I BLEW MY WHISTLE at the rowdy preteen boys running around the pool having a water gun fight. “Walk! No running!” I hollered for the nineteenth time in the last hour. Their moms were either absent or oblivious after too many of Theo’s daiquiris, I wasn’t sure which. It’d been a Friday from hell. Fridays always sucked during the summer because all the weekenders were just arriving, and the kids were extra rambunctious from being cooped up in the car.
Around eleven, two guys thought it would be funny to pick me up and pretend to throw me in the pool, which had resulted in Theo vaulting over the bar and coming to my rescue, much to the delight of the teenage girls. And since lunch, this creepy older man had been pretending to read a book while ogling the same three teenage girls who had swooned over Theo, as they lounged on their chaises wearing only the skimpiest of bikinis. The man even offered to rub more sunscreen on them. Twice. Luckily, they were smart enough to decline, and the second time he offered, one complained to her mom, who reported him to management. Now, the creepy old guy had wandered down the beach path, probably searching for some other prepubescent body to fantasize over. Gross. Kendra was a saint and had spent the last twenty minutes patiently explaining to a woman that the pool used a salt system, and her baby would be perfectly safe from carcinogenic toxins if she got wet.
I eyed the tiki-hut wistfully, pulling my hat off long enough to swipe at the sweat beading on my forehead. A daiquiri sounded pretty good right about now.
Theo waved to catch my attention and pointed to his phone. I walked over to my beach bag for my cell and saw a text from him.
Theo: A bunch of us are going to the Wreck tonight. Wanna come?
Me: What’s the Wreck?
Theo: You haven’t been to the Wreck yet? It’s Wyatt’s bar. The ultimate hang spot. Super casual.
Me: Can I bring Rue?
Theo: A bar can never have too many hot girls.
Me: Pervert.
Theo: Just sayin.’
Me: We’ll meet you there. I’m sure Rue knows where it is. What time?
Theo: I’ll be there around 8, but whenever.
I tapped out a quick message to Rue, knowing her phone was always within reach.
Me: Want to go to the Wreck tonight?
Rue: I haven’t been there in ages. Sounds fun! What time?
Me: Theo said 8?
Rue: Ok. See you at home later!
This day might be redeemable, after all. Friends, alcohol, and more alcohol. Just a few more hours. Closing my eyes, I searched for a moment of Zen. I concentrated, breaking down the moment. The feel of the sun heating my skin competing with the cool breeze ruffling my ponytail. The smell of sunscreen, salt, and pheromones. The crash of the distant waves, barely audible over the ear-splitting screech only very small children are capable of making. A loud splash and the feel of water cascading over my ankles ruined the rest of my illusion. Rolling my shoulders, I opened my eyes to my headache-inducing reality.
With her hands fisted on her hips, Kendra was glaring at the boys making machine gun noises who had just made a pair of toddler princesses cry, so I tucked my phone away and slipped into the role of bad cop. I confiscated all the water guns, ignoring their protests. “I’ll take these, thank you. Next one who runs, gets it!” I threatened in a cheerful voice, keeping the biggest one in my hand. The kids looked pissed and went off to whine to their parents. Tough. The posted rules said no water guns. That meant—surprise—no water guns.
Six o’clock finally rolled around, and Kendra and I hung the Swim At Your Own Risk sign on the lifeguard stand and clocked out. As we walked to the employee lot, I mentioned the get together at the Wreck later, and she perked up. “The Wreck? The guys there are always a blast! I’ll see you there later.” She waved as she headed off to her champagne-colored Camry.
When I got home, Rue was already there, her hair wrapped in a towel from the shower. She was moving between the master bedroom that she occupied and the third bedroom, which basically functioned as our overflow closet. Her bedroom was on the other side of the cottage from my room and the spare bedroom, which shared a bathroom. It was a good thing we didn’t have a lot of visitors, since my bathroom was the only other one in the house except for Rue’s private one in the master suite. I kept it super clean; everything was tucked into the drawers below the sink. I didn’t like the idea of my toothbrush and other toiletries being exposed to everyone’s grimy hands.
She had three hangers of clothes in each hand and was looking at them, frowning at the colorful array of shiny, glittery, and sequined dresses. It looked like Nordstrom’s had puked an after-five rainbow in her bedroom.
“Those look pretty dressy. I thought Theo said the Wreck was laid back,” I said, wrinkling my nose at her choices.
“It is.” She pouted. “That’s the problem. I can never figure out how to get that casual look. I like dressing up. It’s not my fault I have good taste.”
I walked by her into the third bedroom and grabbed a pair of snake print shorts and tossed them to her, causing her to drop the hangers she was holding. “Find a black top and some shoes, and be done with it. Quit over thinking.” She looked at the shorts and twisted her lips in indecision before walking over to the rack of tops that were hers, organized first by color, then by sleeve length, then by fabric. She left the other clothes lying on the floor in the hall. I picked them up for her and draped them over the futon by the window. I never put them away correctly, and it made her crazy. “Whatever. Figure it out,” I said. “I’m hopping in the shower.”
I washed my hair and took the time to use an exfoliating body scrub to really get all the layers of sunscreen off my skin. It smelled like watermelon. So did my shampoo. It was knockoff store brand stuff, but whatever. It worked. My legs still felt pretty smooth from this morning, so I didn’t bother to shave again. It was only two weeks into May, but I already had a nice tan going. I smiled at my reflection as I wrapped my hair in a towel like Rue and padded to my room, letting the steam escape into the hall.
Rue plopped onto my bed, wearing the snake print shorts and a black lace strapless bra, her dark brown and pink hair now dry and hanging straight and glossy down her back. I eyed her dubiously. “I doubt it’s that casual, Rue.”
“Shut up.” She made a face and threw a lobster-embroidered pillow at me. My room was decorated with a nautical feel, like most of the cottage. A pale blue quilt covered my bed, punched up with brightly colored throw pillows, and a battered sea chest acted as a bench at the foot. The headboard was made of iron and painted white like the wicker dresser and nightstand, and a pair of weathered aqua oars crisscrossed over the bed. The bottom half of the walls were covered by white bead board, but the top half were painted a deep navy. Burlap curtains filtered the light coming in through the windows. The room looked like it belonged in an issue of Coastal Living magazine. I loved it.
I slipped on a pair of cutoffs that hugged my butt like a second skin and threw on a white skinny tank and a sheer pink top over it. “There, was that so hard?” I asked her. She made a face at me and left the room again to finish getting dressed. Bending over at the waist, I unwrapped my towel and rubbed some of the water out of my wet hair. I scrunched some fancy brand name sea spray product I’d found on clearance into it and went back to the bathroom to at least partially blow dry it.
I was finishing with my makeup when Rue appeared again, fully dressed and carrying two glasses of her famous rum-spiked basil lemonade. A slouchy black top and black espadrilles tied around her ankles completed her outfit. She looked stunning, as always. Rue was delicate and petite with pale skin and miles of curves, and nothing ever looked bad on her. I’d hate her if she wasn’t my best friend. We sat on the couch and sipped our drinks, pre-gaming.
“So why haven’t we been to the Wreck yet?” I asked, crunching an ice cube.
“The ratio is off. It’s more like two-thirds locals, one-third transients. The other two bars are the opposite. Plus, I like to dress up, and you don’t really dress up to go to the Wreck.”
“Do you even own a pair of cutoffs?” I asked, amused.
She scrunched up her nose as she thought about it. “Yeah, I think. They’re designer, though.”
“Of course,” I mocked.
“Oh, shush. I like nice things. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
I took a long drink and didn’t answer her. There really wasn’t anything wrong with it, and she could afford it all without even blinking. Plus, I was often the recipient of her generosity and had access to her legendary shoe collection, so who was I to talk? We finished our drinks while she bounced some ideas off me for the popcorn company. It was kind of hard to make popcorn sound exciting, though, so I wasn’t much help.
I let Rue pick out a pair of braided leather sandals for me to wear, since she wrinkled her nose at the old rubber flip flops I had planned on wearing, and then we left. Rue had the top down on her Mercedes convertible, the weather was perfect, plus I had no idea where we were going, so she drove. I used the hair tie I always had around my wrist to tie my hair back until we got there, so it wouldn’t morph into a giant rat’s nest. Rue’s hair still looked perfect, of course. As I finger combed my own slightly damp strands, I convinced myself I was rocking the sexy, tousled look. It could be true.
As we got out of the car, I saw the Wreck for the first time. Rue had mentioned it’d originally been called The Shipwreck, but the Ship portion of the sign had fallen off and was leaning against the building. The clapboard wooden structure looked like it had seen better days, and the metal roof was rusted in spots. Cars filled the parking lot, though, and loud music was drifting out the open door.
When we got inside, I could see why Theo described the place as laid back. The tables were simple wooden picnic tables, and the scarred plank floor was littered with peanut shells. Red Coleman coolers full of unshelled peanuts sat on a bench next to plastic kids’ sand pails and shovels for customers to help themselves. The walls were made from reclaimed boards of different colors and sizes, but it was hard to tell from all the graffiti. Scribbles covered the walls and tables in a colorful tangle.
I spotted Theo across the room watching a game of pool and waved. He laughed and shook his head at one of the guys from the boardwalk the other day—Dylan, maybe?—and then headed toward us.
“You made it,” he said, giving me a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.
Rue and Theo greeted each other and caught up on the local gossip while I finished looking around. The bar was off to the side, and bits of paper fluttered above it. In the back there were a handful of pool tables, as well as an old foosball table and a new-looking air hockey game. A dance floor was to our left, and through a pair of open doors a deck overlooked the marsh behind it, lit by strings of light. This was more my kind of place than Anchor. It felt comfortable. Easy.
I leaned into Rue, bumping her hip. “I’m going to the bar. You want a shot or a mojito?” I knew I wanted a margarita.
Theo shook his head at us. “You have to try the grog.”
Rue half-groaned, half-laughed. “I’d forgotten about that. He’s right. We have to get the grog.”
I furrowed my brow. “Okaaay. I’ll go get us some . . . grog.”
Theo squeezed my side. “Just tell them you want a pitcher and to put it on Grady’s tab. He’s buying tonight.”
I felt Rue stiffen next to me. “Grady’s here?” She whipped her head around, looking for him, and ran her fingers through her hair. It was what she did when she was nervous.
“Yeah. Tonight’s all on him. Drinks here first, then we’re all headed back over to his place later for an after party. You remember how to get there, right, Rue?”
“Yeah,” she clipped out. “I remember.”
I gave her a quizzical look. I’d have to remember to ask her about Grady later. She was acting weird.
Theo pointed out which table he’d claimed, and I headed to the bar. As I got closer, I realized the fluttery paper things hanging above the bar were actually dollar bills thumbtacked to the beams above it. Dollar bills with graffiti. I was still trying to figure out what the writing on the bills was when I reached the bar, my head twisted up and to the side to stare at one dollar in particular. Block letters spelled out, Are you a lieutenant? Because you just made my private stand at attention. What? The one next to it asked in bold Sharpie, Do you work at Subway? Because you just gave me a footlong.
“They’re pick-up lines.”
I jerked my head down at the sound of the deep voice. It almost looked like the voice belonged to West. Good Lord, was I so sexually deprived that now I was conjuring him up as the bartender? I blinked. It was him. “What?” I asked, smoothing a wisp of hair from my face.
“The dollar bills. They’re pick-up lines. If a line works for a guy, he pins it up. Sort of as a favor to his fellow man.”
“Are any of your lines up there?” I asked without thinking, glancing up again like I’d be able to spot one.
He spread his arms wide, gripping the edge of the bar from the service side, and grinned, his eyes crinkling in the corners. He had several braided rope bracelets on his right wrist. They looked worn, the colors more muted than vibrant, like he never took them off. “Nope. Want to know why not?” His shoulders stretched the material of his t-shirt, and my eye was drawn upward to his tattoo peeking below the sleeve.
“Why not?” I parroted, distracted.
He crooked his finger at me and bent down like he was going to tell me a secret. I leaned over the bar halfway to meet him. Cupping his hand around my ear, his fingers brushed my hair, and he whispered, “I don’t need a line.”
Amused, I drew back and quirked an eyebrow, ignoring the way my scalp tingled where his fingers had just been. I made a big show of studying him, my eyes lingering on his chest and shoulders. “Because you’re just that good, right?”
“Maybe. I mean, you followed me here, didn’t you?”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I followed Theo here. Guess you’ll have to settle for second place.” He scowled. His obvious jealousy made me feel desirable, powerful. I couldn’t help wanting to needle him further. “There is something I need from you, though.” I licked my lips, leaning forward again. I made my voice low, sultry. “Something only you can give me.” His smile grew beneath half-closed eyes, and he crossed his arms over his chest, his biceps flexing. “I need a pitcher of grog. And put it on Grady’s tab,” I finished, keeping my tone even.
His smile faltered for a moment before the arrogant smirk slipped back in place. Turning his back to me without a word, he began scooping fruit from a cooler. I couldn’t help my eyes from tracing the line from his broad shoulders, down his tapering back, and over the curve of his ass. He was a prime example of what a man should look like, and he knew it too, damn him. The play of his muscles as he added ice and topped it with something red from the bar gun made me bite my lip with appreciation and yearn to reach out for him and stroke the length of his spine to see how he would react to my touch. He finished and turned back, breaking me out of my daze, and presented me with a full plastic pitcher of what looked like Kool-Aid with fruit salad floating in it.
I wrinkled my nose. “What is it?”
“Punch with Everclear-soaked fruit.”
My eyebrows rose.
“Be careful. It packs more of a wallop than you’d expect.”
“I’m sure I’ll be fine, but thanks anyway.”
I grabbed the pitcher and wove through the full bar to the table Theo had pointed out, being careful not to spill any of the bright red drink on myself. When I got back to the table, Kendra had arrived too, looking adorable in an ikat sundress.
Theo took the pitcher from me and poured us all drinks into the red plastic cups that were stacked on the tables. Rue took a big swallow and headed out to the deck, muttering something about needing some air. Minutes later, Kendra spotted a friend across the room and went off to say hi, promising to come back in a bit. Feeling abandoned, Theo and I stood shoulder-to-shoulder, and he filled me in on the local gossip, pointing out who was together, who hated who, and who to avoid at all costs.
“What about him?” I pointed at a guy with buzzed hair who was staring at Rue intently as he nursed a longneck beer.
Theo shot me a confused look. “That’s Grady. You haven’t met him yet?”
I lifted a shoulder. “Not officially, no. Rue got me the job, and I did the rest through the HR girl.”
“Ah. I’ll introduce you later.”
“That’d be good, since I did charge my drink to his tab.”
We people-watched for awhile, and I tried to pick out a girl for Theo to hit on, but everyone I picked he found something wrong with. He was like the male version of Rue. One girl laughed like a hyena, he said, a pretty redhead had ignored him in high school because he wasn’t cool enough, and the last one I motioned to before I gave up apparently had dog breath.
“Fine,” I huffed. “What about for me? Whose attention should I try to catch?”
“For short term or long term?”
“Short.”
Theo nodded toward the foosball table. “Boone, the blond standing over there. He always manages to stay friends with his flings, so he must be doing something right.”
I checked Boone out. He had a lanky frame, great looking lips, and messy hair that looked like it was styled by running his hands through it once or twice before giving up. Not a bad choice, not a bad choice at all. Theo nudged my side with his elbow. “He’ll be at Grady’s later too.” I nodded, but couldn’t help myself from looking over at West. He was flirting with a brunette whose boobs were barely contained by her top. Such a typical guy. A little flash of flesh, and they were goners. I tried to ignore the stab of disappointment that he was so susceptible.
Theo laughed. “C’mon.” He flung an arm around my shoulder and directed me toward the nearest pool table. “We’re up next.”
We watched Trevor and Dylan finish up their game. Trevor sank the eight ball, and Dylan claimed Trevor cheated the whole time. “Fuck that, dude, I won. Next round’s on you,” Trevor told him as they handed off their cue sticks and headed to the bar for shots, with Dylan continuing to give him shit as they walked away.
I knew the rules of pool, but I sucked. Theo took it easy on me and tried to give me pointers, but I was pretty much a lost cause. If I couldn’t find an easy ball to pocket, I tried to knock Theo’s balls out of position. Then I resorted to flat out trying to mess him up, bumping into his hip and knocking my cue against his as he positioned his shot. He joined in the corruption, tipping my elbow at the last second and bending close to blow in my ear. We were being goofy, and I was on my second cup of grog and feeling a little warm.
I tripped over my own feet and fell against the pool table, giggling when my elbow sent two balls rolling down the felt. Hearing Theo’s hoot of laughter behind me, I twisted and looked over my shoulder, and my eyes drifted past him to the bar again. This time, West was filling a glass with draft and looking in my direction. Was he checking out my ass as I bent over the pool table? His heated gaze traveled down my legs, then back up. I suppressed the urge to give a little wiggle. His eyes trapped mine, and I couldn’t look away. The crowd around us faded until all I could see was him.
A primal awareness of him settled deep within me and unfurled, sending tendrils of heat to lick at my core. His eyes darkened, turning more gray than blue, as if he knew what he was doing to me. Suddenly, he jerked his hand and mouthed a curse, looking down to see the beer overflowing and breaking the spell between us.
I pushed myself upright and tried to slow my pulse. Theo was talking behind me, and I forced myself to concentrate on his words. “Sadie, meet Boone. Boone, this is Sadie. She lifeguards over at the Edge with me.”
“Nice,” Boone drew out the word, making it seem twice as long. He raised his eyes from my rear to my eyes, making me wonder what exactly he was referring to. “You gonna be at Grady’s later?”
“Yeah.” His obvious interest flooded my cheeks with heat.
“Awesome.” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and looked around, as if trying to think of a way to prolong the conversation. “Wanna play foosball? I’ve got the table next.”
I wrinkled my nose and tilted my head side to side. “I’m more of an air hockey kind of girl.”
“I can work with that. I can definitely work with that.” He nodded. “I’ll be back for you in a few minutes.” He headed toward the air hockey table to make the arrangements.
Theo held up his first, and I bumped it. “Aw, yeah!” he whooped, proud of his wingman skills. I rolled my eyes at him and tried to stifle my mouth from kicking up at the corner. It probably wasn’t a good idea to encourage him.
Boone came back for me shortly after, and we decided on best two out of three. Theo came with me to cheer me on, and though I lost the first round pretty spectacularly, I squeaked out a narrow victory in game two. Kendra wandered back over for moral support when she saw what was happening. We were tied in game three and kept trading points back and forth, neither of us getting a lead on the other. Boone and I were flirting and talking shit to each other, Theo was making fun of me, and I could hardly stop laughing. We were posturing like it was life or death who won, and a small crowd had gathered around to watch. Wyatt moved in next to Boone and was trying to coach him, pointing out my weak spots. “The edges, man. She’s not guarding the edges.”
“Try me,” I shot back, bending at the knees and shifting my weight back and forth.
I was having a really great time for the first time in months, a perma-smile splitting my cheeks. It was the first night since the whole debacle with Asshole that I had felt like my old carefree self again. I looked around the table for Rue, wanting to share the moment with her, but I didn’t see her.
Boone took advantage of my distraction, and the puck slipped past me, putting him one up on me. Game point. I concentrated, and we went back and forth, the puck sliding furiously between us, ricocheting off the walls. Theo, Kendra, and Wyatt were egging us on. I’d almost scored twice, and I was flushed with excitement.
“You got this, Mullins!” Theo hollered from the corner.
Not to be outdone, Kendra chimed in. “Better watch my girl, Boone. She’s got skills.”
My mallet slipped a little in my hand, and I lost the rhythm. I tried to regain control, but I was off, chasing after the puck instead of connecting with it. A second later, I heard the hollow thunk as the puck slid into my goal. A shout went up on Boone’s side of the table, and a couple of the guys raised their arms in the air victoriously and chest bumped, spilling some beer on the floor. No one seemed to care. Boone worked his way around to my side and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, giving me a side hug. “You almost had me. A little more practice, and you might come out on top next time.”
“You just got lucky.”
“Not yet, but the night’s still young,” he grinned, pressing a kiss to the side of my head. I punched his arm, and he released me good-naturedly, saying he’d see me later at Grady’s, a hot promise in his eyes.
I pulled away from the crowd, still smiling, and passed the bar, moving toward the double doors to the deck so I could find Rue. Normally, she was the life of the party, laughing and joking alongside everyone else. It wasn’t like her to be so reclusive. I finally found her curled up on a bench in the corner of the deck, staring out over the marsh at a pelican perched on an abandoned dock piling. I sat down next to her, looking from her to the bird and back again. “He doesn’t seem like much of a conversationalist,” I pointed out.
She turned to me, her lips twisted and her eyes cloudy. She shook her head and focused on me.
“Hey,” I said softly, “Something wrong? We don’t have to go to Grady’s. We can just go home.”
“No! I’m fine. I’m fine,” she repeated with more force.
I raised my eyebrows. “You trying to convince me or yourself?”
She looked back at the bird and set her chin. “Maybe both. You ready to go? I saw Grady leave with Marissa awhile ago.”
“Who’s Marissa?”
Rue shrugged. “His flavor of the week, I guess. I don’t really know her. He stopped me to say hi and introduced us. She looks like an anime pixie, all big eyes and big boobs, with a tiny little body.”
I tried to contain my smile. “Jealous?”
Rue whipped her head back around to me. “Of her? Hell, no! Why would I be jealous? She’s just some chick passing through. No one will even remember her next week.” She waved her hand dismissively.
I sat there in silence, watching her with a mixture of concern and curiosity. Something about Grady seemed to get to Rue. And I’d never seen a guy get to Rue before. She had her jaw clenched and was avoiding eye contact. “Okay. I guess I’ll see you inside in a few minutes then.”
I was passing by the bar again to tell Theo we were heading out, when a hand grabbed my elbow. Turning, I found West looking down at me, brow furrowed. “Yes?” I asked.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You headed to Grady’s with everyone?”
“I’d planned on it. Although, I still haven’t actually met the guy.”
“Grady’s a good guy. Just . . .” He paused. “Just be careful there. Sometimes his parties get a little wild.”
I lifted the corner of my mouth, offering him a faint smile. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
He looked at me, his gaze dragging over my face and dropping down to my legs. “Then why do I have to keep rescuing you?”
Raising my eyebrows, I looked at him in disbelief. He lifted his in return, challenging me. Nodding, I licked my lips. “Tell you what, West. If I need rescuing later, you’ll be the first one I call.” I patted his arm and started to move past him.
“Is that your not-so-subtle way of asking for my number?”
I paused, straightened my shoulders, then continued on without looking back.
His deep laughter followed me, taunting me.