Chapter 11
Vivian
"Wake up, sleepy head." Casey's voice pulled me from a dream about my parents getting a divorce. I stifled the need to cry and pressed my face into my pillow. I slept like shit the night before.
"Go away," I mumbled, not communicating in a way that she could hear me at all.
"Get up! It's almost ten and not only am I starving, but I want to hit the strip today! Let's not mention the fact that you own me all the deets on your date with Easton last night." She jumped onto the bed next to me as I rolled onto my side and smiled.
"It wasn't really a date, though he treated me like a princess." Warmth burned my cheeks, and I forced my eyes open.
"He is interested. I can see it all over your face. I told you that he was into you." She poked at me, and I swatted her away.
"I think he's just a horny guy looking for a good lay." I rolled onto my back and giggled as she poked at me some more.
"A good lay? Are you a good lay? You know that Jackson is going to be missing out now that you're finally moving on." She turned to lie on her back and pulled the covers up around both of us. "Did you guys sleep together?"
"What? No." I turned to pin her with a stare. "I wouldn't sleep with someone on the first date."
"Ugh. Such a prude." She teased me. "Did you at least let him kiss you?"
"Nope. I kissed him on the cheek, but he wanted to kiss me." I smiled so hard I thought my cheeks might crack. There was no hiding from Casey or myself just how much I was starting to like the handsome businessman.
"How do you know?" She turned on her side, facing me and snuggled up next to me like she'd been doing our whole lives. "Did he tell you?"
"Yeah. He said, 'you know I really want to kiss you', and I said no." I turned on my side to face her. "Besides, he's just a traveling, career-focused kinda guy. He's not looking for anything more than a few kicks, and honestly, I'm not looking for anything right now."
"Whatever. Are we seeing him again tonight?" She brushed my hair from my face. "I think we should."
"I don't know. I'm not sure that's a good idea. I had four drinks last night, and it took everything inside of me not to take his invitation to join him in the penthouse." I lifted my eyebrows and spoke with snooty authority.
"He invited you to the penthouse?" She sat up and slapped the bed dramatically. "What in the world? So fucking unfair."
"I'll ask him if you can take my place tonight." I pushed at her. "Get off my covers and I'll get up. We can grab a breakfast sandwich at the coffee shop downstairs and get to shopping."
"Yes on all counts. Sex, food, and shopping. Get to it. Hook me up with the billionaire playboy, or try to. I think he's far too into you for any hope for me." She moved off the bed and worked to tame her crazy blonde locks.
"Those do sound like a great combination." I got up and tugged my tank top over my head before walking to the dresser beside my bed and pulled out a couple of tank tops, a bikini top and some shorts. "We were almost mugged in one of the back alleys too. That was interesting in the wrong sort of way."
"What?" Casey's voice turned to steel. "What do you mean you were almost mugged?"
I turned as I worked the bikini top over my breasts. "Some guy asked for our cash and when we didn't have it, he pulled a knife. Easton took care of it quickly. It was scary as hell, but pretty impressive to watch him put down the threat so fast. He said his father had been a cop his whole life."
"That's fucking scary, Viv. Now that you're okay, it's hot, but no more dark alleys. Okay?" She moved toward me and put her hands on her hips, demanding my compliance.
"Yeah, I agree." I turned and tugged my two tank tops over my head. "He works for a critique company. He mentioned something about them looking for more food critics. It would be pretty cool to get an interview, if nothing else, from this crazy encounter."
"Then sleeping with him is out. You know that, right?" She moved up beside me as she tugged at the strings at the top of her bathing suit top. "Can you tie this for me?"
"Yeah, turn around." I worked on it as I thought through her words. She was right, of course. If things started to progress between me and Easton, then working for the company would be off the table, not that I had a prospect of doing so yet. Relationships never lasted. The last thing in the world that I'd be comfortable with would be working alongside him and hating each other.
"You're awfully quiet." Casey moved away from me and worked to get her sandals on. "What are you thinking about?"
"Lots of things. He's the perfect guy from what I can see, but so was Jackson. It's just crazy how you can be with someone every day and yet not really know them at all." I pulled my bathing suit bottoms over my hips followed by my short shorts. "Does this look too slutty?"
"Not at all. You look like a dancer with those long-ass legs. Almost too hot." Casey sat down on the edge of the bed. "You know that not everyone is like Jackson, right? Not all men cheat."
"I want to assume that, but having just gone through this shit, it's hard to think about trusting anyone." I ran my fingers through my long crimson hair before pulling it into a playfully high ponytail. "I'm just going to stay by myself for a while and see what happens. I don't need to get connected to this guy, Case. He told me that he travels fifty weeks of the year."
"So travel with him." She shrugged as I rolled my eyes at her. "What? It could work."
"It's not that easy, and besides, it's just a spring break fling type thing."
"What if it turns into more?" She got up and picked up her wallet. "It's a possibility, and you know it."
"It's not going to. Honestly. There's nothing to be worried about. I'm not." I pulled my purse strap over my head and fixed it to lay across my chest. I was lying as best I could about being interested in Easton. Just the nice dinner the night before had me itching to see him again. Saying no to his kiss and the so-called tour of his penthouse had been the hardest thing I'd done in a while. Denying myself anything after all of the shit I'd been through seemed like a travesty, but it was to protect the future. My ego wasn't going to handle much more in the way of men shitting on me, so I would avoid them as best I could.
"You ready?" Casey opened the door and smiled. "I have money to burn and bacon to eat."
I laughed and walked out into the hall, tucking away the hope that Easton would call. Casey and I needed a vacation, and this one had all the promise to be great.
We made our way down to the small cafe on the ground floor of the restaurant and got in line behind the other hundred people that had our same idea.
"Smells good." I glanced down to Casey as she picked up a menu.
"Yeah it does. I want us to check into that Thursday night event at Black's Beach that everyone keeps talking about. We can take the rental car if you want. Might be better if we did." She turned her attention back to me.
"Yeah, I'm down with us checking it out. Not sure what the hype is all about, but if it's a bunch of naked people dancing on the beach, I'm out."
"What if it's hot naked guy's night?" She wagged her eyebrows as the elderly gentleman in front of us turned and awarded us a scathing look.
"Don't mind her. Her elevator doesn't go all the way to the top." I touched my head and smiled at the guy as he grunted and turned back around. "No on the naked man conga line."
She laughed and snorted as we moved up in line. "Alright, but I still want to check it out. You should see if Easton is free to go with us. Ohh...you should see if he has a friend, or maybe a twin brother?"
"Two brothers from what I gather, and both of them are younger than him." I shrugged. "There might be some promise there if you're interested."
"I'll need to see pictures of course, but I would sign up mighty fast if they look anything like your boy." She waved at the older guy in front of us as he turned and gave her another look. "Hi gramps."
"Casey." I nodded toward the cashier. "You're up next, mister."
"Thank God," he barked and moved up to order.
Casey shook her head and handed me the menu. "People nowadays. You can hide your attraction to the idea of a hot sweaty body, but we all have it. Period."
"Yep. I'm getting the double bacon stacker. What are you getting?"
"The triple dong sub." Casey crossed her arms over her chest as I let go of a sharp laugh.
"Stop it. What's the matter with you?" I moved up to the counter as the guy in front of us walked off.
"He just reminds me of my dad with all of his damn rules, and that horrible look of disdain that I'm not good enough. That I don't measure up." She shrugged and turned her attention to the cashier. "I'll have the special, but I need ketchup on the side."
"No problem." The girl turned her attention to me. "You, miss?"
"I'll have the same and a double bacon stacker. Add a glass of orange juice for both of us too, please." I pulled out my wallet and extended my card to her.
Her eyes remained on me as if trying to work through how I was going to fit all that food in my stomach. She glanced down and finished ringing us up without another word.
I took our drinks and sat down in the booth Casey had for us. "People will always judge each other, Casey. It's just part of life. You do it, I do it. Everyone does it."
"Yeah, well I hate it. If I want to be a social worker and spend my life giving back to society, but making little to nothing doing it, then it's my damn prerogative." She grabbed her orange juice, spilling a little on the table between us.
"What happened? I assume something went down last night while I was out?" I picked up a napkin and cleaned up the mess.
She let out a long sigh and pressed her hands to her face. "I need a Masters to do what I want to do, and my parents aren't willing to help me pay for it. It's just upsetting. When I have kids, I'm going to support their dreams and aspirations. I'm not going to shit all over them."
"We'll figure out a way to pay for it. We can room together in that little studio apartment off campus that we've talked about a million times. I'll help pay for your tuition, and you can get a part-time job at that little coffee shop you love so much. Besides, you've been drooling after that blonde-haired cashier for two years. What better way to meet him?" I offered her a friendly smile and reached across the table to squeeze her hand.
"We can't live in that studio, or neither of us will meet anyone. Asking the other to leave for the night so we can sleep with someone is ridiculous." She lifted her eyebrow at me.
"We've been doing just that for the last four years. We'll figure it out. If you want this future, then we make it happen. Life's too short to do what's expected of you. No one is going to have to live your life day to day but you. So choose what you love and we'll figure out the rest. Got it?" I squeezed her hand once more before sitting back and taking the plate the server offered me.
"That should be the same for you then, Viv. If you want to be a food critic, then don't settle for anything less." She picked up her napkin. "When is the last time you submitted one of your articles to the newspaper for review?"
She was right, but she always was.
"It's been a while. When we get back, you apply for your Master’s program, and I'll submit the articles from this trip to them. Deal?" I offered her my hand to shake.
"Deal, and if that hottie takes you out again this week, you're at least getting a kiss from him so I can hear about it. Double deal?"
"Double deal, and if we go to this thing on Thursday–”
"I'm getting laid," she butted in and gave me a toothy grin.
"No. We're leaving if it gets too stupid. Promise me."
"I promise, but one of us has to have some wild-ass stories from this week. It's you or me." She took a big bite of her sandwich and nodded. "This is divine."
"We already have stories, and good. Hush so I can enjoy it without you badgering me." I smiled and let my eyes move across the three plates that belonged to me. If I was going to force Casey to live her dreams, then it was only fair that I started living mine.
Maybe bumping into Easton wasn't by chance at all. He could help with my career if we became good friends. I resigned myself to texting him after shopping if he hadn't contacted me.
If we kept things on a friend level then I would be good. Besides, not all men were cheating asses, but I'd lay the wager that most were. As good-looking as Easton was, he was teetering toward the dark side, and that was a bet I wasn't willing to take.