Chapter Nine
Kaylee had openly encouraged strippers because she was cool like that, but finding one around here was like a hot, sunny day in Maine—suspiciously uncommon. So we stuck to the classics: burgers, booze, card games, and darts.
As the night went on, all I could think about was Maisie. She was in my town and here I was, wasting my time with guys I could see any day of the week. I knew the fastest way to get to Maisie was through Kaylee, so I suggested we crash the bachelorette party.
“You have to go over there! That’s half the fun!” I goaded Harley, punching him in the shoulder from where I sat with him at a rounded card table.
“I want to see Kaylee.” He smiled over the rim of his glass of bourbon with glassy eyes. “I love her so much, dude. She smells so good.” He dramatically lifted his chin to sniff the air. “I want to smell her. She’s so soft and warm. And funny! God, she’s so funny. Life is so good when she’s around.” He snorted as Noah, our designated driver, started to laugh at him.
I hadn’t seen Harley this drunk since we’d stolen moonshine in high school. Seeing such a big, serious guy this hammered was unnatural. Like seeing a dog walk on its front legs or the inside of a bowling ball. Some things just felt wrong to witness.
The main difference was his older brother, Carson, was drinking with us and he was a surprisingly bad influence. From where he sat across the table, he said something to Harley in Greek that sounded mildly teasing as he poured water and a clear liquor called Ouzo into long, slender shot glasses.
“Yasas!” they’d cheered together in Greek before gagging it down.
Carson pounded his chest with a cough. “Dear god, that’s it for me.”
“I want cheese fries,” Noah said. “Dane is right. We should go find the girls.”
A few more of Harley’s friends from college murmured in agreement around the table.
In a delayed reaction, Harley slurred, “Cheese fries? Fuck yes! Let’s go!”
Tilly’s was busy for a Thursday night. As we walked in, Azalea was singing into a karaoke mic, causing Noah to crack into a wide grin as he watched her.
“Go find your friend ,” I joked.
“Shut up,” he said, straightening his posture and running his hand through his light ash-brown hair.
Carson took a seat, pulling Rosie onto his lap with a drunken grin.
Kaylee and Maisie let out high-pitched squeals then hollered, “Lumber daddyyyyy!” the second they saw Harley.
He ducked his head, blushing as he made his way to Kaylee. They melted into a quiet pool of drunken, mushy hugs and murmurs.
“Baby!” She giggled as he nuzzled her neck. “I’ve never seen you drunk!”
Harley looked at her with a dopey smile then whispered something in her ear.
He really adored that woman. I’d admit, their love story was unconventional. They’d been snowed in his cabin together after he’d rescued her from a car wreck. She’d almost killed Hagrid, the town moose. When she’d moved here without dating him in the real world, I’d had my reservations about how long they’d last, but it had quickly become apparent that Kaylee was good for Harley. And he was good for her. He kept her wild ass mostly safe.
As our best friends canoodled, Maisie and I looked each other up and down. I was in jeans and a nice shirt. Tonight, she was wearing combat boots, a little black skirt that barely covered her perfect ass, and a cropped Chicago Bulls vintage T-shirt. A piece of metal coiled around her neck in an intricate necklace, and her dark hair was half up in tiny buns on either side of her head. Shimmery lilac eyeshadow filled her lids along with wispy eyelashes that fluttered each time she blinked. It was like a faerie going to a rave in the 90s, kind of funky and unexpected. And the way her flat stomach and hip bones peeked out between her skirt and the rough edge of her shirt was driving me fucking crazy. I wanted to nip those hips.
“You guys aren’t supposed to be here,” she snapped.
“Thanks for the warm welcome,” I said wryly.
Miffed at my snub, she put her hand on her hip as she popped it. “Wow, Dane! I’m so glad you pulled yourself up from licking some tourist’s twat to join us. Your presence is such a gift!” she said loud enough for people to notice. Both the bachelor and bachelorette crowd paused what they were doing to eavesdrop.
“I dunno, most tourists seem to be just fine with my presence and unique gifts .”
"Oh, I’m sure they flock here just to fuck you. Nothing says sexy like Maine. Get real. New England isn't hot. You probably sound like a Kennedy when you come."
The crowd chuckled around us.
"Well, based on how sexually frustrated your ex-husband left you, it's safe to say not everything is bigger in Texas,” I shot back.
Some of the girls gasped along with her at that one. I swore her eye twitched. “You know what we do have in common though?”
I steeled myself. “What’s that, darlin’?”
“We’re both in the business of making sure dried-up premenopausal cougars don’t burn their clits off with ancient vibrators.”
The guys behind me exploded in howls of laughter, swatting my back.
She went on with a lethal squint, “Except, I actually get paid in the process. You just get chlamydia”
Kaylee pulled on her shoulder. “Hey, take it down a notch. This is Harley’s best friend you’re talking about.”
“Keep going!” Carson drunkenly bellowed from his seat. Rosie’s hand covered his mouth as she buried her face in his neck to hide her laugh.
“Is it really that bad if I take women out and show them a good time? If I give them a few orgasms and stolen moments of peace where the world isn't asking anything of them for once?”
Maisie rolled her eyes. “Oh sure, you're saving divorced women one pump at a time.”
Noah held up his finger. “He usually dates women around his age or younger. Usually brunette and—”
“Noah!” Harley and I shouted in unison, cutting him off.
I continued to glare at my friend. “Not helpful,” I added, frustrated at his overly literal ass.
Harley went on, “Maisie, that was a low blow. I think you owe him an apology.”
Instead, she stepped closer to me, damn near chest to chest as she glared up at me with nothing but pure audacity. I stared down at her, wishing I didn’t find it attractive. I couldn’t look away. The entire bar blurred and all I cared about was her. She could make me feel so free yet fucked at the same time. Only I got her wrath. But I couldn’t forget the fleeting moments I’d had in the forest with her. When I’d had nothing but her surrender.
“Look at them, it’s like two alley cats in heat about to pounce on each other,” Azalea muttered to Noah.
“My money is on the smaller one,” Noah mumbled back, causing Azalea to snort.
“Hey! Take this shit outside!” Bronn yelled at us, whipping his bar rag around. “Your little lover’s quarrel is causing a scene.”
We barely ripped our eyes away from one another long enough to charge outside in heated silence. I led her to behind Tilly’s, where an old wooden fence was half covered in ivy and a streetlight cast an amber-hued spotlight on one side of her face.
“I’m sorry for slut shaming you in front of everyone, but god damn, do you have to be everywhere in this fucking town? You’re always ambushing me, wanting to talk,” she said through gritted teeth before taking a tense sip of her drink.
“I know I hurt your feelings last autumn, and your friend is getting married, and it’s really not an ideal time to work this shit out.”
“You’re right about that,” she said, staring at her drink as she swirled it around in her glass.
A pause spread between us, only filled with far-off murmurs from inside the tavern and the occasional car. I’d spent months wanting to talk to her, and now that I could, I didn’t know where to start. It was this tangled mess of misunderstandings and unsaid desires.
Her gaze lifted back to mine. “But you’re impatient enough to push it.”
“Right. I get it, Maze. I’m a bad man. I’m selfish and pushy, but god dammit, I don’t want to wonder what could’ve been. And I know it doesn’t make sense, but everything in me wants to protect you and care for you. To just be around you. It’s that simple.”
“Dane,” she whispered.
“I only got a sliver of time with you, and it wasn’t enough. Just a couple hours at that party and you changed me. You rocked me to the core, and I don’t know why. All I know is you don’t remember it as fondly as I do, but—”
“Don’t.” She stepped closer to me, her lips tight as she fought to hold back whatever words threatened to spill out.
“Don’t what?”
Her chin quivered before she swallowed her emotions. “Don’t speak for me. For the past nine months, I’ve thought of you often. I remember that night fondly. Right up until . . .”
I swallowed hard. “Yeah.”
Her mouth sagged. “I don’t know how to move on either. And all I have are questions. Why was it so easy to let my guards down that night? Why did kissing you feel so fucking good? Why can’t I stop thinking about you even though you absolutely humiliated me? Do you think I enjoyed our time apart?” She sucked in a ragged breath. “Because I didn’t. At all.”
Hearing she was just as miserable as I was gave me a shred of hope.
With her legs and midriff exposed to the night air, she was trembling slightly with a chill. I opened my arms as an invite for warmth and was half shocked when she clutched her glass to her chest and stepped into my embrace. I ran my hands up and down her back and sides as she fought a shiver.
“I’ve got you,” I murmured as she curled into me, resting her head against my chest, still shaking.
I breathed her in, loving her sweet scent and how she felt in my arms.
When she pulled back, her eyes searched for something in mine, but I didn’t know what. I couldn’t promise her love or to say the right thing. I could only offer up myself and my time. But I knew that wasn’t enough.
A crow flew over us with a loud squawk at the same time as Bronn threw open the back door to toss a crate. Both made Maisie jump, dropping her drink, shattering glass everywhere.
“Shit!” she hissed, assessing the carnage.
“Unfuckingbelievable,” Bronn muttered under his breath.
“If you bring me a fucking broom, I’ll handle it, dude!” I barked at him. Turning my attention back to Maisie, I saw a shard of glass balancing on the edge of her combat boot, about to slice open her shin.
“Wait, hold still,” I urged.
“It’s fine. I’ll kick it off,” she said, shooing my hand away. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Both of our frantic actions caused the glass to cut my left middle finger. I fought a wince and tried to play it cool, but she saw the blood pooling out.
“Dane!” she said, cupping my hand in hers.
“It’s nothing. You should see what happens to me at work.”
“Nonsense!” she said with an adorable huff as she led me back into Tilly’s, where she parked us at a pub table so she could clean up my hand. I didn’t hate watching her fuss over me. She was so gentle as she dabbed at the blood with a cloth napkin dipped in cool water. And her lips were unintentionally enticing as she blew on the cut after using liquid bandage she’d gotten from a server. She continued to cradle my hand on the pub table when her ministrations were over, a concerned look softening her features.
“Thank you.”
One side of her mouth lifted. “Don’t mention it. Can I buy you a drink?”
I chuckled. “Let me, yours was destroyed.”
I knew she didn’t usually drink alcohol. If I remembered correctly, her mom was an alcoholic, but I figured it was a special occasion, so that was reason enough.
“If you insist.” Her beautiful face radiated in a dreamy smile as she gave my hand a final squeeze.
“Oh, look who made up!” Kaylee teased as we joined her and Harley at the bar. Maisie bashfully shook her head and stayed by me, not giving Kaylee any more material to work with.
While Poe drunkenly told the group a story, Maisie’s eyes flicked to someone across the bar, then her gaze traced behind me. Gnawing at her bottom lip, she positioned herself in front of me, using me as a shield.
“Everything okay?” I discreetly mumbled in her ear, rubbing my hand up and down her arm.
“Um, yeah.” She fought to pull her eyes from whatever she was seeing.
I looked over my shoulder, but with the tavern packed, I couldn’t narrow it down.
Kaylee slid past us, grabbing Maisie’s shoulder to break her from her spell. “Are you ready to dance?” She wiggled her blonde eyebrows.
“You bet your sweet ass I am!” She took Kaylee’s hand and shimmied onto the dance floor. I hung back for a second, purely enjoying the show as Harley pulled up next to me.
“I’m going to marry that girl,” he said with a proud tone.
I slapped him on the back. “I’m happy for you.”
Without a word, we both watched as they pranced around before committing to some mash-up of line-dancing and twerking.
Another drink in and I could’ve sworn I was hallucinating when Azalea came out of nowhere, jiggling a hot dog.
“It’s time for swing the weenie!” she exclaimed with glee.
“Isn’t that what got Harley in this situation?” I said, causing a few laughs.
“Look at Zay grip that sausage. Get it, girl!” Kaylee said to Maisie, causing more laughter as Azalea playfully stroked it with a wink.
Noah cleared his throat, unable to look away from Azalea’s grip.
“Okay,” Azalea continued, “so for this game, you tie a string around a hot dog and then you tie the other side of the string around your waist like a belt.” Demonstrating, she attached her string, letting the hot dog dangle down the front of her, freely hanging between her knees. “Then you have to swing the weenie to hit this golf ball into the goal.”
To the side of our group were two long strips of AstroTurf with putt-putt golfing goals at the end of each. Azalea plopped a golf ball down and bent her knees, bucking her hips, causing the hot dog to sail forward to skim the ball.
Kaylee and Maisie lost it, snorting and almost falling over in a giggle fit, knocking over a couple stools in the process as Azalea continued relaying the rules. “You have to keep your hands on your hips”—she paused for a determined thrust—“to move your weenie closer to the goal.”
“Then what?” I asked, unable to tamper down my competitive streak as I tied the sausage around my body.
“Whoever gets their ball in the hole first with their weenie wins.”
Maisie wiped away a tear from her red face. “That sentence has never been muttered in English, I can assure you!”
Azalea shimmied her hips. “Right? It’s so fun though! Harley, are you going against Dane?”
“I think I need another drink,” he replied.
Noah stepped up to plate.
“The hole is your goal!” Maisie heckled.
I stared downward. “Hold on! I’m just trying to synch up my meats,” I said, swaying my hips.
“Oh my god!” Kaylee bellowed in horror, realizing what I meant.