Fate Interrupted 3 (8 page)

The bearded man
passed Captain Taylor a small duffel bag with Silk printed across it in white
stenciling.

Dean cringed. He
hadn’t been to Silk since before Evy came along, and his promise to her was now
as broken as his buzz.

“You’ll have
em
back at the dock by two?” the man asked. “They have to
dance the early shift tomorrow.”

Captain Taylor
nodded with a wink. “Tree at
ta
latest!”

“We’ll get
em
back safe and sound,” Shaun said, wrapping an arm around
the petite blond. “Thanks,
Mikey
!
You
da
man!”

Jon tossed the
rope back. “You guys are open on Sundays?”

“Seven days a
week,”
Mikey
replied, gently pulling away.

“Bye
Mikey
!” the girls sang out in unison. They laughed at the
similarity of their high-pitched tones.

“Shaun you better
take good care of them,”
Mikey
hollered over the low
rumble of his beefy engine.

“Don’t I always,
big
baller
? You know how I roll.”

“I also know
where you live.”

Shaun laughed.
“Thanks again,
Mikey
. Only you can come through in
the clutch.”

 
Mikey
waved to the
girls, telling them to call if they needed anything. Little did he know, that
was impossible this far out. He jammed the throttle forward and sped off toward
McKinley Marina.

“Hi, I’m Shaun.
I don’t think we’ve met yet.”

“Sky,” the blond
replied, shaking his hand. “I’m new.”

“Has anyone ever
told you, you look just like a white Halle Barry?” His eyes crawled down to the
Halle Berry handfuls tucked beneath a
sunburnt
orange
bikini top.

“Not until now,”
she softly replied, running a finger down his chest. “But you can call me
Storm
if ya want.”

Jon swallowed
thickly, studying Kat. “And you look just like a young Sofia
Vergara
.”

She glanced up at
Dean before shedding a mischievous grin. “Thank you, honey.”

“This is so messed
up,” Ben whispered to Dean. “I swear to God I had no idea about any of this.”

Dean honed his pointed
gaze, steam nearly visible from his ears.

“Brooke would
bust my balls and you know it.”

“What the hell
is this, Shaun?” Dean yelled.

“This is a
party,
baller
! Let’s live it up a little.”

“This is bullshit,”
Dean grumbled, watching Jon pass the girls cans of beer.

Shaun punched a
button on the boat’s dash, bringing Jay-Z to life, and hoisted his beer can
into the air. “Gentlemen, start your boners!”

The girls squealed
with drunken laughter and started
twerking
against
anything that moved while Dean hit Shaun with a look that could kill.

Chapter
Eleven

Evy stared at
her empty glass, replaying the last fifteen minutes in her head, afraid to look
up. Afraid Megan would be standing there when she did, waiting to dig in even
deeper. If she could, Evy would teleport herself back to Dean’s condo with the
blink of her eyes. She tried it. But nothing happened. Her glass was still
empty, the bar still too loud. She inhaled a sour tasting breath and held it,
finally daring to look up. Relief washed over her and she released the pent-up
breath. Megan was still gone.

“I can’t believe
you threw your drink in that bitch’s face,” Tasha said, wide-eyed and bushytailed.
“That was incredible!”

“I can’t believe
Dean slept with her,” Evy replied dully.

“If his
standards are
that
low, he must’ve…”
Tasha trailed off a little too late. She saw the hurt flicker across Evy’s face,
and began twisting her fingers. “I’m sorry, Evy, I didn’t…”

“It’s okay.” Evy’s
shoulders slumped as she released another tight breath. “Maybe we should just
go home.”

“What?” Brooke’s
face wrinkled. “We just ordered new drinks.”

Tasha set a hand
on Evy’s. “Don’t let that crazy bitch ruin your night, Evy.”

“Too
late.”

“Come on,
Ev
,” Brooke pleaded. “That’s exactly what she wants. Don’t
give that to her. You’re stronger than that.”

“No matter what
I do, I’ll never completely get rid of her.”

Brooke snorted.
“Girl’s a lot like crabs.”

“You’re rid of
her,” Tasha affirmed. “You’re getting married and she’s not.”

“It’s not just
Megan. Last week, we ran into some blond named Lisa who I know Dean had sex
with.”

“Where?”
Brooke asked.

Evy grunted.
“Probably on her kitchen table.”

“No, where’d you
run into her at?”

“The
movie theater.
Girl barely noticed I was even there. Kept going on and on about how they needed
to
catch up
.”

Brooke drummed
her red nails against the table, her eyes scanning the place for the same thing
Evy’s were. “That’s not awkward.”

“Exactly.”

Tasha nodded.
“And the more awkward it is - the
more freaky
the sex
was.”

Evy shivered at
the thought. “Oh, and it doesn’t stop there. The week before, we were having
dinner at Braise and he knew the waitress!”

“Fucking
waitresses!”
Tasha said, pounding the table with her fist. “They will screw anything bipedal.”

Brooke pursed
her lips. “Hey, sometimes waitresses need to be held, too.”

“Not by my man!”
Tasha shook her head in disgust. “That’s the problem, waitresses have no moral
compass. It’s like they’re on a permanent vacation or something.”

Evy sighed. “I
wonder what they’re doing right now.”

Tasha screwed
her face up.
“The waitresses?
Who cares?”

“Not the
waitresses, the guys.”

Tasha stared
dully at Evy.
“Fishing.
Remember?”

“What if…” Evy
said, pinching her eyes together. “What if they really didn’t go fishing?”

Brooke frowned.
“Why do you say that? Did you find something on Dean’s
Facebook
page?”

“What? No.”

“Well, I know
how you like to troll your boyfriends’
Facebook
pages.”

“I do not!” Evy
said sharply, sitting up straighter.

Brooke cocked
her head to the side. “How quickly you forget about Richie’s little apology
tour on
Facebook
.”

“He left that
open; I wasn’t snooping.”

Tasha leaned
closer to the candle. “Did you find strip club matches in Dean’s car or
something?”

“No, I just
don’t trust Shaun and Jon. I mean, what if we found out they went to some
skanky strip bar instead?”

Brooke lifted a
shoulder to her ear. “Then Ben would be horny as an Arizona cactus when he got
home and we’d have some hot baby making sex.”

Tasha’s lips
pulled down in a reverse smile.
“
Arizona cactus
?”

Evy leaned back
as the waitress dropped off their drinks, her thoughts spinning out of control.
She knew that was exactly what Megan wanted because girls like Megan lived by a
strict motto:
If I’m not getting any, you
aren’t getting any
. Evy shook her head, blurring her new drink into a red
blob as the waitress grabbed their empties and went back to the bar.

Tasha sensed a
need to change the subject. “So…where should we go after this?”

Brooke watched
her sister. “Evy?”

Evy continued
spacing out on her drink, a knot in her stomach.

“
Ev
!”
Brooke yelled, stirring her from her thoughts.

She pushed the glass
away. “I think we should call it a night.”

A deadpanned
expression slid over Brooke’s face. “You’re serious?”

“I’m tired and
I’m embarrassed.”

“You’re just
going to go back to Dean’s place and wait for him like a little lap dog. Live
it up a little, goldilocks!”

“Yeah, come on,
Evy,” Tasha said, lifting her glass into the air. “This is your night and
nothing is going to stop it from being amazing.”

“Here’s to Evy!”

Evy’s gaze
bounced between them, uncertainty brimming in her eyes. She knew she would end
up seeing Megan everywhere they went tonight, whether it was her or not. A
longwinded sigh rolled from her lips and she raised her drink to join theirs.
“Fine.”

They held their
glasses over the candle.

“Stop worrying
about everything and just have some fun already.
Everything
is fine.”

Evy smiled at
her sister, suddenly feeling silly for letting doubt creep into her bones like
a cold black wind. Dean was nothing like Richie and she knew it. “You’re
right.” She
clinked
her glass against theirs and
tipped it back, draining half of it in two large gulps. “Let’s at least go
somewhere else. I can still smell her cheap perfume.”

Chapter
Twelve

Ben stared
bleakly at Jon, watching Sky spray whip cream onto his junk before licking it
off. “I feel so gay watching this,” he whispered.

“You?”
Shaun laughed.
“I’m hard as a rock!”

Dean stepped in
Shaun’s face, blocking his view. “This is fucking bullshit! You knew this is
exactly what I didn’t want.”

Shaun stumbled
backwards, spreading his arms. “I didn’t know you meant just looking.”

Dean thumbed
behind him. “Does that look like
just
looking
?”

Shaun craned his
neck around him to see Sky’s head rising and falling in Jon’s lap while Kat
twerked
against the captain.

“This was
supposed to be
my
night, not yours,
Shaun!”

Shaun’s eyes
flicked back to Dean. “It is your night, man. We just wanted to give you one to
remember.”

“Oh, I’m going
to remember it all right. Last time it was Clay Crawford trying to drive us
apart and now it’s you!”

“Relax, no one
will ever find out,” Shaun lowered his voice. “We’ll hit the marina, drop the
girls off with
Mikey
and hop in the limo. I promise.
No pictures, no loose lips, nada.”

Dean’s face
hardened, a vein pulsating in his neck.

“All right, all
right,” Shaun said, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, Dean. You’re
right; I fucked up.”

“Fix it.”

“How?”

“Call your buddy
back here and get them the hell off this boat.”

Creases
slithered through Shaun’s forehead. “We already paid him.”

Dean balled his
hands into fists, causing his biceps to stretch his short sleeves.

Shaun dug his
cell phone from his jeans. “I’m on it.”

Dean let out a
heavy breath that deflated his chest.
“Un-fucking-believable.”

Kat sashayed
over with a can of whip cream in her hand and a sinister smile on her red lips.
“You’re next, sexy.”

Dean pushed her
hand away. “I’m good.”

“Aw come on,
don’t get shy on me now.” She held the can up. “It’s all-inclusive.”

Dean returned
his glare to Shaun just as a loud bang rocked the boat. Kat stumbled into Dean
as the boat tipped sharply to the left. Her finger hit the can’s trigger,
spraying Dean with a stream of whip cream from his crotch to his face.

Dean staggered
back and caught his balance. He stared down at the white, sticky mess and
looked back up, repulsion warping his face. “What the fuck!”

The lights flickered
and then went out.

The music died with
them.

Chapter
Thirteen

Brooke crossed
her legs and swirled her
cosmo
in its glass. Light
jazz spilled over them from a small three-piece tucked into a darkened corner.
“Feel better?”

Evy nodded, surveying
the smaller bar. “I felt like she was going to come waltzing back into that
place any minute.”

“If she had I
was going to punch her right in the boob.”

Tasha winced.
“That would hurt so
bad
. I got hit in the boob with a
volleyball last summer at The Sands and almost peed myself.”

Evy took a slow
drink of her cabernet, unable to stop watching people come and go through the
front door.

Brooke traded an
uneasy look with Tasha and changed the subject. “I can’t believe my big sister
is finally getting married!”

Evy watched the
bar’s dim lights glimmer off her engagement ring. “I finally found my Mr.
Right.”

“That’s an old
wives’ tale,” Tasha said bluntly, tipping back a bottle of Miller
Lite
.

Evy frowned.
“What is?”

“Finding
Mr. Right
.”

Brooke laughed.
“You won’t be saying that when you run into him.”

Tasha lowered
her voice. “I don’t mean to be a beacon of gloom and doom on your bachelorette
party but there is no
happily-ever-after
.
There is no
Mr. Right
. There’s only a
Mr. Right now and his time is running out faster than oversized sunglasses.”

“Hey!” Evy said,
leaning back like she
had just been slapped
. “I still
wear those.”

“You are going
to love being married, Evy.” A dreamy smile floated on Brooke’s red lips. “It’s
like a never ending sleepover with your best friend.” She stopped. “But with
hot sex.”

Tasha sipped her
beer. “What do you guys miss the most about being single? I think I would miss
the thrill of the hunt the most. There’s nothing like locking eyes with some hot
guy across the room before he has a chance to open his mouth and ruin it.”

Brooke laughed
and swirled her drink some more, watching the pinkish red liquid inside. “I
miss having full control of the remote, especially during football season.”

Evy chuckled,
the alcohol beginning to take the edge off. “We’ll have two flat screens, but I
don’t want to end up one of those couples always watching TV in different
rooms.”

“When
I get married that will never happen.”
Tasha adjusted the lavender top
showing off her toned arms.
“
If
I ever get married.”

“You will…if
that’s what you want.” Evy sipped her wine and swallowed with a thoughtful
sigh. “Sooner or later, fate has a way of finding us all.”

Brooke nodded in
agreement. “I also miss not having to get up and leave the room every time I
pass gas.”

Evy laughed
harder.

“You’re still
doing that after how many years of marriage now?” Tasha asked, bewilderment
written on her face. “This is why I’m never getting married.”

Brooke laughed
sharply. “You’re never getting married because you’re dating the wrong guys,
Tash
. You need to broaden your horizons.”

Evy snorted.
“I’m not sure
broaden
is the right
word.”

“Do you want to
end up a spinster?”

Tasha giggled a
little. “God, Brooke, you act like I’m seventy.” She held up a hand. “Trust me,
I’m in no hurry.”

“That’s the
attitude,
Tash
,” Evy interjected. “Take your time
finding the right one and never settle for less.”

Tasha pressed
her lips together, examining Evy’s ring. “When did you know Dean was
the one
?”

Evy crossed her
legs and swung her high heel back and forth through the air like a pendulum. “I
knew Dean was the one the first time we kissed. It was like...the Fourth of
July.”

“
Aww
,” Tasha cooed. “That’s so cheesy.”

“I so thought he
was going to play you.”

Tasha turned to
Brooke. “Why do you say that?”

“Because
the boy was a playa!
I was sure he would move on to the next bimbo after
he banged you on the kitchen table at work.”

Evy’s eyelids
peeled back. “Hey!”

Tasha inhaled a
quick breath and covered her mouth. “Oh my God, I just ate a bear claw on that
table this morning!”

Brooke and Evy
giggled wildly and then grew quiet, catching their breath as the world went on
around them. People came and went. A girl with long blond hair jump-started
Evy’s heart but it was only another false alarm.

“How do you know
that he won’t…
”

Evy’s eyes
darted over to Tasha. “How do I know that he won’t what? Go back to his old ways?”
She flashed a pretty smile. “I just do.”

Tasha placed a
soft hand on Evy’s. “I know he won’t, sexy. Some guys just
aren’t
meant
to be with one woman and some are. I think Dean definitely falls
into the latter category.”

“He better,”
Brooke muttered, knocking her drink back.

“He does.” Evy
met their hushed gazes but couldn’t hold onto them for very long. She looked
across the bar to a small jukebox attached to the wall and let her eyes stray
from focus. “And I’m sure he’s thinking the same thing right now.”