the screen is blank. We were writing back and forth all day today, but she stopped responding a few hours ago, making me realize just how much I wish I would have dragged her ass with me. Trying not to dwell on it, I tuck my phone back in my pocket and lean against the bar. When I notice Erin a few barstools down, eyes low as she watches the rest of her sisters in front of the stage, I pay the bartender for two beers and slide down next to her.
“You should go join them,” I shout over the band singing Wagon Wheel. Erin’s eyes flick to mine, her brows pinching together before she turns away again. Her makeup is flawless, her dark blonde hair pin straight beneath the snapback she and her sisters are all wearing. On the outside she seems put together and fine, but all it took was that one second of looking into her eyes for me to know she’s not. I already feel like walking over to her was a mistake.
“I’m just hanging back for now,” she says softly, forcing a smile. “How are you, Bear?”
“Fan-flipping-tastic. Here,” I say, thrusting the beer I’ve yet to drink from toward her. “Special delivery.”
She eyes the glass in my hand, readjusting to lean her opposite elbow back on the bar. It’s then that I notice she’s shaking slightly. I internally groan, cursing myself for thinking she would be able to keep it cool after our hook up last semester. I still don’t even know how that shit happened, but Erin clearly can’t let it go. It’s like she thinks I’m going to jump on stage, steal the mic from the band and shout out to everyone that we fucked like porn stars in the KKB house.
“Thanks, but I’m not really… I don’t want to drink.” Her honey eyes find mine as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “I tend to lose control when I do.”
Pursing my lips together, I fight the urge to roll my eyes and shrug, instead. The girl is fucking ridiculous. “Whatever you say, peach. More for me.” I tip back the glass I was holding out for her and drain it, popping it back onto the bar next to her.
“Bear!” Skyler bounds toward us, an infectious grin on her face. “I have a surprise for you.” She drags out the last word, her buzz clearly still in effect.
“I feel like I should run.”
She laughs, grabbing me by the wrist and dragging me through the bar back to Duval Street. “Trust me. You’re going to love this surprise.”
I follow her, my eyes on the neon KKB letters on the back of her hat as she steers us through the crowd. When she finally tugs me out into the warm night air, she drops my wrist and plants her hands on her hips, victorious smile still intact.
“Why are you grinning like you shit in my bed?”
Skyler just wrinkles her nose, but then her eyes jet to the space behind me. I barely have time to turn around before I’m tackled. I hold the offender tight as their legs wrap around me, and that’s all it takes for me to realize who it is.
I’d know those legs anywhere.
“Surprise!” Skyler yells behind me as I grip Shawna tighter, inhaling the floral scent of her black and purple locks. She squeezes me tight in return until I drop her gently to her feet.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
She shrugs, tucking her hands into the pockets of her tiny ripped jean shorts. “I got tired of texting you, so I called Skyler and she told me where you’re staying and helped me set this up. Hope you don’t mind me crashing your bed.”
She winks and I pull her under my arm, kissing her temple before whispering in her ear. “As long as you don’t plan on getting any sleep, I think we’ll be fine.”
Shawna shivers under my touch and I grin against the skin of her neck.
“Uh, okay, looks like my job here is done. Have fun, you two!” Skyler quickly hugs Shawna and steps up on her toes long enough to kiss my cheek before skipping back inside, her beachy waves swinging behind her.
“Should we head in?” Shawna asks, thumb pointed toward the bar.
“I have a better idea.”
SHAWNA IS STILL BLUSHING as we wander the empty streets of Key West, dawn just within reach. She’s not exactly one who blushes lightly, but I kind of like the way the rosiness sets on her cheeks. I’m not sure if she’s blushing from the heat we built up dancing or the fact that we just stripped down to our Birthday Suits and partied with a bunch of old naked men and women in the Garden of Eden.
Either way, I like that I put that blush there.
“I cannot believe we just did that,” she breathes, still giggling. “I will never get helicockter guy out of my head.”
“Hey! That’s the best part about having a dick,” I defend, swinging my hips to mimic the motion of the skinny sixty-year old biker from the bar. The Garden of Eden is a rooftop bar above a country bar on Duval Street and it’s clothing optional. There are no phones or cameras allowed, but it still took three shots to get either one of us comfortable enough to take our clothes off. We were the hottest people there, and as soon as we lost our underwear, all the attention was on us. I expected Shawna to be shy or embarrassed, but she danced with me and flaunted her shit in front of everyone like she was the most confident woman on earth.
I’m starting to think she might actually be.
Shawna rolls her eyes and shoves me but I bounce back, pulling her under my arm. She sighs, content in my grasp. The night air has cooled down significantly, blanketing our hot skin in a relieving reprieve.
“What a wild place.”
I nod, taking in the brightly colored houses on either side of the street. We’re not really walking anywhere, just strolling, and we’re the only ones left, it seems. Occasionally, a cab will blow buy, rowdy Spring Breakers hanging out the windows, but for the most part it’s just us. “It’s amazing.” I kiss her temple, smiling down at her bright green eyes. “Even better now that you’re here.”
She’s quiet for a moment, and we fall into a rhythm, her sandals and my Jordan’s thumping the pavement with each step.
“You know, when we first started hooking up, I thought that’s all you’d be to me,” Shawna says, wrapping her arm around my waist and hooking her finger into my belt loop. “It made sense. You were hot, we had amazing sex, and it was fun.” She shrugs. “But I didn’t expect you to be a great listener. Or a protective friend. Or an amazing big brother. It’s like everything I never thought I’d feel with you actually came easily — effortlessly, without even thinking about it.” She smiles softly, biting her lower lip as her eyes stay fixed on her feet. “Somewhere along the way, I think I started falling for you.”
My throat constricts at her words, the darkness of night just before dawn surrounding me. I swallow, wondering why I’m not laughing, or shaking my head, or planning my escape route. I never wanted anything serious with Shawna, and even now, it feels like a bad idea. But the truth is, I think I’m falling for her, too.
I halt, pulling Shawna into my arms. She wraps hers around my neck, eyes fierce as she stares up at me, not the least bit ashamed of what she just admitted out loud.
“Me too,” I say simply.
She smiles, the black frames of her glasses lifting on her cheeks. “I really want you to nail me on the beach.”
I choke out a laugh, snaking my hand up to brush one of her purple locks aside. “Hmm… I could possibly be persuaded to oblige.”
Shawna’s eyes sparkle as she lifts up on her toes, pressing her lips to mine. I pull her into me, hands gripping her shirt at the hem, slipping my tongue inside her mouth only to be rewarded with a moan.
We’re all hands and lips as we stumble our way onto a private beach of a hotel, breaking contact just long enough to jump a fence or strip off clothing before collapsing into a beach cabana bed. The soft blue hue of morning battles with the dark night just as I sink inside her, her nails dragging down my sunburned back. I hiss at the sensation and she takes my mouth with hers. When she flips us over, her hips straddling mine, I watch with fascination as bright pinks and oranges light the sky behind her arching back.
By the time the sun breaks its kiss with the horizon, we’re completely spent, skin slick, legs tangled. And for a while it’s just the sound of our breathing and the waves on the shore that exist in the world. Shawna falls asleep on my chest and I let her rest for a while, knowing I’ll have to wake her soon before we’re caught. A strange emotion washes over me, one I’ve never felt but don’t feel compelled to fight.
With my fingers in her hair and my heart on my sleeve, I let myself fall a little further.