Chapter 30
In case anyone’s confused, I’ve never had a poison ivy rash on my ass.
Miles
The door to the apartment building flies open and Hazel rushes out. “Sorry, I’m late.”
I capture her wrist before she runs down the sidewalk. “Hold on. You didn’t say hi.”
“Hi, surfer boy. Now, come on. We can’t be late. I want a good seat.”
I palm her neck and draw her near. “This is how you say hello to me.”
I meld my lips to hers. She sighs and I thrust my tongue into her mouth. Her taste hits me and I groan. I could live on her taste alone. I don’t need anything else.
Honk! Honk!
I startle when the car blares its horn and tear my lips from Hazel’s. I glare at the car. My brother, Rhett, waves. I give him the finger.
I thread my fingers through Hazel's and lead her toward the sidewalk. “My brothers are assholes.”
“You won’t hear me argue with you. Remember the time Kai doused your bed with water?”
I groan. “He thought it’d seem as if I wet the bed when I brought you home.”
“No one has that much urine in their bladder.” She giggles and her nose scrunches. I can’t resist kissing it. She pushes me away. “Knock it off. I don’t want to be late.”
“Do you have a story to tell?”
Tonight is the Foam & Fable Storytelling Night at the Five Fathoms Brewing restaurant.
Everyone is encouraged to take the mic and tell a story.
Once the story is finished, the crowd votes on whether the tale is true or bogus.
Or they can merely tell you to ‘walk the plank’, which is a punishment to drink a pint.
At the end of the evening, the crowd votes on who told the best story.
The winner doesn’t have to pay for their meal or drinks.
“I’m not telling.” Hazel mimics zipping her lips.
“You’re afraid I’ll figure out if it’s true or bogus.”
“You’re cute. As if you can tell when I’m lying.”
“Trust me. I can tell when you’re lying.”
She scowls. “If you mention the wrinkle on my forehead again, I’m going to headbutt you.”
I chuckle. “Headbutt me? Someone’s feeling violent tonight.”
“I want to win.”
“Little Miss Competitive strikes again.”
“You’re one to talk,” she mutters but she doesn’t deny her competitive nature. She can’t. I know her too well for her to lie to me and she knows it.
We round the corner and reach the parking lot of Five Fathoms Brewing. The bar and restaurant is in a restored barn, whereas the brewing facilities are across the parking lot.
“Is it my imagination, or did they double the size of their brewing facilities after the hurricane?”
I snort. “If Eli had his way, the size would have quadrupled.”
“I still can’t believe your big brother insisted Paisley brew beer at the distillery. Those two hated each other.”
“And yet they’re now living together and have a baby.”
It gives me hope. If Paisley could forgive Eli for being a jerk in high school, maybe Hazel can forgive me for how I treated her.
“Speaking of Eli.” Hazel points to my big brother and his fiancée.
I groan. “I was hoping to have a night without my family.”
“Why?” She narrows her eyes at me. “Are you embarrassed of me?”
I throw an arm over her shoulders. “More worried about how much they’re going to embarrass me.”
She rubs her hands together. “This sounds promising. Do you think he’ll tell embarrassing baby stories about you?”
“No one can stop us!” Rhett shouts as he escorts Dakota into the restaurant.
“I was already looking forward to tonight, but this is going to be even better than I expected.”
Hazel gazes up at me with a smile on her pretty pink lips and a twinkle in her green eyes. Happiness practically radiates from her. If my being embarrassed by my brothers makes her this happy, my brothers can have at it.
I’ll do anything to make my woman happy. She deserves all the happiness in the world after how I’ve treated her over the past years. But those days are over.
Addy groans when we enter the restaurant. “Are all of the Raider brothers coming tonight?”
I shrug. “No idea.”
She surveys the map of tables. “Okay. I’ll separate you. No Raider next to another Raider.”
Hazel laughs. “Because separating the brothers worked so well at school.”
“I’m doing the best I can here.” Addy grabs two menus and leads us to our table right in front of the stage.
Once we’re alone, Hazel leans across the table. “How much cash did you slip her to get us the best seat in the house?”
“None.”
She raises an eyebrow and I can’t lie to her. I want her to know I’ll always tell her the truth. No matter how bad it makes me look.
“I promised her a discount on her next purchase from the distillery.”
“Good thing you’re the sales manager.”
I open my mouth to make a derogatory comment about my job but close it again when I realize my job isn’t as bad as I thought it was. Especially since I’ve got several trips lined up. Huh. Never thought I’d appreciate my job.
Chloe, the manager of the restaurant, jumps on the stage. “Good evening, smugglers and mermaids!” The crowd erupts in cheers. She waits until everyone settles down. “Are you ready for the Foam & Fable Storytelling Night?”
The crowd goes completely nuts – stomping their feet, whistling, clapping, and shouting. Typical smuggler behavior.
“Our first storytelling smuggler is the one, the only, Eli Raider!”
Eli swaggers past our table. He winks at me. Shit. He’s definitely telling an embarrassing story about me. Good thing Hazel knows most of my embarrassing past. Because she was right there beside me.
Hazel reaches across the table and grasps my hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll stand by your side.”
My chest warms. This is what I want. I want Hazel to stand by my side forever. Through marriage and children and career changes. Through all the hard shit life will throw at us.
I lean over the table to kiss her. “Thank you,” I murmur against her lips.
“You’re my surfer boy. No thanks needed.”
Eli clears his throat. “This is a story about my brother, Miles.” I groan.
I knew it. “All six of us Raider brothers went camping for the weekend.
Zane wanted to become a Boy Scout but Rhett said he could only join if he agreed to go camping for a weekend.
And off the Raider brothers went for a weekend of camping.
Unfortunately, none of us had camped before, so we weren’t exactly prepared.
We forgot all kinds of things – fuel for the camping fire, extra batteries for the flashlights.
But, worst of all, we forgot toilet paper.
No teenage boy who’s been gorging himself on hot dogs and s'mores all day can avoid nature’s call.
Off Miles went to ‘use the facilities’. No one thought anything of it, until a telltale rash appeared a week later. Poison ivy!”
“Bogus!” I shout. “Kai got poison ivy on his ass, not me.”
“Bogus! Bogus! Bogus!” The crowd chants.
“Walk the plank!” Hazel shouts.
Addy arrives with a shot of moonshine and a beer. She hands them to Eli, who frowns before drinking both. He jumps from the stage and walks to his table, where Paisley is laughing at him.
Chloe steps back on stage. “Our next storyteller is Hazel Harris. It’s gonna be outrageous. I’m betting it’s bogus. Here comes Hazel!”
Hazel stands and I squeeze her hand. “Go show them how it’s done.”
“I will.” She winks before moving to the stage and grabbing the mic.
“Here is the tale of the moonshine watermelon bomb.” She narrows her eyes at the crowd. “It’s so unbelievable, it’s true.”
“Bogus!” Kai shouts. I search the crowd until I find him. He waves and I scratch my forehead with my middle finger.
“Like all great tales, this one started innocent enough. I wanted to make a watermelon soaked in moonshine for the Fourth of July. Except the fourth arrived and I forgot all about my poor, innocent watermelon.
Until the next weekend, when I needed a dish to bring to Sunday dinner with the family.
I barely had a chance to set the watermelon on the table before Thomas arrived with a big knife to slice it open.
He barely touched the watermelon before the thing exploded like it was harboring bootleg fireworks.
Seeds flew everywhere. The grill was covered in watermelon guts. Everyone screamed.
And I swear to Poseidon, a seagull took a direct hit and came back for vengeance. The next thing we know, we’re under aerial assault. Seagulls diving for us, pooping everywhere. It was a massacre. Sticky. Terrifying. Beautiful.”
“Bogus!” Zane shouts.
Hazel lifts her eyebrow. “If the crowd claims my story is bogus, but it’s true, I automatically win.”
“She’s bluffing!” Rhett shouts.
The crowd takes up a chant. “Bogus! Bogus! Bogus!”
Hazel smirks as she pulls out her phone. “Good thing I have proof.”
Chloe rushes to help her attach her phone to the beamer, and soon enough, a video of seagulls attacking a picnic is showing. Thomas stands in the middle of the chaos, covered in watermelon as seagulls divebomb him.
Chloe grabs Hazel’s wrist and raises her arm in the air. “We have a winner!”
Hazel bows before returning to our table, where I sweep her into my arms and meld my lips to hers. “Congrats, Blaze.”
“Do not shove your hard dick into me. We’re staying. We eat and drink for free all night.”
My cock whimpers but I bark out a laugh. This is my woman. Crazy. Impulsive. Fun as hell. And sexy as can be. I don’t mind spending the entire night watching her brag about her win to the other Smugglers. I’ll probably end up in a fist fight.
Worth it. She’s worth everything.