“Shit, I’m sorry, Adam,” I replied.
Hunter slowly shook his head. “Women. What in the fuck?”
We all laughed because it was the truth.
Hunter stood and clapped his hands. “Well, gentlemen. We’re four single, good-looking men. I say we hit the town.”
Kyle held up his beer, and the three of us followed his lead.
“To moving on,” Adam said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Hunter’s eyes met mine. I knew where his thoughts were. With his old high school sweetheart, Arabella Adams. She had done pretty much the same damn thing to Hunter that Abby and Lori had done to me and Adam. Up and told him it was over. They had both gone off to college and kept dating. Then, one day, Arabella quit school, moved back to Boggy Creek, and told Hunter it was over. No reason why. He had always suspected that she’d maybe cheated on him, but that wasn’t Arabella. I also knew he still loved her.
Something in his gaze told me he was getting weary of waiting on a woman who clearly still wanted nothing to do with him.
“To moving on,” Hunter repeated.
We clicked our beer cans together, then chugged them all down in one gulp.
Kyle clapped his hands together. “Alright, gents, let’s go get dressed and have some fun.”
Bishop
I rolled over and looked at the clock on the nightstand.
“Christ,” I mumbled as I pulled myself up into a seated position, then ran my hands down my face. I hadn’t drank that much in a long-ass time and my body was feeling it.
My head pounded. My mouth felt like someone had stuffed cotton into it, and for some strange reason, every muscle in my body hurt.
I froze, thinking about what had happened last night. Cautiously, I glanced to my left and saw that the bed was empty.
Sighing, I dropped my head. “Thank fuck.”
The last thing I wanted to find was some strange woman here.
I swung my legs over the bed and stood. When I glanced down, I noticed I had somehow managed to get undressed last night before crawling into bed. But my boxers were still on. That was another good sign.
Heading into the bathroom, I splashed my face with cold water, used the restroom, and then ventured out into the suite. I had no idea what I would find and, to be honest, I was holding my breath.
I scanned the sofas and found Kyle was passed out on one of them. Alone.
Adam was sitting up on another sofa and holding something on his neck.
“What’s on your neck?” I asked.
He lifted his finger to his lips. “Shhh…my head is pounding. And it’s ice.”
The sound of a blender going off made Kyle fly off the couch, stumble, then land flat on his ass. “The fuck?” he shouted as Adam groaned.
“Sorry, guys!” Hunter called out. “I’m making us…the drink.”
Kyle stood and fell back onto the sofa. “Fuck no, I’m not drinking that shit, Hunter.”
“It works!” Hunter replied.
Adam frowned. “What works is Advil and water, Hunter. Not your weird concoction of eggs and spinach and whatever else you put in that.”
Smiling, I headed into the kitchen. “Where did you get all of this?”
Hunter gave me a cheeky grin. “I asked Mark to get it for me last night so we would have it ready.” Mark had been the valet for the royal suite since we’d promoted him after Granddad’s death. He was by far one of my best employees here at the hotel.
I sat on one of the stools and sighed. “How do you not have a hangover, dude?”
Hunter laughed. “I do. But I didn’t drink as much as you guys. Someone needed to make sure you didn’t end up with a surprise in nine months.”
I glanced around. No one had brought anyone back to the hotel. “No one hooked up last night?”
Adam walked into the kitchen. “Hard to hook up when all you do is talk about the woman who called off your wedding.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. Adam had only had a few drinks in him before he’d started going on and on about Lori and how she’d broken his heart.
“You’re no better,” Adam stated. “That hot redhead was all over you…until you told her you’re still in love with your ex-wife.”
That made me stop for a moment. “Redhead?”
“Yeah, the one in the black dress that barely covered anything,” Kyle added as he walked into the kitchen and sat down. He snarled his lip, watching as Hunter poured us each a glass of his famous hangover drink. “I think we should just order room service.”
Then it hit me. “Oh yeah! The redhead. That’s right. I didn’t like the way she kissed.”
The three of them all turned and looked at me.
“That’s the excuse you’re using?” Kyle asked. “You didn’t like the way she kissed?”
I gave him a half shrug and accepted the green drink from Hunter.
“You do realize the four of us are pathetic, right?” Adam asked as he reluctantly took the hangover drink too.
Kyle took his glass, plugged his nose, and drank it all down. He shuddered, then said, “Why? Because each of us had a beautiful woman on our arms last night and could have easily had hot sex, but instead we all left the club alone?”
“Not alone,” Kyle stated. “We had each other.”
I turned to Kyle. “Why didn’t you hook up?”
He lifted one shoulder. “I don’t know. I wasn’t in the mood.”
The four of us sat there and looked at each other before forcing ourselves to drink the green goop. I would never admit it to Hunter, but I was actually starting to feel better.
I stood and walked over to the sink to rinse out my glass. Turning to face them, I asked, “Do you guys want to go fishing today? We could go out on a charter boat.”
Kyle pointed at me. “Yes. Fishing. Count me in.”
Adam downed the last of the drink and stood. “Fishing sounds good to me too.”
I looked at Hunter. “You in?”
He shot me a disbelieving stare. “Have you ever known me to turn down fishing?”
“Then it’s settled. Let me call Jack, see if he’s got any spots open.”
Jack was an old high school friend of ours who’d moved to Boston and started his own fishing charter company. He struggled the first few years until his reputation built up. If you wanted to catch the good stuff, Jack knew where to go.
I headed back into the bedroom and found my phone. I pulled up Jack’s name and hit Call.
“Bishop freaking Harris. How the hell are you, man?”
“I’m good,” I said with a laugh. “Listen, I’m in town with Kyle, Hunter, and Adam. Do you have any open spots today on one of your charters?”
“I’ll do you one better. I’m off today; let me take you out on my boat. Don’t worry, I’ve got poles and tackle—you four just need to show up.”
“Are you serious? We’ll pay you, of course.”
Jack let out a roar of laughter. “Are you kidding me? I’d love to hang out with you guys. Just come on down to the shop. Give me about an hour to load up my boat, and I’ll meet you guys there.”
“Sounds good. See you soon, Jack.”