Chapter 36
Paisley – a woman who’s not always as cool, calm, and analytical as she appears
Paisley
I finish the pH test of the next batch of Summer Ale and check the time. Darn it. I’m late again. I clean up the lab as quickly as possible.
When I arrive at Maya’s house, it’s already crowded. I search for Maya and Caleb but I don’t find them. I set my housewarming present next to the pile on the table and go in search of a beer.
“There you are,” Sophia says when I enter the kitchen.
I start to push my glasses up my nose but fist my hand to stop myself. Pushing my glasses up my nose is a nervous habit. I realize this but I haven’t been able to break the habit.
“Where else would I be?”
“In your lab.”
“Someone has to actually make the beer for Five Fathoms. Otherwise, you would have nothing to market. ”
She sighs. “I didn’t mean to offend you. But you work too hard. You need to get out more often.”
And do what? It’s not as if I have a loved one to spend time with. Or a family who I enjoy hanging out with. Plus, all of my friends are now partnered off and have less time for me.
Besides, I enjoy brewing beer. It’s fun to think up different flavors. Or play with the amount of hops. It’s like having a gigantic chemistry set to play with.
“I enjoy my work.”
She threads her arm through mine. “You’re here now. Let’s have some fun.”
I drag my feet. “What kind of fun?”
My friends are troublemakers. Don’t get me wrong. I love them to pieces. They are supportive and don’t judge me. But they are troublemakers to their bones.
“Don’t worry. We won’t end up in jail.”
“You always claim we won’t end up in jail. Just because your brother is a police officer, doesn’t mean you can commit crimes without worrying about being punished,” I say as she drags me toward Chloe and Nova.
“My husband’s a cop,” Chloe says. “A very sexy cop.” She waggles her eyebrows.
Nova sighs. “My fiancé is sexy, too.”
My stomach burns as jealousy hits me. I push it down the same way I always do. I’m happy my friends have found love. But love is not for me. I’ve learned my lesson. And I’m an excellent student. I don’t need to repeat the class.
“Where are Maya and Caleb? ”
Sophia points down the hallway. “In their bedroom.”
It’s a good thing I know the burning in my stomach isn’t an actual medical condition. Otherwise, I would worry I’m getting an ulcer.
“Good for them. They’re enjoying themselves. Perhaps we should vacate the premises.”
Nova glances around before leaning close to whisper. “They’re not getting down and dirty.”
My brow wrinkles. “What are they doing?”
“Caleb had another ‘incident’.”
I frown. Caleb has panic attacks. I assume they’re a result of post-traumatic stress disorder from his time in the military. He recently discovered he cannot resume his active military duty status with the Army. The news has triggered him.
“Maya’s tending to him?”
Nova nods. “She’s good for him.”
“Duh.” Chloe rolls her eyes. “Those two have been in love since high school.”
“I’m glad they finally got over their shit,” Sophia says.
Their shit was not easy to get over with. Maya’s father basically chased Caleb away with a pack of lies. Needless to say, Maya’s father is a piece of shit.
We’ve tried and tried to convince Maya to cut off contact with her parents but she longed for their love. Until Caleb came back to town and showed her what real love is. I know Caleb has issues and he’s not perfect, but I will love him forever for showing my friend she deserves better.
“Speaking of shit to get over.” Nova points to Eli .
“What is he doing here? Caleb couldn’t have possibly invited him.”
I watch as he prowls through the room as if he owns it. Must be nice to be a billionaire who thinks the world owes him.
When no one answers my question, I return my attention to my friends. They’re all sporting blank faces. Which means they’re up to no good.
I aim my attention at Nova. She’s the weak link here. Sophia and Chloe will never crack. They’ll spend a night in jail before they admit to any wrongdoing. Ask me how I know.
Nova begins to squirm under my attention.
“Nova,” Sophia warns.
“Don’t make me tell Hudson you knew you could get pregnant,” Chloe adds.
Nova narrows her gaze on Chloe. “Hudson has been to every doctor’s appointment with me. He knows I had an IUD and didn’t realize it needed to be replaced.”
I latch onto the opportunity to change the subject away from Eli. I may want to know why he’s here but I want to ignore him more. “How did you not know?”
She throws her arms in the air. “I wasn’t paying attention. It’s not as if I was having tons of sex.”
I purse my lips. “Having sex is immaterial. You’re a woman. You should be aware of your contraception requirements.”
“Contraception requirements?” Chloe groans. “Way to make sex sound boring.”
Natalia, who’s standing a few feet away, perks up at the word sex. She creeps closer .
“Sex is never boring. Is Lucas doing it wrong? Do you need a new set of handcuffs?” Sophia waggles her eyebrows.
“Gross,” Natalia shouts before rushing away.
Sophia glares at me. “Why didn’t you tell me Natalia was behind me?”
“She needs to learn not to eavesdrop.”
Chloe snorts. “The way you did?”
I purse my lips. “I only eavesdropped on Flynn and Sophia because you told me if I didn’t, you’d hack into the school’s database and change all my grades to D minus.”
“Joke’s on you. I don’t know how to hack.”
“I realize this. But you are beautiful. All you have to do is snap your fingers and men will do whatever you ask of them.”
Chloe wrinkles her nose. “Lucas doesn’t do whatever I ask.”
Nova smiles. “Which is why he’s perfect for you.”
“I don’t know. A little sex slave, who I can order around, might be fun.”
“Excuse me.” Lucas snatches Chloe’s wrist. “I need to speak to my wife.”
“Oh, goodie. I’m in trouble.” Chloe giggles as he herds her away.
A baby cries and Nova sighs. “Speaking of trouble.”
Hudson arrives with baby Iliana in his arms. “I think she’s hungry.”
“Which is the only time you allow me to cuddle my own daughter.” Hudson hands Nova the baby and they disappear down the hallway .
“We’re finally alone.” Sophia rubs her hands together. “What do you want to do first? Replace the potato chips with kale chips? Swap out all of Maya’s pictures for pictures of mermaids? Put a toilet sign on the door to the creepy basement? Put clear plastic wrap across the door to the kitchen? Start a drinking game? What about using that app you developed to cause the lights to flicker and scare everyone? Place whoopee cushions on the chairs? Stick googly eyes on everything in the bathroom?”
“Do you have any kale chips?” She shakes her head. “What about pictures of mermaids? A toilet sign? Whoopee cushions? Googly eyes?”
“Those suggestions might not work. But the others were good ideas.”
I lift my eyebrow. “Really? You’re going to put plastic wrap across the door to the kitchen without anyone noticing?”
She shrugs. “We can play a drinking game. Or cause the lights to flicker.”
“Didn’t Flynn forbid you from playing drinking games?”
“Flynn doesn’t own me.”
“I’m not scaring people with flickering lights. It’s nearly hurricane season.”
Someone behind me claps and I whirl around to find out who it is. Damn. It’s Eli. I quickly whirl back around to continue my conversation – inane though it is – with Sophia but she’s disappeared.
My friends suck. They abandoned me at this party knowing I don’t want to get caught alone with Eli, the douchebag.
“Paisley’s ruining everyone’s fun again. ”
I turn around to face him. I don’t want to be near him but I won’t hide. Other than the time I hid behind the bar at the Bootlegger. But that was an emergency. I didn’t realize he was back on the island. I hadn’t had the chance to prepare myself to see him.
I cross my arms over my chest. “Would you rather pee into a toilet wrapped in plastic wrap?”
“Sophia didn’t suggest tampering with the toilets.”
I narrow my eyes. “How long have you been eavesdropping on my conversation?”
“I wasn’t eavesdropping. This is a party. I’m mingling. You should know better. You’re an excellent eavesdropper.”
My face warms. Does he know I heard him all those years ago back in high school?
“Except when the door to the boy’s locker room opened up and you fell inside.” He chuckles.
The warmth on my cheeks spreads down my neck. Ending up on your hands and knees in a boy’s locker room filled with seventeen-year-old boys was not my finest moment.
“It was a dare.”
“You do realize you don’t have to actually perform the dare. You can say no.”
“I’m aware.”
“Of course you are.” He rolls his eyes. “Paisley the Perpetual Know It All knows everything.”
I spit daggers out of my eyes at him. How dare he? “We are no longer adolescents. Childhood nicknames are inappropriate.”
He barks out a laugh. “Still sensitive.”
“Enough!”
Everyone stops speaking and I realize I shouted. Stupid Eli. He makes me irate. Whereas I can usually keep my cool in all circumstances. Even when a chemistry experiment is exploding and the entire high school has to evacuate.
I have his attention now, though. I might as well make things absolutely clear.
“I’ve had enough of you teasing me and degrading me. Smuggler’s Hideaway is a small island but there’s still enough space for us to avoid each other. In other words.” I lean close to him. “Stay away from me.”
I don’t give him a chance to answer before I march away, straight out the door. Maya hollers my name but I ignore her. Today is her day. I’m not going to ruin it by disemboweling Eli in her living room. Cleaning up blood is such a chore.