On the Rocks

Page 19

  When Casey takes her seat, we all grab a glass and hold it up for a toast. We always do that every time we have a fresh drink, feeling the need to praise something good in our lives.

  “It’s Alyssa’s turn,” I point out.

  Smiling, Alyssa says, “To Guiseppe… who is the wizened old, Italian man that handpicked the olives that rest inside of our drinks right now. Thank you, dear friend, for making this drink fantastic. ”

  “Here, here,” Casey and I shout out, and then knock our glasses against one another while laughing.

  “We’re starting to run out of things to toast to,” I say as I set my glass down.

  “Speak for yourself,” Alyssa admonishes. “I think Guiseppe was completely deserving of that toast. ”

  “So, did Brody talk to you about doing his community service at The Haven?” Casey asks Alyssa. “Hunter had mentioned it to him. ”

  Alyssa’s mouth sets in a firm line. “I stopped by here late last week to grab a sandwich for dinner and asked him about it. He was noncommittal. ”

  Something about Alyssa’s tone doesn’t sound quite right, and she looks angry. This is something to behold, because it takes a lot to get Alyssa angry. She has the patience of a saint and the disposition of a sweet, fuzzy Golden Retriever.

  Casey notices it too and prods her. “You’re holding something back. What happened?”

  Alyssa shrugs, bringing a smile to her face to hide her discomfort. “It was nothing. ”

  “Alyssa,” Casey warns, implying she better cough up the truth or Casey was apt to beat it out of her. Well, maybe hold her down and tickle her, but you didn’t want to get on Casey’s bad side.

  “It’s fine. He was just a little… um… rude when I approached him about it. ”

  Brody rude? That surprises me. While he’s quiet and withdrawn, and not full of the warm and fuzzies, he’s never been rude. Not even prison could do that to him, I’m sure.

  “How was he rude?” Casey asks, not disbelieving but interested in hearing more about her brother… the man she was trying to get to know again.

  “Maybe it was just my imagination, or maybe I’m too sensitive. But he sort of barked at me that he wasn’t interested. ”

  “Oh, hell no,” Casey exclaims. “He’s not getting away with that shit, especially when you were just trying to help him. I’ll talk to him—”

  Alyssa sticks her arm out and touches Casey’s arm. “No, don’t. If anyone has a right to be that way, it’s Brody. Just leave him be. I’m sure he was having a bad day or something. ”

  “Who’s having a bad day?” Hunter asks as he sits down.

  And just like that, my head starts swimming… because Hunter is sitting at our table. His gaze slides over me briefly before landing on Alyssa, but in just that microsecond, a world of meaning was conveyed. I saw it, but I hope no one else did.

  He said, I want to kiss you right now, Gabs, and then I want to take you home and f**k you into tomorrow.

  This makes me yearn deeply because even though Hunter wants me to still stay over at night with him, I’m thinking I should go home to my apartment to give him and John some time to catch up with each other.

  “Nothing,” Alyssa says quickly, shooting a firm look to Casey to keep her mouth shut. Casey returns a smirk to her but remains silent.

  Just then, Hunter’s gaze snags onto something behind Alyssa. At first, his face breaks out into a wide smile, then just as quickly, it dims, and his mouth sets into a flat line. I turn slightly to see what Hunter is looking at and notice a man and woman who just walked into the bar. The guy has dark hair that he wears all one length just down to his jawline, and he’s dressed casually in shorts and a t-shirt. The woman also has dark hair, which is long and loose. She’s wearing a print maxi-dress with gold sandals peeking out. They are a beautiful couple that I assume are tourists, although that doesn’t explain Hunter’s reaction to them.

  The man and woman spy Hunter at our table and start walking toward us. Hunter stands up and steps a few feet away from the table to greet them.

  “I’ll be damned,” Casey says in wonder.

  My eyes flick to her. “What?”

  “That’s John and Sasha Hammer. I didn’t realize Sasha was coming. ”

  “Is that John’s wife?” I ask.

  Shaking her head, Casey says, “No, it’s his sister… and Hunter’s ex-girlfriend. ”

  Ex-girlfriend? What?

  Turning around, I watch as Hunter and John clasp hands and pull each other in for a half-hug, half-back slap, both of them grinning broadly. When they pull away, Hunter turns to Sasha and I watch with my breath stuck in my lungs. As if in slow motion, Sasha moves in toward Hunter, seemingly to give him a hug… which okay, nothing wrong with that.

  Hunter’s face is impassive, and I’m dying to know what feelings he has going through him right at this very moment. Just as they are getting ready to embrace, Sasha wraps her arms around Hunter’s neck, plasters her body to his, and kisses him. And not a friendly kiss on the cheek, or even a quick peck on the lips. Her mouth opens up over his, and I even see her tongue slide into his mouth. Hunter’s hands come to her shoulders, and she angles her head in for a deeper kiss.

  I wish I could adequately describe the flood of rage that overwhelms me at this very moment. Rage toward Sasha for kissing Hunter, and rage toward Hunter for kissing her back. And rage against myself for ever even hoping that I could have something with Hunter.

  A hazy film of red covers my eyes, and I stand up so abruptly from the table that my thighs hit the edge and cause my drink to topple. Luckily, it flies in the opposite direction of me… straight at Casey for that matter, who also jumps up from the table to avoid having a lap full of Bloody Mary while she yells, “Fuck. ”

  I turn to grab my purse, and I can see from the corner of my eye that Hunter and Sasha have broken apart. As I turn toward him, he’s watching me with wary eyes, while Sasha’s seem smug and defiant.

  Lacing my voice with as much venom as I can, I snarl at him, “You’re an ass**le. ”

  Turning toward the front of the bar, I stalk across the floor, slinging my purse over my shoulder. I hear Casey call my name, but I don’t stop. Brody shoots me a worried glance as I walk by, and then I’m outside in the cool, spring night air.

  I stop just outside of the door and take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I’m seething… beyond furious, and there’s no telling what kind of havoc I left back in there with my outburst.

  Turning my head left and right, I realize I don’t even have a ride. Casey drove tonight, and we were planning to cab it home. No worries… I take off toward the highway, intent on walking home. It’s only a few miles.

  “Gabby, wait,” I hear Hunter call out.

  I ignore him and quicken my pace. The sound of his shoes crunching through the gravel start getting louder and before I can even reach the end of the parking lot, he’s grabbing my elbow.

  Tearing away from his grasp, I snarl, “Get the f**k off me. ”

  He just grabs ahold of me again, this time around the waist, lifting me up and turning me back toward Last Call. I kick my legs out and try to pry his arms away, but he’s too strong and sure-footed.

  “Let me go, Hunter,” I cry out in frustration.

  “Not until you settle down and talk to me. ”

  “There’s nothing to talk about. You’re an ass**le. ” I start really struggling to get out of his bear hug, and he has to set me down and re-tighten his hold. He does this by quickly releasing and re-wrapping his arms around my chest, pinning my arms down at my side.

  “Will you just listen?” he shouts when I start to struggle again. “You’re acting like a brat. ”

  That just infuriates me more, giving me the strength to almost bust out of his grip. He surprises me then by letting go but, before I can think to flee, he spins me around and crushes me to him, his mouth coming down hard on mine. For a split second, I kiss him back but th
en my anger returns. I rip away from him and wipe my mouth, not in a show to dig at him, but because I’m truly disgusted.

  “How dare you kiss me after you just kissed another woman?” I say as I stare at him wildly.

  “I didn’t f**king kiss her,” he snarls back at me. “She kissed me, and if you’d waited just a second longer before you jumped up from the table, you would have seen me push her away. ”

  “Whatever,” I snap at him. “I know what I saw. ”

  “No, you don’t,” he says tiredly. “You clearly don’t. You’re wrong, Gabby. ”

  “What the hell is going on?” I hear Casey from behind me, and I turn to see her furiously stalking across the parking lot toward us. She comes to a stand before us, her arms crossed defensively over her chest. All of my anger toward Hunter gets pushed to the back of my mind, because now I’m dealing with an enraged Casey Markham.

  She looks back and forth between the two of us, waiting for an answer. Hunter sort of turns away and laces his fingers together on top of his head, holding his face up to the sky as if he’s praying for patience and serenity.

  “I repeat—what is going on?” she asks again, this time with an underlying menace in her voice that makes me cringe. Over her shoulder, I spy Brody walking out of the bar, but he doesn’t approach us. Rather, he just stands there, his hands in his pockets, watching all of us carefully.

  “Gabby,” Casey barks. “Why did you call Hunter an ass**le in there?”

  Hunter turns toward me, curious as to what I’ll say. My gaze falters and falls to the ground, where I kick at the loose pebbles in the parking lot. I can’t lie to her… but apparently, I can’t look her in the eye either. “Um… Hunter and I have been seeing each other, and I was mad when he kissed that woman. ”

  “I did not kiss her,” Hunter grits out, and my head snaps up to his.

  “Sure looked like it to me,” I throw back at him.

  “Whatever,” he says in resignation.

  “You two have been seeing each other?” Casey asks quietly. “For how long?”

  “A couple of weeks,” Hunter says.

  “And you kept it secret… from me?” The hurt is evident in her voice, and I feel lower than I’ve ever felt in my life. Suddenly, the fact that Hunter was kissing—or had been kissed—a few moments ago seems irrelevant.

  “Casey,” I say as I take a step toward her with apology in my voice. “I was going to tell you. I just—”

  “Don’t,” she snaps at me, holding up her hand. “There’s nothing you could say to justify it. You were my best friend…”

  Were? As in past tense?

  “Casey, I’m sorry,” I say urgently.

  “Just stop,” she hisses. “You’re selfish, Gabby… selfish and disloyal, sneaking around… sinking your claws into my brother. You’re despicable. ”

  “Now just a minute,” Hunter growls at Casey, stepping up to my side. “I went after Gabby, not the other way around. ”

  Casey turns her eyes toward Hunter, blazing bright blue with anger. “Nice to know you were complicit in this, Hunter. You two deserve each other then. Just stay the hell away from me. ”

  Spinning away from us, Casey stomps back to the bar, pushing past Brody, who stands silently, watching it all. Tears well up in my eyes, and I feel so unbelievably helpless.

  It appears I’ve lost my best friend, all because I was too afraid to tell her the truth. And Hunter… well, I’ve probably lost him too, seeing as how I might have misconstrued the “kiss” situation.

  Before the first teardrop falls though, Hunter is pulling me into his arms and tucking my head against his chest. “It’ll be okay, Gabs. She’s just angry, but she’ll come around. She didn’t mean those things. ”