Their mother introduced them to her new boyfriends several times a year, always with excited whispers about him being the one. When Chloe and Serena were growing up, their mother had spent more time hunting for a man to pay her bills than parenting. Sometimes Chloe tried to convince herself that she and Serena were lucky. At least their mother wasn’t an alcoholic or a drug abuser. She simply wasn’t a very good mother. Or a good girlfriend, apparently, since she’d been serially dating ever since Chloe was eight years old, when her mother had deemed Chloe old enough to babysit Serena.
“Probably two thousand and five. Are you going?” Chloe asked as she entered the conference room. She set the orientation packets for the new program she’d created on the table. It had taken her months to develop the Junior/Senior Program, which would allow high school students to earn community service hours toward graduation by spending time each week with senior citizens at LOCAL. Chloe had worked with high schools in the area and had selected several students to take part in a six-week trial program over the summer. If the trial was beneficial, she would gain the stamp of approval she needed for future funding.
“Yes, I’m going,” Serena said with great disdain. “Drake is coming with me, and if things get too weird, we’re going to say he has a meeting at the music store and leave.”
Drake owned a chain of music stores, and he was co-owner of the Bayside Resort in Wellfleet with his brother, Rick, and another childhood friend, Dean Masters. Rick and Dean were married to two of Chloe and Serena’s closest friends, Desiree and Emery.
“Your husband is the best.”
“I know,” Serena said happily.
“You guys are so good together, you give me hope that I’ll eventually meet the right guy.”
“Speaking of the right guy, I heard Justin got rid of a date for you last night.”
Justin’s piercing blue eyes and ruggedly handsome face flashed in Chloe’s mind. She closed the conference room door and said, “How did you hear that?”
“You always forget that Gavin is Justin’s best friend.” Gavin Wheeler was Serena’s business partner at Mallery and Wheeler Interior Designs. Last month he’d married their friend Harper.
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Right. Sorry. My mind has been on overload lately. I could have gotten rid of the guy myself, but Justin did me a big favor. I’m kind of sick of making up excuses, but the guy was another dolt. I’m beginning to think it’s me. Maybe I just attract boring guys.”
“Um, hello? Justin Wicked is anything but boring. I wish you’d give him a chance. Not all bikers are like the guys Mom goes out with. Look at Gavin. He has a motorcycle.”
She glanced at the clock, noting that she still had twenty minutes before her meeting, and said, “Gavin isn’t a leather-wearing, tattoo-sporting, badass biker and motorcycle club member. He only rides because Justin got him into it.”
Serena didn’t know about the times their mother’s boyfriends had made moves on Chloe or that Chloe had sat guard in her sister’s bedroom many nights, watching over her. Even all those years ago, Chloe had been thankful it was her those men had gone after and not Serena. She had always been Serena’s protector, emotionally and physically, and that hadn’t changed as they’d gotten older. That was why she also hadn’t told her sister about the guy she had dated in college who had gotten so physical with her after an evening at the Salty Hog, she’d had to use practically an entire tube of makeup to cover up the bruises. From that moment on, she had sworn off tough guys, or anyone even remotely close, and she’d never returned to the Salty Hog.
Once again Chloe tried to downplay what had gone on without minimizing the realities. She paced and said, “You probably don’t remember how many of Mom’s boyfriends came over after we were in bed. They’d come around for a few nights, disappear into her bedroom, and then leave her brokenhearted.”
“Mom’s heart was never broken for long,” Serena said casually. “She was always back on the prowl days later.”
“I know, but the guys she dated never stuck, you know? I’ve seen enough motorcycle taillights to last me a lifetime. I know Justin is a great guy, and he’s an amazing friend, but we don’t know everything about him. I mean, we’ve met his brothers and cousins, but we don’t know his parents or what his family is really like. And yes, the Dark Knights do wonderful things for the community, but there’s a lot we don’t know about that biker world. From what I’ve seen with Mom’s boyfriends, we’re not missing much. There are too many unknowns that leave room for trouble where Justin is concerned. And don’t forget, he slept with Violet when she first moved back to the Cape, to help her try to fuck Andre out of her system.”
Their friend Violet was now engaged to Andre. They traveled several months out of the year, setting up medical clinics in newly developed nations, and they were currently in Honduras. When Violet had slept with Justin, she and Andre had been broken up and he’d been overseas. Chloe and their friends had been having breakfast at Summer House Inn when they’d overheard Violet and Andre arguing about her tryst with Justin. She didn’t know why it bothered her so much that they’d hooked up with the sole purpose of fucking Andre out of her system, but it did.
“Don’t you think that’s a little questionable?” Chloe asked. “It’s not something I would ever do. It’s not like they were even dating.”
“I think Long Dong Naked Man is a really good friend.”
Chloe felt her cheeks burn over the nickname their friend Emery had given him the summer after Justin and Violet’s not-so-secret sex romp, when Emery had been staying with Violet and she’d seen Justin walk out of Violet’s bedroom naked. Rumors spread as quickly as weeds around Bayside, and they’d learned that Justin had been posing for a sculpture Violet was making, and he’d stayed over. Violet and Justin had wanted to squash any untrue rumors, and they’d insisted they hadn’t had sex since Violet had first come back to the Cape right after she’d broken up with Andre. Justin had simply slept naked, which was another thing Chloe would never do with a man who was just a friend.
“You’d probably feel different if Drake had done that with one of your friends,” Chloe insisted. “But he’s loved you since you were kids. Don’t you see, Serena? You’re lucky. You’re with a great, stable guy who has nothing questionable in his background or in his life. I want to be lucky, too. Is that so bad? I’m sure there has to be one conservative guy out there who isn’t an automaton. Look at Tegan—she’d only just moved to town when she met Jett Masters, and he’s the love of her life.”
“They’re so good together. But you know how I feel about your dating decisions. I vote that you stop going after boring, vanilla doughnuts that can only leave you wanting something bigger and better and lose yourself in a thick, creamy éclair, with choco—”
“Stop! You’re going to make me gag. Why do you always connect doughnuts to sex?”
“Maybe because my man is as delicious as a cream-filled doughnut. Seriously, though. I bet Justin lives up to his Wicked name.”
“I’m sure he does, but I want more than hot sex, Serena. Sex is great while it lasts, but if there’s nothing more, then I’m left feeling even lonelier than ever. Can we please not talk about this anymore? My Junior/Senior Program starts next week, and I’m holding orientation this afternoon. I have to get ready.”