Shady Bay (5 page)

Bodies were packed into every space, swaying and bumping to the rhythms being dropped by the DJ outside. June grinned cheekily. Her black hair was curled and flowing down her back. Her dramatic makeup looked amazing as did her short denim shirt and tight black lacey shirt. Her tights had skull patterns swirling playfully through them. I tried again to pull down the hem of my dress to a more comfortable, respectable
, level. “You look fine. Would you stop it?” She swatted my hand and then grabbed it and pulled me behind her as she weaved her way through the crowd.

The smells of sand and salt mixed with those of smoke and beer. We made our way to the bar where one swing sat open. “Sit & Swing. What do you want?”

“I don’t know. You pick.”

She grinned like the
Cheshire cat. “Alright! Be right back. Stay here.”

Shady
Bay was
insane. I was pretty sure
all
of the locals were here tonight. Our wait and kitchen staff was running on full throttle. The bartenders were mixing their magic and the DJ was keeping everyone on the floor.

“Hey, man.” Brody slapped my back. “Gonna be a busy summer by the looks of it.”

“I won’t complain.”

“Nah. I bet you won’t. Hey, did you see Mercy?”

“Mercy’s here?”

“Yeah. She and June are outside at the bar. Don’t get mad, though.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Why would I get mad?”

He grinned and ticked his head. “Follow me. Wait til
l you see who’s sniffing up her skirt.”

I could feel my teeth clench. I had a damn good idea of who was circling her and this would not be good.

Making our way through the crowd, we had to stop and say hello to friends who were flocking south for the summer, friends we hadn’t seen in months. Outside, the sky was clear and the stars were out. The surf beyond was as amazing as always. Never got old. Not to me. Leaving Devil Creek hadn’t been an easy decision, but it had been one of the best decisions I’d ever made. The heaters were blasting warmth into the night and the party had definitely spilled out into the sand.

Brody stopped about
twenty feet from the bar and grinned, looking at the swing in the corner. That wasn’t Mercy. This girl had long blonde hair like hers, but it wasn’t straight. Mercy always wore her hair straight. No, this chick had wavy hair. About the same color. Maybe that’s why Brody thought it was her. The swing next to her moved and I saw June. Her make-up was dramatic as always. She was nice enough, but I’d never been into her.

June laughed over to the girl swinging next to her. The chick was wearing a skin-tight black skirt that stopped just above her knee and a matching halter-top that looked like it had been knitted
, or something that chicks do.

Sure enough, Jarod and Keaton were standing behind them. They’d lived here for the past few years and were better known as the baseball gods of Coastal Carolina University. Women dropped pant
ies whenever they came around. I knew June could handle herself. But damn if I wasn’t glad that the chick next to her wasn’t Mercy.

Brody looked at me and raised his eyebrows and ticked his head. “You really don’t care if the sluggers take shots at your girl?”

“Mercy isn’t my girl and that,” I nodded toward the chick. “That isn’t Mercy.”

“Dude. Are you blind? That most certainly is Mercy. And she is smoking hot tonight.”

I shook my head.

“Don’t believe me, Jax? Come on.”

He took off through the crowd and stopped behind Keaton and June. “Hey guys. Having a good time at local’s night?”

June laughed. “Yep.” I stepped up behind Jarod, who turned to include me in their little semi-circle. Holy shit.

“Mercy?”

“Hey
, Jax!” She was barefooted, having kicked her black flip-flops into the sand in front of her. She jumped off the swing she’d been sitting on and almost fell over. Then she composed herself and bounced over to me and hugged my neck. I hugged her back, patting her awkwardly.

“
She
is very drunk. Very drunk. Right, Mercy?” June laughed.

Mercy shook in my arms as she giggled. “Yes. But you’re drunk, too, June-bug.”

“June-bug!” The two giggled and Mercy sat back down on her swing, facing us this time. Keaton and Jarod looked like they’d just won the lottery, grinning like the idiots they were.

Nodding to his buddy, “We can take you girls home, if you’ve had enough fun,” Jarod said.

“No way. I’ll take them.” I stepped up and offered a hand to Mercy. She looked from my hand to June and shook her head.

“Nope. We’re just getting started. I wanna dance.”

Jarod started to move toward her. “Great. Brody,” I shoved him forward at Mercy. “Dance with the woman.”

At first she looked confused, and then she shrugged sweetly and smiled at Brody, taking his hand and following him onto the sand near the DJ table. June grabbed Keaton’s hand and Jarod’s hand and led both of them over beside Mercy and Brody. I watched from behind the bar, fielding questions and helping the bartenders pour draughts and shots.

Brody was smiling and Mercy was letting loose as “Timber” from Pitbull thumped through the air. Then the beat morphed into Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Miss Mercy began to live up to her name. Oh, my Lord, have Mercy.

The music was
amazing. I loved this song and Brody was so sweet. He let me move and just smiled and danced along with me. What an awesome friend. Soon, our two-some became a five-some. Jarod, Keaton, and June blended in with us and we all began dancing together. June obviously liked Keaton, which made me giggle. She was this beautiful gothic hottie and her crush on the pretty-boy jock seemed funny and sweet.

Brody announced that he was going to take a break and Jarod moved in, like a moth to my flame. He was so hot. His chestnut-brown hair was cropped short, especially along the sides. He had an athletic build and the boy looked like he could run for miles and miles. I bet he looked drool-worthy while he did it, too. Hmmm. His eyes were brown, too. He was as all-American as the sport he was so famous for playing around here.

He pressed me tight against his chest and stomach and moved us to the beat. My hands threaded in his hair. He felt so damn good. His hands moved up my back to my shoulders and then back down, dipping lower. He stopped just short of my ass and grinned. I grinned back. Maybe I could use a distraction.

We danced for a few more songs before heading back to the bar. The four of us grabbed another couple of beers and then headed back out to dance in the warmth. I couldn’t wait until summer. This felt amazing.

My body was humming and my mind was becoming a bit fuzzy. I wasn’t the most coordinated person on a good day, so tripping over sand was par for the course. June and Keaton had plastered themselves into a chair and were making out like teenagers. Jarod pulled me close again and began grinding on me slowly. “You have no idea how hot you are.”

“I know exactly how hot I am. Don’t fool yourself, Ruth.”

“Ruth?”

“Yeah. Ruth. Like Babe Ruth, baseball guy.”

“You callin’ me the great Bambino?” he asked in a fake northern accent.

“Yep.” I popped my ‘p.’

“Well, that’s the best damn thing I’ve heard all night. Wanna know what would top that?”

I giggled. “Sure.”

“Say you’ll go home with me, Mercy.”

I stiffened. Moments of truth sucked for me sometimes. I liked him, but did I want to go home with him? I knew what would be expected if I did. Was I ready for that with him? Nope. I even popped the ‘p’ in my head! I giggled at that.
Confusion slid onto his pretty-boy face.

Suddenly, I was jerked away from Jarod roughly. “She isn’t leaving with you. Not tonight. Go home.” A gruff voice ordered.

“Hey, I—”

“Don’t argue with me, Mercy. You aren’t leaving with him. I’ve got your shoes and sweater. I’m taking you and June home. Come on.” Jaxon held my flops out for me and I slid them onto my feet and then jerked my sweater out of his hand and shrugged it on, too. I felt like a scolded child. How embarrassing!

“June!” he barked. “We’re going. Now!”

She jumped off of Keaton’s lap and walked over to us, her eyes darting from me to Jaxon and back.

Jarod tried to interject. “Dude, she doesn’t want to—”

“One more word, J
ock Itch. One more and you’re banned for the season.” Jaxon paused, daring him to say something more. He didn’t. Jarod threw his hands up in surrender and took a step back. Keaton motioned toward the bar and the two took off in that direction.

As much as I could in foam flip-flops, I stomped off the sand, through the bar and out the Shady’s front door. June’s high heeled boots clicked along the sidewalk behind me as we made our way toward her car.

“Where do you two think you’re going?” Jaxon said.

“To June’s car?”

“No, babe. I’m driving. Neither of you are in any shape to drive. You can get your car in the morning, June.”

She laughed, then stopped when he pinned her with a fierce expression. “Cool. I’ll get it tomorrow.” She sniffed. “That’s cool. Totally fine with that...”

We followed Jaxon to his little black coupe and I scooted the passenger seat forward and climbed into the back, folded my arms across my chest and pouted the entire three mile drive back to our townhouses. The little red numbers on the dash read one fifty-three. Holy crap! I stayed out till two a.m.! I’d never done that before, unless I was working. And this had been fun, no work! At least it had been fun until Dumbass had to interrupt my swagger. Dumbass looked pissed, come to think of it.
Still does
.

June directed Dumbass Hot Dimple to her apartment. I giggled.
Sounds like a Tolkien name. Dumbass Hot Dimple, at your service
! I giggled out loud earning a sharp look from Mr. Hot Dimple himself.
No! He shall be known as Dumbass on this eve
. I snorted.

“At least you can make yourself laugh, sweetheart.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You just seem to be cracking yourself up back there.” He looked at me through the rear-view mirror and grinned.

“Shut up, Dumbass.” I grumbled under my breath.

“Did you just call me a dumbass?”

“Sort of. I didn’t call you
a
dumbass. I referred to you as Dumbass.”

“You’re gonna feel it in the morning. You’ll thank me tomorrow, too, when you snap out of that alcohol-induced love coma.”

“Love coma?”

He pulled into his carport. “Yeah. You had rose-colored love glasses on, pointing straight at Jarod Lincoln. You were on his radar big time, so you’re welcome. I saved you from the walk of shame.”

He walked around and opened the car door, and pushed up front seat so I could climb out the back. I stumbled a bit. “Well, I’ll have you know,” I poked his chest, “that I was well aware of the fact that I was on his radar. Maybe I liked it.”

“He’s bagged half the chicks in Myrtle. I’m no saint, but that dude lays with anything that walks and has a pussy.”