Fireworks: A Holiday Bad Boy Romance (4 page)

"I think so. Maybe we'll just get
both. You know how Cindy gets about pairing up drinks with food." She
rolled her eyes playfully and walked beside me. "So, are you open to
finding a cute boy to snuggle up with?"

"I don't know yet. Are there a lot of
single cute boys that you've seen?" I glanced over at her. Everyone knew
my story and that I'd been a loner for a few months on purpose.

"Oh, yeah. We've met quite a few
people since getting here. I'm saving myself for that chocolate man that Cindy
mentioned." She snorted. "I seriously almost wrecked the damn boat
over him."

"Was he that hot?" I lifted my
eyebrow and turned down the liquor aisle.

"Let's just say that I had to check
to make sure my panties hadn't melted off." She shrugged and lifted her
hand to grab a bottle too high for me to reach. I wasn't short by most
standards, but up next to Dedra's six foot two frame, I felt like a small fry.

"Wow. Maybe I need to meet this
guy." I knelt and picked out a bottle of white wine that looked good.
"Dearington Farms. Have you heard of this brand?"

A masculine voice behind us startled me.
"It's local. The farm is just down the road, though I have no clue how
they grow grapes. It's hot as hell here." I turned to find a lanky guy
with dark brown hair and a warm smile. "I'm Clint. My folks own the big
house as you first pull into town. We're having a huge party tomorrow night to
welcome all the vacationers. The property off the back of the house is huge.
You guys are invited."

He handed me a slip of paper and smiled
before walking off, not really waiting for a response.

"Cool." I turned back to Dedra
and shrugged. "Looks like we're off to a good start. We've been invited to
the in-crowd."

She rolled her eyes and took the paper
from me. "Everyone is invited, but it's still a party."

Chapter 4

Brody

"Are we going dancing tonight?"
I licked at my fingers as we sat out on the patio, wrapping up lunch. There was
nothing better than a sausage fold-over slathered in mustard.

"I'm down with whatever, but remember
tomorrow is that party up at Clint's place." Derek stretched out on a lawn
chair beside the table. "There should be a huge crowd, so maybe you'll
find one or two untapped women."

I chuckled and lifted my eyebrow at him.
"I'm not looking for a virgin. You know that. I like my women capable and
aware of what they want."

"I just meant untapped by you."
He winked at me before letting his head drop back.

"I've been here three weeks. That
means I might have slept with…”

"Twenty to thirty girls." Daniel
gave me a look as he adjusted his glasses.

"Twenty to thirty?" Clay laughed
and stood up. "He's slowing down, then. I was thinking twenty days times
two to three girls a day..."

"Fuck you guys." I picked up my
beer and drained it. "You could be cool like me. Just stop being so
selective."

"Are you kidding me?" Clay
started to pick up plates. "I've not seen you with a woman who wouldn't be
perfect for playboy. None of the girls you're picking up are you
just settling
. You're an ass for
insinuating it."

"I'm gonna be labeled an ass for
something, might as well be this." I finished my beer and burped as I got
up. "I'm taking the boat out. Anyone wanna go?"

"I'm going to sleep. I got a date tonight
with that pretty number you scared with your itsy bitsy dick earlier." Derek
laughed and pulled his cowboy hat over his face.

"Keep it up, big boy." I walked
to the house, leaving my trash on the table. Clay cleaned like a little old
lady. He'd get it for me.

"I'll go if you promise not to repay
me for earlier." Daniel followed me into the house, carrying his plate and
a few beer bottles.

"Why did you mention it again?"
Clay asked. "He wouldn't have remembered if you'd have kept your trap
shut."

"You think that, and then we get out
there and he dumps my ass on Deker's Island with no way back." Daniel opened
the fridge and pulled out a six pack, lifting it up to me with a smile. "I
come with a peace offering?"

"Yeah, that'll do." I took the
beers and looked back at Clay, who was wiping down cabinets. "You coming,
bitch?"

"Nope. Go have fun. I'm with Derek.
I'm taking a nap." He yawned loudly and moved past us. "We're on our
own for dinner. There's nothing left here to cook."

"We'll get groceries tomorrow."
I walked back to the front, pausing to slip on my sandals. "I promise not
to maroon you on the island, Dan. Come on, buddy. I'll teach you a few things
about how to make a girl come."

"Oh, Lord." Clay's comment
caused my lip to lift in a smirk. Daniel was our resident virgin, and where I
knew he was good with my teasing, I tried not to do it too much. He was good
guy—the best.

"Sounds riveting." Daniel
adjusted his glasses and walked out of the house in front of me.

Derek was snoring softly as we walked by,
and I had to force myself not to stop and pour a beer on his chest or something
dickish. We were all teenage boys in our heads, and yet the time for growing up
was coming far too fast.

"I wanna drive the boat." Daniel
pulled the keys from his pocket and dangled them in front of me as we walked
across the street. We paused for a long line of people riding bikes, and I
glanced over at him, shrugging.

"Yeah, sure. I don't care. Let's go
out to the island for a little while. It's a beautiful day. I want to get some
sun." I pulled my t-shirt over my head and jogged down the dock toward the
boat. I needed to find the gym on the property and soon. My six pack was
getting less and less visible, and the unfortunate fact was that women almost
expected one on a guy like me.

"And, we're not going out there so
you can leave me, right?" He got into the boat behind me and moved to the
driver's seat.

"Dude, I just play an ass on
TV." I dropped down on the bench near the back of the boat and stretched
out. "You know I'm just teasing you about girls and shit."

"I know. I'll find one this summer
and hopefully take her to bed. I just want it to be the right one, you
know?" He looked back at me as I pulled my sunglasses onto my face.

"I guess. It's all good, though.
We're all different. You respect women, and I've had enough of them not respect
me to be over the idea of a fairytale ending." I shrugged and crossed my
arms over my chest as he pulled out onto the lake.

"A fairytale ending? Have you really
ever considered something like that?" He snorted and hit the gas.

The wind felt good in my hair, and the
steady rocking of the boat left me surrounded with a sense of peace that I
honestly couldn't find anywhere else in the world.

"I used to think I would find a good
girl who would take care of me." I moved closer, yelling above the roar of
the wind and waves. "I guess I just gave up."

"And now, you only sleep with them
once and that's it? No second chances, no additional glances?"

"That's right." I let my head
drop back as I watched the clouds race across the sky.

"And, if you found a girl that made
you want to have a second date?" He kicked at my shin softly.

"I don't know." I sat up and
turned to watch the island grow larger and larger. "I've not met her yet,
and I'm hoping I don't until I'm settled into my career and bored with
life."

"Bored with life?" Daniel slowed
the boat a little as we approached the other boats tied up around the island.

"Yeah." I grabbed the anchor and
stood up. "You know...you get a job and start contributing to society.
Start dating a little here and there, and after a while, you find yourself in a
pattern. A rut. Bored as fuck."

"That's depressing." He moved
over to grab the other anchor. "It doesn't have to work like that, you
know?"

"Very true." I dropped the
anchor and moved back, kicking off my sandals and adjusting my bathing suit.
"We could all be doctors like you. That sounds riveting."

"I'm excited about it. Maybe that's
why I'm not in a hurry to find a woman." He slathered a thick layer of
sunscreen on his arms and legs as I watched him.

"You'll be married to your career.
It's what will turn you on, make you come alive. Not me, though; I'm going to
do my job and take my ass home. I want life to be centered on a family, on a
woman. The right woman." I stretched, being more open than I had in
forever. My friends were excited about their next steps after graduation, but I
wasn't in the slightest.

No matter how much I balked at romance, I
wanted it with a desperation that left me in another girl's bed every night.
The part that no one seemed to understand was that they used me as much as I
used them.

"You not taking your shirt off?"
I chuckled and glanced back at him. "You're not a ginger, dude."

"I burn easily, and I want to be
ready for tomorrow night. I have a strange feeling that my turn is
coming." He shrugged and jumped off the side of the boat, landing in the
water with a splash.

"You think Cinderella's coming to the
ball?" I stepped up on the edge of the boat and jumped, tucking my legs
and doing a cannon ball.

He splashed me as I came up from the cool
water. "Ass. I swear you're a bully with a heart."

I laughed. "That's exactly what I am.
Don't forget my overly huge dick, too. That's an asset we need to stay
cognizant of."

"I'm not responding to that." He
disappeared under the water, leaving me to laugh at how fun it was to fuck with
him.

We walked onto the man-made beach front a
few minutes later and spread out on a small strip of sand amongst a huge group
of people.

Daniel dropped down beside me and rubbed
at his eyes. "I don't have my contacts in, so stay close."

"You can't see anything?" I
glanced over at him as I laid back, enjoying the warm sand beneath me.

"Nope." He laid back beside me
and yawned. "We stayed up too late last night."

"You're a pussy." I moved my
hands to cradle my head. "And, you suck at dominoes."

"Do you have anything nice to
say?" He turned his head toward me as he squinted.

"You have nice cheekbones?" I
laughed as he shook his head.

"Fuck you, Brody." He turned to
look back toward the sky. "I have to admit that I'm a little jealous about
how easily women flock to you."

"It's confidence. Just pretend like
you have it and they'll flock to you, too. Girls are weird like that." I
shrugged and turned to my left, smiling at the dark-skinned girl who was on her
stomach, her eyes all for me. "Isn't that true?" I asked her.

"Sure is." She smiled and turned
to look the other way.

"So, what if you're not at all
confident? I mean, if we're talking about school or intelligence, I got it
down, but anything else? Especially if we're talking about confidence in the
bedroom. I'm completely at a loss there." Daniel let out a long sigh.
"It's fucking terrifying."

"Yeah, but after you do it once or a
hundred times, it gets easier." I turned my attention to him. I couldn't
remember having anything but confidence in the bedroom, but then again, I'd
started sleeping around right before high school started. It had been far too
many years to think back to the beginning of it all.

"I guess." He sighed again.
"I need to just go for it. I'm going to work on it tomorrow night."

"On your confidence or getting laid?”
I sat up and rolled my shoulders before glancing behind me to see if there was
a bathroom close.

"Both?" He covered the top of
his eyes as he looked over at me. "What's up?"

"Looking for a restroom."

The girl beside me turned over and smiled.
"It's at the back of the island. Just walk toward the palm trees.

"Thanks, pretty girl." I winked
at her and got up. "Be right back."

"I'll be here. Contemplating the
purpose of all of this shit." Daniel's voice was filled with concern. I
felt for the guy, but I wasn't sure what to say to him. I was simple and
straightforward, and he was an intellectual, a brilliant guy who overthought
everything. My advice? Find a girl and fuck her until you both have trouble
walking. To say that I wouldn't be a big help to him was the understatement of
the century.

I found the restroom a few minutes later
and jogged toward it. The line of girls standing outside of the women's half
was astounding, and I felt bad for the ones bouncing on their feet. It had to
suck to high heaven to be a woman.

After washing my hands and checking myself
in the mirror, I walked back out and caught the eye of a dark-haired beauty
standing beside the line, but not in it.

"Hi," she spoke softly, lifting
her hand and rolling each finger down in a sensual greeting.

"Hi." I walked toward her and
stopped in front of her. "Brody."

"Dina." She extended her hand.

"A pretty girl like you got a
boyfriend around here?" I took her hand and glanced around before pulling
it to my lips and kissing her fingers softly. She was breathtaking, the kind of
woman you'd wish would let you take pictures for the lonely nights to come once
she was done with you.

"Nope. Men are too needy to keep one
for more than a night." She smiled and pulled her hand from me.

"I agree. I try hard to be gentle
when letting them down, though." I shrugged. "Such sensitive
creatures."

She laughed, and I enjoyed the sound of
it. "Are you going to the party tomorrow that Clint's throwing?"

"I am." I let my eyes run across
her, enjoying how very tiny her bathing suit was. "How about you come home
with me? I make a mean margarita. You look like you could use a drink or
two."

She glanced around as if thinking things
through.

I jumped back in, hoping to seal the deal.
"No pressure for anything more than a walk through town and a drink."

"Yeah. Okay." She nodded toward
the other side of the beach. "Let me grab my shorts and tell my friends
where I'm going."

"I'm over there near the red
boat." I pointed before reaching out and touching her hand. "Hurry. I
don't like to be kept waiting."

She bit her lip and turned, surprising me
a little as she jogged across the beach. I returned to Daniel and offered him a
hand. "Let's go, buddy. I have a date for the afternoon."

"What?" He glanced around.
"Where?"

"She's coming from the other side of
the beach." I walked out toward the water, waiting as she jogged up with a
smile on her pretty mouth. "This is Dina. Daniel."

I introduced them and forced myself to
keep the laugh trapped behind my teeth that wanted to leak out. The look on
Daniel's face as he looked at the beautiful vixen was hilarious.