Chapter 26
Twenty-Six
“Ican’t believe it was all a prank.”
As they drove home from Jenny’s bachelorette party, Kara couldn’t stop laughing at his outrage.
“You’re all diabolical.”
The more he ranted, the harder she laughed.
“Don’t think I’ll forget about this. I had freaking nightmares for days about strange men touching my fiancée and her liking it. I lost sleep over this, Kara.”
She made a valiant effort to pull herself together. “I’m very sorry.”
“You’re not even kinda sorry.”
That set her off again. She laughed so hard, her sides hurt.
“You were such a nice girl before you started hanging out with the likes of them. I have to get you out of here before you’re totally ruined.”
He just kept making it more difficult to stop laughing with every word he said.
“I think it might be too late.” Kara wiped away tears. “I’m already ruined by the best friends I’ve ever had.”
“Shit.”
“You gotta admit that was pretty funny.”
“It wasn’t funny. Not one bit funny.”
After they enjoyed Jenny and Alex’s wedding and then the McCarthys’ anniversary celebration at Christmastime, the guys got even in January when they were in Anguilla for Evan and Grace’s wedding.
After Finn McCarthy caught the women skinny-dipping, it’d been Mac’s idea for the guys to grab their clothes.
Big Mac suggested that might not be the best idea, but Mac was undeterred.
He was furious about the stripper prank, which had been his wife’s idea, and was determined to get his revenge.
Dan was shocked when Grant agreed to go along with his brother’s plan, as he tended to be the more level-headed of the two brothers.
They snuck down to the beach, where the women could be heard a mile away, screaming, laughing and splashing.
With a good majority of them pregnant and sober, they were having one hell of a time.
Thanks to the full moon shining down on the white sand, the guys could easily pick out the piles of clothes that had been left on the beach.
“There,” Mac whispered, pointing to the clothes. “Let’s go.”
“Boys,” Big Mac said, “I have to tell you… This is not going to end well.”
“Oh come on, Dad,” Grant said. “It’ll be hysterical, and they have it coming after the crap they’ve pulled on us.”
Although Dan agreed with Big Mac that this wouldn’t end well for them, he went with the others when they gathered up the piles of clothes on the beach. He had no idea whose dress and underwear he was holding, but they weren’t Kara’s.
The guys returned, laughing and whispering—loudly—arms loaded with dresses, panties, bras and sandals that they deposited in a pile on the sand.
“I did this once to Abby,” Adam whispered. “I thought she was going to murder me.”
“She will this time for sure,” Frank said.
“I can’t believe Katie is skinny-dipping,” Shane said of his fiancé. “She doesn’t like being naked in the shower.”
“Dude!” Owen said, sending the others into somewhat-silent hysterics. “That’s my sister you’re talking about.”
“Sorry,” Shane said, chuckling.
“No, you’re not.”
“I feel your pain,” Mac said, using his thumb to point to Joe.
“I only speak the truth,” Joe said, “and your sister is one hot mama.”
“Joseph,” Big Mac said. “End it. Now.”
“You’re talking about his precious princess.” Frank patted Joe on the back. “Inferring that you sleep with her is grounds for execution by firing squad.”
“You’re goddamned right it is,” Big Mac growled.
“So what happens now?” their pilot friend Slim asked the mastermind.
“Now, we wait for them to notice,” Mac said.
The ladies were in no apparent rush to end their nocturnal adventure, and the splashing and screaming continued for another fifteen minutes.
“I gotta pee,” Grant said.
“Me, too,” Alex replied.
They left to find the nearest men’s room while the rest of them waited and waited and waited, so long it was almost as if the women knew they were torturing them by dragging it out. They’d be thrilled to hear later that they’d done that without knowing it.
“Kara is going to kill me dead for this,” Dan said, beginning to regret his involvement.
“But what a way to go,” Paul said, grinning.
“We are going to rescue them, aren’t we?” Shane sounded nervous. “I was hoping Katie might actually marry me at some point.”
“Let me tell you something about revenge, young grasshopper.” Mac placed his hand on his younger cousin’s shoulder. “It doesn’t count until they suffer a fraction as much as they made us suffer.”
“But, um, Katie’s gonna be pissed, and I was hoping to get laid like a lot this week.”
“Dude!” Owen’s roar carried across the beach, resulting in silence from the women.
Uh-oh.
“What was that?” Maddie asked.
“Sounded like Owen,” Laura said. “Owen? Are you out there?”
Mac put his hand over Owen’s mouth and glared at him.
“I swear to God,” Stephanie said, “if they’re spying on us, I’m going to neuter Grant.”
“Okay, I’m out,” Grant said as he returned from the men’s room without Alex.
Mac grabbed his arm before he could bail. “No one’s out. We’re all in this to the finish now.”
“She said the word ‘neuter,’” Grant hissed at Mac.
“All talk.” Mac released his brother’s arm. “Stay strong.”
Wary now, the women got out of the water and walked up the beach to discover their clothes were gone.
“Those sons of bitches!” Tiffany’s howl could be heard for miles.
“What?” Katie asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Our clothes are gone.”
The screaming started in earnest at that point.
“Adam McCarthy!” Abby yelled. “Bring me my clothes, or I’ll divorce you.” They’d only just gotten married on New Year’s Eve.
Adam whimpered and tried to pull free of Mac’s iron grip.
“Stay strong,” Mac said to his brother. “She’d never actually divorce you.”
“I’m not so sure,” Adam muttered.
“Can we get a group rate on divorce?” Stephanie asked.
“How could they do this?” Katie asked, sounding slightly hysterical. “What’ll we do?”
“Dan Torrington!” Kara’s voice echoed through the night. “Bring me my clothes, or you’ll never see your favorite parts of me again! Ever!”
“I’m out.” Dan took Kara’s dress off the pile and headed for the beach.
“Don’t look at my wife.” Blaine grabbed Tiffany’s dress and followed Dan. “I’ll fucking shoot anyone who looks at her.”
“Oh come on, you guys,” Mac said as the others followed Dan and Blaine, intending to rescue their women.
“Mac McCarthy, if you can hear me, you’d better get over here right now with my dress, or you’re never, ever, ever having sex again. Ever!”
“Well,” Mac said with a sheepish grin, “this was fun, but might be time to call it a ball game.”
“Someone poke my eyes out right now,” Evan said. “I just came face-to-face with Janey’s boobs.”
“I should get to see Grace’s,” Joe said. “It’s only fair.”
“Not the same thing,” Evan argued. “Those were sister tits. They don’t even count as tits.”
“Oh yes they do,” Joe said.
“Joseph!” Big Mac bellowed.
“I’d like to say for the record that this wasn’t my idea,” Luke said to Sydney as he handed over her dress.
She yanked it out of his hand. “You’re still in big trouble, mister.”
“Uh-oh,” Luke said. “What does this mean for vacation nookie?”
Sydney’s glare answered for her.
“Where’s Alex?” Jenny screamed.
“He had to go pee-pee,” Paul told her.
“Oh my God! Don’t look! I’m going to kill him!”
“I’ll help you,” Stephanie said, using her hands to cover the important parts until her clothes were located.
“I’m not looking,” Paul said to Hope. “I only have eyes for my wife.”
“Who will poke your eyes out of your head if you so much as glance at one of my naked friends,” Hope said.
“Awww, baby, come on. You gotta admit it was funny.”
“Hilarious,” Hope said dryly.
“One of my brothers had better bring me my clothes, or you’re going to see more of your new sister than you ever wanted to,” Mallory said.
She’d recently learned that Big Mac was her father and had become part of the family since she arrived on the island to meet him for the first time.
He’d dated her mother before he met his wife, Linda.
“Got ’em right here,” Grant said to Mallory.
“Ladies.” Maddie beat off Mac’s hands as he tried to help her get dressed. “This means war. No sex for any of them for the entire time we’re here. Who’s in?”
“Me,” every female voice, except for one, said at the same time.
“Not me,” Grace said as she pressed her naked body against Evan and kissed him. He scooped her up and carried her away while the other women called her a traitor and the guys begged them to change their minds.
“Told them it was a bad idea,” Big Mac said, shaking his head. “They never listen to their old man.”
“Especially your oldest one,” Frank said.
“True, but I think his wife can handle him.” Big Mac gestured to Maddie, who was marching Mac off the beach with his arm bent behind his back.
“Looks like she won’t be worshiping at the altar of Mac McCarthy this week,” Joe called after them.
“Did you say that?” Maddie smacked Mac’s shoulder with her free hand.
“You might want to step up the discipline, too, bro,” Adam called after them. “Seems to be working out real well for you.”
“I’m going to kill you,” Maddie growled.
“Come on, baby.” Mac walked on tiptoes as she wrenched his arm even higher on his back. “It’s all in good fun.”
“Don’t you baby me.”
Kara stalked off the beach and headed for their room.
Dan chased after her. “How funny was that?”
She gave him a murderous look over her shoulder.
Uh-oh.
“It wasn’t my idea!”
“You could’ve stopped them.”
“No way. You know how Mac is when he gets a big idea.”
“You didn’t have to participate.”
“I only went along with it to make sure you got your clothes back as fast as possible.”
“You’re making it worse by lying to me.”
“It’s true! Who would’ve brought you your clothes if I wasn’t there to do it?”
“You could’ve tried being the adult in the room.”
“I did! I was overruled.”
She stepped aside outside their door for him to use his key card to get them in. Once in their room, she went straight to the bathroom and slammed the door.
This was not good.
Goddamned Mac.
Dan checked his phone and saw it had blown up with texts from the other guys, who were in the same boat thanks to Mac’s bright idea. At this rate, it would be a frosty week in paradise among their group of friends.
He got undressed and put on a pair of basketball shorts before sitting on the edge of the bed to wait for her. The shower ran for a long time until it was finally shut off. Even then, she didn’t come out. He began to wonder if she would stay in there all night.
Knocking softly on the door, he said, “Kara, I’m sorry. Come out here, will you?”
Five more minutes went by before the door opened and she brushed by him, her face set in a stony expression he’d never seen before.
“I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have done that.”
She whirled around. “Do you think?”
“It was just a prank, honey. Like the strippers…”
“Except with the strippers, you weren’t standing on a beach buck naked in front of all your friends and their partners. Poor Shane McCarthy came face-to-face with my breasts.”
“I’m sure poor Shane McCarthy will be just fine.”
“It’s not funny, Dan!”
“I know.”
“Do you? That was a terrible thing to do to us.”
“Yes, it was, and I’m deeply sorry for going along with it.”
“Are you only sorry because you’re afraid of a sex-free vacation?”
“No, I’m also sorry because you’re seriously upset, and I never want to be the cause of that.”
“And you’re afraid of a sex-free vacation.”
“Come here.” He held out his hand to her. “Please?”
Dan could tell she came to him reluctantly, but kept her arms crossed. “I’m very sorry. I mean it.”
“That was so embarrassing.”
“I know. We shouldn’t have done it.”
“No, you shouldn’t have.”
“Do you forgive me for being part of it?”
“I will. Eventually. But not tonight.”
She went around the bed and got in, keeping her back to his side of the bed.
Great.
Dan went to use the bathroom and brush his teeth. He got in bed and shut off the light, bereft to have her on the far side of the king-sized bed, which felt like a mile from him. That would never do.
He scooted over so he was closer to her and put his hand on her hip. “How am I supposed to sleep without you snuggled up to me like every other night?”
“You should’ve thought about that before you stole my clothes.”
“Yes, I should have. I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Have you?”
“I swear. I’ll never do anything like that again. I promise.”
When she turned toward him, he was filled with relief. He cupped her face and caressed her cheek. “I’m truly sorry.”
“Thank you.”
“I hate when you’re mad with me.”
“I’ve never been this mad with you.”
“I hate it, and I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Good, then I’ll forgive you.”
When she moved to rest her head on his chest, like she did every night, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, vowing to never again do anything that would make her truly mad with him.
“Love you more than anything,” he whispered.
“Love you, too, even when I’m mad with you.”
Hearing that, Dan could sleep.