“Good,” I said, turning the handle and escaping the temptation of his piercing stare.
15
Mac
Something was wrong with me and I didn’t know how to fix it.
After Alice rebuffed me in the hallway, I’d wandered around the resort, avoiding the other Knights and keeping an eye out for Margot. She probably wasn’t thrilled that I’d left her hanging last night. I didn’t feel too bad; she’d survive. She was probably already off stalking Henry or Mason.
My feet eventually found the same tiki bar that I’d met Margot in on my first day at the resort. I’d been on my way to bang Mariana in the bathroom. I chuckled again at the memory of Alice opening the door. Her face when she’d taken me in, naked and erect. That brief moment I’d hoped that this gorgeous auburn-haired girl might join in.
Sadly life was not a cheesy porno. And Alice was far from the type of girl who’d star in one anyway. Which was a far cry from most of the girls I dated.
Ha. Dated. Is that how I thought of it? I thought over the string of girls I picked out and wore like ornaments to plus-one events. Blondes, brunettes, redheads; tall, short, medium; big tits and small ass, big ass and small tits — I didn’t discriminate.
Nor, apparently, did I seem to care about anything beyond the package. Try as I might, I couldn’t remember a single thing about any of them. Okay, I remembered some of the shit they could do in bed, but personality? Goals? History? A blank slate, every one of them.
And while I was tempted to assume they just didn’t have any — to write them off as dumb vapid bimbos — it was a lot more likely they were just playing the role we both expected. I hadn’t wanted a girl with goals. I’d wanted a nice rack that I wouldn’t remember in a week.
And why was that?
I ordered a scotch and soda and sipped it, not really caring much for the taste. It was just something to do. I wasn’t the most introspective of guys. What I was was a problem solver. That was how I built my business. That was how I lived my life. And what I had in Alice was a problem that needed a solution.
That is, if I was to kill this aching, troubled feeling in my gut.
Alice was fire — alive and flickering with a deadly tongue that could warm just as easily as strip flesh from bone. She was ice — as beautiful as a towering glacier with the deadly force of an avalanche. She was stubborn and frustrating and bold and exciting and I wanted her out of my brain as quickly as possible.
I was happy alone. I had my friends.
But for how much longer?
A while, I insisted to myself. And I would always have some of them, at least. I couldn’t picture Henry or Twain ever getting married.
Maybe.
Because didn’t I also think that Sammy and the boys back in Ireland would be my family for life? And look how that’d turned out. They’d left me. Alone. And so eventually would the Knights.
“Looking awfully furrowed over there.” I recognized the deep drawl without looking up.
“Shouldn’t you be at a pool or something?” I asked Mason as he slid onto the barstool next to me. He indicated to the bartender that he’d like one of mine.
“I’m not the biggest fan of the sun,” Mason said dryly.
“You came to the wrong damn country then, mate,” I said, sipping my drink. Even though I was stewing in contemplation, it felt good to have Mason here. A physical reminder that I wasn’t alone quite yet.
“Thanks for getting Twain back in one piece,” he said.
I nodded, not adding any details.
“I’m not stupid enough to think that you just stumbled on him in a random bar,” Mason continued. “But don’t worry. I’m not going to pry the story out of you.”
I’d like to see you try, fecker.
He glanced at me and a lopsided smile pulled at his mouth. “I hope one day I do get to hear it though. From the look on Alice’s face this morning, it has to be a hell of a story.”
I snorted and couldn’t help but smile too. “What’s the statute of limitations on the events of this week?” I asked.
“At least past their first anniversary.”
“Then brother, get ready to go a lighter shade of gray a year from Saturday because this week has been a feckin’ disaster since day one.”
Mason didn’t respond at first. He wasn’t drinking his scotch and soda either, just holding it in his hand and watching the liquid move around the glass. “I’m looking forward to it,” he said finally.
I breathed a slight sigh of relief. No lecture. No disapproving words. Mason had found me for a reason, but apparently it wasn’t to get on me about my behavior.
“Okay,” I said. “What is it?”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “What?”
“Why are you here?”
He shrugged. “Do I need a reason to sit with a friend? I saw you from the boardwalk and thought I’d join you.” He paused. “You look a little… drawn. Anything you want to talk out?”
“Alice is mad at me.” The words escaped me before I could halt them at my lips.
I shouldn’t care. I’d never cared before. But somehow the thought that Alice was done with me made me angry and annoyed and upset. Was she just going to ignore me the rest of the weekend? Would I never get to see those brown eyes light up with laughter? Or see them flick to me, admiring my form when she thought I didn’t notice?
“Because of something that happened last night?” Mason asked.
“I plead the fifth,” I muttered.
“Fair.” He turned in his seat to examine me, head cocked. “Anything you can’t come back from?” he asked.
I considered it. “I don’t know.” I hesitated. “I put her in danger. But we made it out fine,” I added.
Mason turned away, a small smile on his face. To his credit, he didn’t bring up the fact that almost everyone had ‘told me so’. “But she’s fine. You’re fine. Twain is… himself. Apologize. Move past it.”
“I’ve been doing a lot of apologizing lately,” I muttered.
Again, it would have been easy to condescend. Mason just shrugged. “Part of life, brother.” He glanced at his drink and then slid it toward the barman with a couple bills. “Now, I think I’m ready to hit the water. Joining me?”
I shook my head. “Not right now.” I looked up from my drink. “Thanks, Mason.”
He clapped me on the shoulder as he headed out. “No problem at all.”
I sat and thought for a while. Apologies. They were starting to feel cheap, just words to cover my ass. No, if I wanted to make it up to Alice then I needed to do something. Something that would make her laugh. Better yet, something that would surprise her.
And then a plan started to form in my mind. And though my plans hadn’t been working out too well this trip, I had a good feeling about this one.
16
Alice
I’d really meant it when I said that I was washing my hands of Mac. But the reality of erasing him from my mind was surprisingly difficult.
The girls and I went back to the pool and spent most of the afternoon lazing around, making idle small talk and generally relaxing. With little distraction, my thoughts kept honing in on Mac.