Chapter 3
“ G uys, you will not believe what happened,” I squeal as my feet hit the dock, running from the cottage to the pier. “I just barged in on a fucking hot man!” I yell. “There’s a renter!”
All my girlfriends squeal and start talking at once, but one voice cuts through.
“Get your ass back up that hill and invite him on this boat,” Kelsey—my best friend for so many reasons—demands.
“Tell us everything,” Sarah says with a smirk.
“You guys know my type,” I remind them with a shrug.
“So, he’s not blond.” Sarah laughs.
“Get out of here,” Kelsey chides, pulling down her sunglasses to flash me a mischievous look. “No fucking way there is a six-foot-two, brown-haired, blue-eyed buff guy at your aunt’s house right now.”
I smirk.
“Again.” She waves her arm toward the house. “Get your ass back there.”
“I didn’t know what to do!” I laugh, still breathless from sprinting down to the lake after that encounter.
“I barged in and was completely stunned that someone was there—and a hot someone. Honestly, I have no idea what I said. You’re all lucky I managed to grab these.
” I pass out the cups, and Kelsey divides the chilled white wine between the four of us.
“We all know you won’t be getting any ass living at home, and here is an opportunity on a silver platter,” Sam adds, leaning back in her seat. She glares at me, saying without saying she knows I need this.
Not all of us can be in long-term, great relationships like her. I’ve never even had a healthy one. I’ve had one boyfriend. Well … that’s a lie. I’ve had one chaotic attachment, Sorin, and that was a disaster.
“Seriously, when was the last time you got laid?” Kelsey asks, adjusting her barely there “tanning bikini.”
“Well …” I say, my voice trailing off sadly.
“For fuck’s sake,” Kelsey nearly screams. “You need to get off this boat right now and tap that.”
“We’ll wait,” Sarah adds with a laugh.
“Cheers to that,” Sam says, raising her glass. I shake my head, knowing how serious they are.
“Yeah, right!” I start the boat, and my friends untie the ropes from the pier.
As we cruise across the lake at a good pace toward our favorite tanning spot, Big Foot Beach, I think about how ridiculous it is that I’m back here for the summer. I made a lot of bad decisions to end up in this place again.
Why do I always lose myself in the addiction of the moment?
Shirts was a three-year, all-consuming obsession, my chance to get rich—if only it had worked out.
But when the menswear company couldn’t make payroll in April, I was unemployed, unable to pay rent, and unhappily facing the reality that I couldn’t afford to stay in Chicago.
Suddenly, I became the living embodiment of everything I said I’d never be: unsuccessful and broke. But to everyone’s surprise—especially mine—my parents offered to let me stay with them until I got back on my feet.
Who could forget the Summer of 2017? Not me and definitely not my parents. When I was twenty, my fling with a local drug dealer and hot mess of a man—Sorin—almost ruined me. I nearly skipped studying abroad to stay with him. I shake my head, thinking about that summer, my last summer in Wisconsin,
“Let’s hope he doesn’t call my aunt.” I sigh. “That would screw up my work-from-home daughter situation.” I imitate a man’s voice, “Yeah, there was this random chick in a bikini who broke into the house.”
“That would go over well,” Kelsey says sarcastically, and we all take big sips of our drinks.
“So, how long are you back for? Sam asks.
“For the summer. I need twenty-five thousand dollars, and I’ll feel secure.”
“Is Chicago that expensive?” Sarah asks, shocked. “That’s a lot of money.”
“Life is expensive.”
Kelsey cocks her head. “You really need that much to move back?”
“I’ll need two months’ rent to get a lease, plus I’ll have to show I’m making money, which right now I’m not making much. I’m doing PR consulting for a couple of small brands.” I sigh, the stress of existing returning.
I leave out how my parents wouldn’t cosign a lease for me. I asked, and that’s yet another reason why I’m back here.
“I’m not on my parents’ insurance like all of you,” I add. “Insurance is a lot! Plus, student loans and everything else.”
They all nod, and I put the boat in neutral, arriving at Big Foot Beach. Sarah throws the anchor, and we stretch out on the boat with our oversized sunglasses and a growing buzz. As we listen to a top hits playlist, I can’t stop thinking about him.
The Renter reminds me of Henry Cavill before he got super buff and that other actor, Antony Starr.
Like a well-preserved, soon-to-be silver fox in his forties.
He has that runner or boxer’s build with lean muscles.
I think about his body and mentally replay my quick scan of him from earlier in slow motion.
Damn, The Renter might be exactly what I need.
“So, are you going to flirt with that guy or not?” Sam asks.
“Why do you care so much?”
“I want to live vicariously through you—single lady.” She giggles.
I almost tease her, but Sam’s one of those rare cases of finding her soulmate in high school. They’re not engaged yet, but she and her boyfriend are perfect for each other.
“I really want to know …” Kelsey starts, looking over at me. “When was the last time you hooked up with someone?”
“There was this consultant a few months ago. We had a three-week fling while he was in Chicago on a project.” I smirk, remembering all the hotel room sex we had. That was a fun fling.
“A few months ago?” Sarah questions. “Is that, like, five months ago or longer?”
“Longer.”
“Dani!” they practically yell in unison.
“What?”
“Girl, you need to get laid.” Kelsey giggles. “What about before The Consultant ? We never hear you talk about guys.”
“Shirts was my guy. It didn’t leave much room for dating, you know?” Even now, the thought of all those long hours spent being a marketing team of one, doing more work than anyone else, stings. Three years of my life—gone like that.
“What about dates?” Sarah presses.
“I’ve turned a lot down.”
“Why?” Sam asks.
“Because none of the guys seemed like marriage material.”
“You’re silly.” Sarah laughs. “You can go out with a guy just to go out. It doesn’t have to be serious.”
“No thanks,” I sass and take a drink. “Why waste my time?”
“So, why didn’t you and the consultant keep seeing each other?” Kelsey asks.
“He definitely had a girlfriend in New York.”
“Dani,” Sarah breathes, scolding me.
“I didn’t know until later in our fling.”
The girls all give me a judging look, correctly assuming I kept seeing him even after I found out. “The sex was fucking good, okay? It was just a fling.”
“The Renter.” Kelsey giggles. “Sounds like he could be a fling. You’ve got an excuse to see him again. You have to return the cups.”
“Ooh! We’re cooking here,” Sam says, and I nod in agreement. “Your parents are still planning to drive us all home, right?”
“Right,” I say. My parents, likely already regretting their decision to let me regress with them this summer, had already planned on being our designated drivers. They know all too well what happens when we get together. “But how do we give them the boat and still get me back to The Renter ?”
We usually take the boat out in Williams Bay, and The Renter is in Fontana.
“Food!” Sarah yells, jumping out of her literal seat in buzzed excitement. “Tell them we want to get dinner at Charlie’s.”
“Great idea!” Kelsey shouts, with a slight slur, and I realize my friends have been drinking a lot more than me today. I tap my fingers on my thigh. I’ve had four drinks. That’s enough, I mentally tell myself. I don’t need any more.
“See if your parents are cool with you leaving the boat at your aunt’s dock while we’re at Charlie’s, and you can head up to the cottage,” Sam suggests. “We eat, maybe you get eaten.” The girls all burst out laughing.
Kelsey chimes in, “My sister can pick us up after, too.”
“Let me see if there are any guest slips I can reserve for the night.” I nod, warming up to the idea. “One left!” The stars are aligning here. This could actually work. “You seriously want me to parade myself back up there and be like, ‘Let’s fuck’?”
In unison, they yell, “Let’s fuck!” at the top of their lungs. I’ve missed my best friends, and with that, we have a plan influenced by seltzers, sun, and seduction.