Chapter 16
Brooklyn
I t was a bright and beautiful day the next day, and I’d much rather have spent it out around the island together with the girl who sat front and center in all my thoughts than stand here tending the bar on a slow, boring afternoon, but Greer was a hard taskmaster.
I wasn’t the only one bored out of her brains right now, either, judging by the way my coworker Laura was slumped over the bar, staring longingly at the pool.
“I would sell my soul to be in that water right now instead of over here,” Laura said, as overdramatic as ever. I wouldn’t recognize her if she spent one second of her life being normal.
“Nobody wants your soul, Laura.”
“Aren’t you bored to death? What do we have a two-floor right now for?”
I didn’t look away from where I was wiping down the racks behind the bar. “Because if we had a one-floor then suddenly everyone at the resort would decide to come here and order margaritas all at once.”
“That sounds more fun than this. And don’t pretend you don’t want to be somewhere else right now too!” She stood up, spinning around and leaning back against the bar. “I heard rumors you’re keeping busy with some cutie staying at the resort.”
“Technically, incorrect,” I said, setting the Hennessy back in its spot and turning to face her, leaning against the bar and wiping the sweat off my neck, the sun beating down hard. “She’s not staying at the resort anymore.”
Laura raised her eyebrows, hands going up. “Because she’s staying in your bed?”
“Because her family’s staying here, and they’re shitty.” I paused. “And because she’s staying in my bed. Lucky me.”
“See?” She clapped her hands together. “You don’t want to be here either, you want to be off fucking.”
“If you’re asking if I’d rather be working a slow day at the bar or having sex with a hot woman, then yeah, actually, you’re right, I would pick the second. Can you make yourself useful and clean the floors in the back?”
She made a face like I’d just asked her to jump off a cliff, pleading with her hands. “Ah, Brooklyn, no.”
“Go, go. If it’s still quiet when you’re done then I’ll pretend I don’t see it when you go spend fifteen dipping your feet in the pool with a drink.”
That did the trick. Laura took off so fast that I knew the floors would be half-assed, but whatever. Greer wasn’t in today, so the standards were officially lower. Of course, I traded one troublesome woman out for another, because I’d barely lost sight of Laura around the corner before Allison slid into a seat at the bar across from me, looking suspiciously cheerful.
“Hey, Brooklyn,” she said, her voice bright. “How’s stuff with you and Ryan?”
I was normally subtler than this, but I guess I was in a dangerous mood today, because I folded my arms on the bar, leaning towards her, and I said, “You’re in a good mood. Stella came around and you got to flirt with your hopeless straight crush?”
Allison’s soul visibly left her body, face going a deep kind of violet-tinged pink as she tensed up. “What—do you—huh? Who? Stella? What do you, uh… what?”
“So, that’s your type, huh? You did say you liked pretty girls. Guess it makes sense you’d go for someone super femme like her.”
“I’m not—uh.” She slumped on the bar, burying her face in her arms. “Kill me.”
“Could always go in the back. Laura’s cleaning in a hurry, which means she’s probably knocking over shelves, throwing glass bottles…” I patted her on the shoulder when she groaned. “So, taking off from your resolution to get a hookup, I’m guessing? I don’t think you’re the type to happily distract yourself with another girl when you can’t have the one you want…”
“It’s not like it’s a big serious crush or anything,” she mumbled, sitting up, pointedly not looking at me. “She’s just pretty. And I guess she’s my type. I don’t know.”
From that awkward blushing mumble, she knew exactly what her type was and knew exactly that it was Stella. I just smiled, and she picked at her fingernails.
“I mean, she’s just got that whole… you know, wears her heart on her sleeve. She really feels things and stuff. And she’s so enthusiastic about the things she likes, and she’s got all these big dreams and…”
“And this isn’t a serious crush.”
“Fuck me,” she groaned, burying her face in her hands. “I’d always felt so good about the fact that I’d never had a crush on a straight girl. What am I supposed to do?”
I laughed. “Would if I could give you a drink, Allison. It’s really up to you what to do now. Nothing wrong with spending time with a one-sided crush and just enjoying the feeling of having feelings. Nothing wrong with drawing a strict line and walking away either. Nothing wrong with trying to find another girl to distract yourself, and nothing wrong with not wanting to do that anymore. For better or worse, there’s no rules for this kind of thing.”
She scratched her head, looking away. “God, it’s stupid,” she muttered. “It’s not like I’m giving up on the whole… finding a girl, thing. Mostly because…”
“Because Stella’s locked in on helping you with it, and that’s how you get to spend time with her.”
“How messed up is my life?”
“Oh, very,” I said brightly. “What an absolute fucking trainwreck. Do you want a Shirley Temple to make things better?”
She scowled. “I’m not five years old.”
“Hey, don’t knock the ST.”
She folded her hands on the bar. “Okay, you know? Actually, yeah. With an extra cherry.”
She deserved an extra cherry. I happily delivered, and she moodily sipped the drink when I handed it over, and I leaned against the bar, idly wiping at a spot that was already clean. “Honestly,” I said, “maybe not the worst setup. There’s three potential outcomes, none of which are that bad.”
She gave me a skeptical look. I held up my hand, counting them off.
“One, you succeed in finding another girl, and it distracts you. Two, you don’t, but you get to spend some fun time together with a cute girl you like.”
She scowled. “What’s option three, then? If options one are that I do or I don’t.”
I grinned. “Three is that Stella decides to experiment a little.”
Allison choked on her drink. “The—shut up,” she said, thumping her chest and coughing hard as she caught her breath. “Don’t say things like that,” she mumbled, her face a nice vivid red now.
“What?” I laughed. “A lot of girls experiment on vacation. Trust me. I’d know.”
She buried her face in her hands. “Don’t give me false hope. She’d be way out of my league anyway.”
And wasn’t the world full of fun coincidences, because that was when I spotted, stepping out of a door and shielding her eyes against the sun, Stella walking alongside a man who looked like a relative, the same dishwater blond hair she had, the two of them talking quietly. And better yet for Allison, she was wearing a swimsuit again, a skimpy blue bikini top and a sarong skirt bottom. I turned back to Allison. “I don’t think she’d be too out of your league,” I said, raising my voice just a fraction, and Stella looked over, lighting up at the sight of Allison.
“She’s—” Allison started, and I saw her life flash before her eyes when Stella’s voice came from behind her.
“Who? What?” she said. “Who’s out of Allison’s league? Is there a girl you like who you’re hiding from me?”
“Uh—uh—” Allison turned back, locking up at the sight of Stella’s swimsuit. Poor girl was broken enough in the mind that she straight-up checked out Stella. “Hi—oh, uh—” Allison cleared her throat. “I was talking to you in the lobby, like, two seconds ago. What kind of quick-change artist are you?”
Not the worst recovery. I leaned against the bar, trying to suppress a smile. Stella folded her arms. “Don’t change the subject. Are you talking about Jessica?”
“No! I’m not—I’m not interested in Jessica,” Allison said, shifting uncomfortably. “We were talking about… celebrity crushes.”
Stella’s shoulders fell in disappointment. “Oh, boring. Who’s the celebrity crush? This place is kind of luxe, I bet celebrities come around here sometimes.”
Allison froze for a beat before she blurted, “Uh… Ariana Grande.”
Yeah, that tracked. Stella looked a little like her. Stella laughed. “So that’s your type,” she said, swatting Allison on the shoulder. “Ariana Grande would be lucky to have you.”
“Okay, let’s not exaggerate,” Allison said, looking pointedly away. I changed the subject, the only way to stop myself from laughing myself to tears.
“How’s it going, Stella,” I said. “Everything went well last night? Nobody gave you a hard time?”
She shrugged. “Mom and Dad are worried about Ryan. That’s about it. I told them she’s got a really good, reliable friend here and she’s having a good time. I think overall they’re just glad I’m still talking to them, even if I ditched the shopping trip in the town with everyone.”
“Along with…?”
“Oh, that guy.” She nodded over her shoulder at the man with her, dressed for the pool in swim trunks and a towel slung over his shoulders in lieu of a shirt. “This is my snarky brother Oscar.”
“Oscar—” I did a double take, looking him over, and he raised his eyebrows, quirking a smile at me. “You? You’re Ryan’s twin?”
“I know,” he said brightly. “She’s the one who got swapped at birth, by the way. Little changeling.”
“I know twins don’t necessarily look anything like each other, but I feel like you should have… some… trait in common.”
“We get that a lot, yeah,” he said, dropping onto a stool. “So you’re her friend? Brooklyn?”
“The one, the only. Didn’t feel like attending the festivities with everybody else?”
He shrugged. “Stella ran off to make a point, so I felt like it was fair if I came along and made sure she didn’t drown.”
Stella elbowed him. “I’m a grown woman! I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Besides,” I said, “Stella and my friend Allison here are very close now, so she’s got other people around who keep her well-being a high priority.”
Allison shot me a pursed-lip look that could have cut a hole through glass. Oscar raised his eyebrows, looking between them. “I didn’t realize the trip was to make friends. I think I might have missed a memo.”
Stella slung an arm over Allison’s shoulders, making the poor girl turn rigid. “We’re getting Allison a girlfriend,” she said. “You could join us if you weren’t so boring all the time.”
“Can I get you two some drinks?” I said, figuring Allison could use an emergency change of subject before she passed out, looking at Stella’s hand lying on her shoulder.
Oscar ordered an IPA while Stella got a cosmopolitan, and Stella dragged Allison away, Allison sitting at the edge of the pool while Stella slipped in and hung out in the water sipping her drink, and once we were settled into the quiet between me and Oscar, I leaned over the bar and spoke in a lower voice.
“So, the actual reason you didn’t go along with the family?”
He raised his eyebrows, quirking a smile at me. “Ryan’s gotten you digging into the family dynamics, huh?”
“Maybe the journalistic instinct is rubbing off on me a little.”
He shrugged, picking up his drink, holding it up to his lips, looking out over the resort grounds. “Honestly, I just wasn’t feeling like it. Everyone’s been nonstop fighting since Ryan and Shane broke up, and it’s not exactly the best company to hang out with.”
“Making sure to stay neutral, huh?”
He frowned, sitting up taller. “I know Ryan is in the right. I just don’t like to get into the family drama.”
I picked at a spot on the bar surface, taking a rag and wiping idly. “One might argue that labeling somebody being ostracized by her family as family drama like it’s some petty thing not to get into is kind of like siding against her already.”
He narrowed his eyes, studying me for a while before he smiled slightly. “Yeah,” he said, finally, “maybe. You two are good friends, huh?”
“Luckily for me. I’m quite partial.”
Oscar didn’t say anything, clearly uncomfortable, and I let the silence sit—letting the moment dig into him just a little more—but just before I was about to break it and let up, someone else did the trick, a shape coming around the corner from the other side and starting down the path towards us, a lift in her step, and I guess I was awfully corny these days, because I got a jump in my heart when I saw Ryan. She raised a hand in a big, bright greeting, and I think I was obvious in staring at her, because Oscar followed my gaze and relaxed at the sight of her, leaning against the bar and raising his glass in greeting.
“Hey, Brooklyn,” Ryan said, taking quick steps over to the two of us, giving Oscar an odd look. “Hi. You’re not out with the family?”
I spoke for him. “Stella’s here and Oscar wanted to make sure she didn’t drown.”
Ryan put her hands on her hips. “She knows how to swim.”
Oscar put his hands up. “Maybe I was more concerned about her drowning somebody else. Nice hair.”
Ryan absolutely lit up, flicking her hair back on one side, which was unbearably cute and I was a little annoyed that I couldn’t just lean across the bar and kiss her. She’d gotten it cut last night as a spur-of-the-moment decision, and I’d been worried she’d regret it, but there was no faking the look of delight when the hairdresser spun her around to see herself in the mirror, and today’s pep in her step confirmed it. She’d gotten it cut just above her shoulders, a perky look that gave it some more volume, and between that and the cute little top tucked into loose pastel chino shorts, a playful bracelet, and a baseball cap, she looked like the subject of all the upbeat, windows-down summer songs on the radio. “Thanks,” she said. “Revenge haircuts are the best kind, aren’t they?”
“I’ll take your word for it. I’ve never had the pleasure.”
She ruffled his hair. “Maybe you should , do something about this mop.” She turned back to me with a smile that could have lit up the world. “Hey,” she said. “Nobody’s causing trouble here?”
“Stella took Allison to the pool to talk about picking up girls, and I don’t know if Allison is going to remember to go back to work at the end of her break, so, yes, people are causing trouble.” I heard a clatter in the back along with Laura swearing, and I jabbed a thumb over my shoulder. “Also, Laura’s cleaning the floors, so, yeah, trouble.”
Ryan laughed, hanging her head. “Oh, god. On all fronts. Is there going to be anything left of the floors?”
“Maybe not, but if she burns this place down, I’ll be able to find a new job pretty easily. I’m hard to turn down.”
“Mm-hm. Indeed.” She leaned over the counter. “Let’s hit the gym again after your shift?”
Okay, damn, bowl me over, I was very into this girl. “Thinking of climbing again?”
“It feels like it’ll be fun. You know, while I’m trying different things.”
“Sure. I’ll invite Allison. She’ll say no.”
Ryan rolled her eyes. “She’ll say yes if you invite Stella first… I’m sure Stella would come just to glom onto what you and I are doing.”
“Hey, the more people climbing, the better.” I turned to Oscar. “You want to come rock climbing after my shift? I’ll be complimenting Ryan the whole time, so maybe you need to come along and enact some kind of brotherly duty to cut her down to size.”
Oscar didn’t get to respond, because there was a sloshing and flailing from the pool, and Stella flung herself up out of the water looking like she’d bowl over anyone standing in her way. “Ryan!” she shouted. “Oh my god, you cut your hair!”
Ryan flicked her hair back again. She’d basically been doing it nonstop since the haircut. “ You’ll back me up that revenge haircuts are the best kind.”
“I’m… too precious about my hair to do that, but I love it for you. You look so fresh!” Stella laughed. “Brooklyn’s a good influence on you. You even got a new outfit. You actually look nice.”
“ Actually? ” Ryan put her hands on her hips.
“Stella, you coming rock-climbing with us later?” I said. “Ryan and I are going, so we’re hoping you’ll go too so that Allison will come along with.”
Stella grinned. “Any chance Ariana Grande frequents the place?”
I suppressed a smile. “I bet there’ll be a girl Allison likes there…”
Ryan looked away, battling a queasy look and a smug smile at the same time. Stella shrugged, checking her fingernails.
“Yeah, I’ll go. Just don’t expect me to go climbing around or anything. I’ll be emotional support.”
“Allison will definitely feel emotionally supported,” I said. “She’s really trying to show off for you. You know—to show how much she can absolutely score a girl.”
Stella gave me a weird look. “I don’t doubt she can. She’s fun, sweet, funny.”
Ryan was out for blood, because she joined me and said, “She has some self-esteem issues… make sure you tell her all those things, too. You know, shower her in compliments.”
Stella laughed. “All right, well, I guess I’ll go along and make sure to compliment her climbing form.”
Once Stella was back at the pool again, after another round of gushing over Ryan’s new hair and her outfit, I gave Ryan a dry laugh and said, “We might make Allison like climbing yet.”
Ryan smiled slyly. “Well, you made me like climbing, so fair’s fair.”
She certainly had gotten more comfortable flirting with a girl. Not that she’d ever left anything to be desired.
She hung out at the bar with me and Oscar for a while, while I flitted between her and the occasional customer. Laura finished cleaning the back, and true to my word, I pretended not to see anything as she went and dipped her feet in the pool with a drink. Allison got back to her shift, only narrowly remembering in time to not be late back from her break, and once Stella and Oscar were both in the pool, Ryan leaned across the counter to speak quietly to me.
“Let’s not… rush to the gym after your shift,” she said quietly. “We could spend a little time at your place first. Help you decompress from your shift.”
I bit my lip through a smile. “You want to stare at my stomach some more, is what you mean.”
She rolled her eyes, smiling drily to herself. “Planning to do a lot more than stare. Hey, just saying, it’s an offer. I’ll be back at your place enjoying the terrace.”
“Oh, I’m accepting. I have something fun in mind. I’ll let you think about that.”
Which was a great thing to have in my mind, except that the timing wasn’t great, because it was still burning hot in the front of my mind when I got a visit from the last person I wanted to see when I was thinking about having hot, passionate sex with Ryan.
“You’re Brooklyn, right?” the woman said, leaning against the edge of the bar, her expression furrowed. Two women, both probably around fifty, both of them looking uncomfortably like Ryan.
“I understand I’m very popular lately,” I said lightly. “Can I get you girls something to drink?”
The other woman, the taller, thin one with a sun hat and a printed maxi dress, shook her head. “No, that won’t be necessary,” she said. “I’d like to talk to you about Ryan. Do you know where she is?”
At my home waiting for me to get back and fuck her brains out. As much as I desperately wanted to see their reactions if I said so, I wisely kept it to myself. “If I did, I wouldn’t tell it to just anyone.”
The shorter one, who looked a bit younger with rounder features and a softer build, leaned over the bar. “I’m her mother. Elizabeth. This is my sister Helena.”
I couldn’t help it. “Ah, the one who complained to my manager about me.”
Helena pursed her lips like she’d sucked on a lemon. Elizabeth gave her a look. “You lodged a complaint about her?”
“She’s sheltering your daughter somewhere she won’t tell you. Isn’t that literally a crime? Lodging a complaint seems pedestrian.”
“Ryan is very much an adult,” I said, and apparently for this one narrow moment, Elizabeth was on my side, because she made a face.
“I’d rather she be sheltered than not if she’s not staying here.”
Helena ignored her, looking at me. “I don’t want the police to get involved,” she said. “And I don’t want you to lose your job over this. We’re her family. I’m afraid you’ll have to let us know.”
I smiled at her, folding my arms on the counter. “I’m afraid you’ll have to pound sand.”
Helena clearly had never been spoken back to in her life, because her jaw dropped. I gestured around.
“It’s a beach resort. You’ll have no trouble finding sand to pound.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing?” she said. Elizabeth put a hand to her forehead.
“Helena, please calm down. I’m stressed too. She’s my daughter. But we can’t call the police to arrest a bartender over it.”
“She’s taken my niece and is hiding her.”
“Feel free to complain to my manager again,” I said. “She gave me a day off last time you did. I could use a Mai Tai at a sunset beach club.”
Helena leaned over the counter, curling her hands into fists. She looked like a poster for stroke risk, and I just hoped there were enough witnesses around to attest that I didn’t touch her if she up and dropped dead on the spot. “You cannot keep hiding her. You are going to face consequences for this.”
She turned and stormed away before I could say anything to make the situation worse, and Elizabeth looked back after her, sighing hard before she turned back to me. “I’m sorry. We’re just all very stressed right now.”
“From what I understand of the situation, it actually seems pretty easy to get Ryan back,” I said lightly. “Admitting you were wrong is only hard for a second.”
She went through a lot of emotions—clearly not used to admitting she was wrong, but she seemed to have a better attitude about it than her sister, at least, which was a hell of a low bar. Finally, she said, “Can you tell her for me?” she said. “That I’m sorry I made her feel this way, and that I want to talk to her? To make things better?”
I folded my hands on the bar top, eyes narrowed, studying her. She knotted her brows together, eyes softening.
“Please.”
I sighed. “I will,” I said. “But I’m not doing anything more than that. Just relaying the message. What she does with that is her decision to make.”
She shifted. “I just want to make sure the family is okay. There’s a lot going on.”
“I don’t know why you’re telling me. You don’t need to convince me of anything.”
She sighed, turning away. “Right. I guess so.” She hung her head. “Okay. Well. Thank you for telling her. Tell her I’ll be here if she wants to talk. And that I’ll try to listen.”
“I will.” Mostly because she seemed to recognize she was wrong, even if she was having a hard time admitting it out loud. Guess it was a skill you had to practice.
Still, I was a little disappointed. Ryan probably wouldn’t be as keen to have sex after I’d passed along a message from her mother. Maybe later tonight.