He stopped moving and turned fully to watch Drea and Dalton. He wasn’t sure if they had seen him with Staci and he was silently praying that they’d blended in with the crowd enough. They were whispering to each other, and Drea was holding her head down like she was upset. It was a punch to Kyle’s gut to see her like this and turning to Dalton of all people. Was there something going on there that he didn’t know about? She couldn't be interested in him, could she? She’d never be interested in a playboy like him, at least he didn’t think she would. But she never actually talked about being interested in anyone, and she did spend all day with him, just like she did Kyle, smiling and play flirting. Or Kyle assumed it was play flirting. He saw her start to walk away and pause to turn back to Dalton. She smiled as she said something to him, and he saw Dalton smile in return.
“Staci, if you’ll excuse me,” Kyle said, not waiting for her answer. He pried her off of him, and walked quickly toward where Drea was walking away.
“Whoa there, cowboy, where you headed off to?” Dalton asked, grabbing his arm and pulling him back from following her into the lobby.
“What’s wrong with Drea? She looked upset. What happened?”
“She’ll be fine, just leave her be.”
“Why? What upset her? I need to go see what’s wrong.”
“Not sure you’re the right person for the job.”
“What? And you are?” Kyle snarked.
“I think there are just some things girlfriends are better for, dude,” Dalton answered, looking down at him. Kyle wasn't short by any means, but at six foot four, Dalton towered over pretty much everyone. “What’s up with you and Wendy Peffercorn over there?”
“Who?”
“Dude, the blonde who was just all over you? The one who looks just like the lifeguard in The Sandlot? Don’t tell me you forgot already.” They turned to look at Staci, who had made her way back to her friends and was chatting away about something. Probably about whether or not her stunt was going to work.
“Oh, her. Nothing. She’s looking for you, actually.”
“So why were you latched on to her?”
“For starters, she latched on to me, and she was trying to get your attention. What’s going on with you and Drea?” Kyle said, turning his gaze back to his buddy.
“You think something is going on between me and Drea?”
“You know that Grayson would kick your ass, right? Not to mention what Vaughn and Miller would do.”
“Dude, sometimes I just do not understand what goes through your head.”
“I’m just saying, whatever you said or did to upset her—"
“Whatever I did to upset her?” Dalton cut him off. “Okay, dude, I’m gonna go hang with the hot blondes and I’ll see you tomorrow on the boat. But take my advice, dude, just leave Drea alone tonight.” He walked away, heading toward the group of women who had eagerly been awaiting his appearance all evening.
Kyle watched as the women greeted Dalton with huge smiles, giggles, and just enough body movement to make him wonder if those bikini strings would hold. He slid into the seat that Drea had been sitting in and sighed. Something had gone very wrong tonight and he had no idea what. Much less how he was going to right the ship.
Chapter Six
As was fairly standard, the only one who beat Drea to family breakfast was Miller. So many years of being up for breakfast service and kiddo duty had created an internal clock that she was pretty sure he couldn’t turn off even if he wanted to, and she was pretty sure there was zero desire in there. She’d gotten her love of being up early from him, she was sure of it, even if they weren’t biologically related. Long gone were the days of her joining him in the kitchen to get the day going, helping make the magic muffins and set out whatever else he might need for the day. Those events were now replaced with her morning run along the beach, watching the sun come up, listening to the waves come and go. She loved having this time to herself.
Miller was settled at the family table that sat over in the back corner of the kitchen, poring over the morning paper. The “big house” where Drea had grown up, and where the brothers still lived, had a decent-sized kitchen and small living room that was the central part of the home, that all three of the separate apartments connected into. Although, other than drinks and some basic snacks, Drea had no recollection of the kitchen ever really being used. Every big family meal, and even most regular everyday meals were eaten at the table in the resort kitchen. This was the table where she had done a good portion of her homework while Miller worked, and this was the kitchen where he taught her to cook. Drea slid into a chair at the table, leaving an open spot to her right and in between her and her uncle. She reached for the carafe in the middle of the table and one of the mugs Miller had set out, pouring herself some coffee and taking a nice long sip.
“Morning, baby girl,” her uncle said, looking up from his paper. “You disappeared early last night. Where’d you get off to?”
Oh shit, Drea thought. She had not been prepared to answer any questions about last night. She didn’t realize anyone but Dalton and Leona knew that she had left the bonfire early and didn’t return. Leona had texted her late last night to tell her that Dalton did spend a good portion of the night with “Candy” and her friends, so she knew she was in the clear on her bet. Besides, Grayson had a point—Simone called out chair throwing, so unless that went down, she was going to lose.
“I wasn’t feeling good, so I just went to bed early,” she said quickly. It wasn’t a complete lie.
“Oh no, is it something you ate? Are you coming down with something?” he asked, reaching over to try and feel her forehead.
“No, it’s just, I was…”
“Miller, leave the girl be!” Simone chastised, walking into the kitchen. She grabbed a mug and poured herself some coffee before sitting down to Drea’s left. “She’s a girl, we have girl things to deal with. Girl things we don’t want to talk to our uncles about. Not to mention, she’s twenty-six. Even if she was out having hot, wild, monkey sex, she does not owe you an answer.”
Miller just stared at her for a moment before saying “forgive me for being concerned,” with his hands raised in surrender. He turned back to his paper, avoiding eye contact with either woman.
“She better not have been out having hot, wild, monkey sex! Someone puts his hands on her, I’ll kill him,” Vaughn injected, as he swept into the room.
“Uncle Vaughn, I’m—” Drea began, before being cut off by Simone.
“I repeat, she’s twenty-six. She can do what she wants! Including hot, wild, monkey sex.”
“Who’s having hot, wild, monkey sex?” came Grayson’s voice.
“Apparently Drea,” answered Vaughn.
“No, I forbid it. There will be no hot, wild, monkey sex.”
“OK!” Drea exclaimed. “Can we please stop saying ‘hot, wild, monkey sex’? Not that I’m having any, but even if I were, not the conversation I want to have over family breakfast. Or at any point with any of you.”
“So, moving on,” Miller said, folding up his paper, looking exceptionally uncomfortable at all the sex talk. “Dalton held court with quite the blonde audience last night from what I saw, so, Drea is all clear.”