dibs (6 page)

Rose? His words ricocheted off the shield around my heart. His shadow cast over me, blocking the sun, and he bent down resting his hands on the arms of my chair.

Instinctively, I glanced up. There it was again—every ocean and sea reflected in his eyes—a hypnotizing mix of every possible blue. It was a mistake looking up.

“Your eyes,” I whispered, but that’s all I could get out before I lowered my eyes to my plate, no longer hungry.

There was no part of me that was prepared for him to lift my chin with his index finger. I’d not been touched so gently by a man in so long.

“Rose. Your eyes are full of desire and longing, I see it.”

I shook my head, trying to negate his spot-on, accurate words. “No, Jack, it’s like floaters and sadly probably future glaucoma.”

His dimples broke into full-blown mode with the killer watt smile as he backed away shaking his head.

“My name’s not Rose,” I said.

“Noted. Nor is mine Jack.” He slid his aviators over the most magical eyes I’d ever seen and swaggered away, leaving me wanting him even more.

***

Four spicy Bloody Mary’s later, I ran smack into the girls in the hallway while I was making my way back to the cabin. Their swimsuits were on, towels in tow and they reeked of sunscreen.

“RULE 44. When a drunk friend is in need, you can’t say no! In one of our rooms, now.”

“You’re drunk?”

“You drank that much? Oh My God! What’s wrong?” Kat whispered with concern.

“It’s ten in the morning!” Juls squawked. “It was him!” She said
him
with excitement oozing from her tone.

I snatched the key from Juls, who held it out with eyes so wide she looked stupid. “I need bottled water. Acute liver failure.”

Kat snickered behind me. “Trust me, alcohol is not foreign to your liver…It’s fine.”

Once in the cabin, I fell face first on Juls’ bed as my head spun.

“His name’s not Jack.”

“OK. Who said it was Jack?”

“The skinny little young blond bitch that yelled, Jaaaack, last night.”

“Somebody likes him,” Kat sang.

Irritated, I peeked up to find them both still standing. “Who wouldn’t like Thor? He’s a damn delicious super hero who is probably hung like a show horse. Why are you two standing? You act like this problem is only going to take thirty seconds.”

Juls rolled her eyes. Rolled. Her Eyes. “I’m out of here. Really, Sam, I feel terribly sorry for you that the enchanting and hot Thor is coming on to you. That must be really difficult.”

I narrowed my eyes.

“Look, Bitter Betty, you know this is hard for me.”

Kat stepped back, giving me a full visual of Juls, whose shoulders slumped.

“I know. I do. Why not have fun with this guy for two weeks? Why not use the hell out of him? Let him be your rebound guy. Then you go back to California, tell Bryan that he is a thing of the past, not just on paper, but in your heart too.”

My one eyebrow shot up. “I’m already over Bryan. And did fucking the Dallas Cowboys defensive line help you?”

Kat’s hand slapped over her mouth and Juls’ eyes flickered to some shade of black.

“There were two of them. That’s all, Ms. Exaggeration,” Juls growled.

I shrugged and got up feeling woozy from the vodka. “At. The. Same. Time.”

“OK, Sam!” she shouted and stood abruptly. “Just because your sexual experience consists of…BRYAN…doesn’t mean the rest of us haven’t indulged.”

“Or overindulged,” Kat threw in, and Juls head spun like Regan from The Exorcist. Kat and I both waited for green vomit to spew from her mouth.

“You both can suck it.”

Kat and I both rolled our lips under fighting our smiles. I loved when we manhandled Julia together.

The hurt that had rocked me to the core a few years ago crept back into my body. I truly thought it was banished from my system after therapy for so long. Months and months of purging the hate and deception.

After the girls left, I lay there trying to pull myself together. Yet, for some reason the thoughts of Bryan and I being high school sweethearts kept going through my mind. I so thought we’d work at the time. Truth is, I wasn’t sure I wanted to marry him. Signs were there, even when we dated, that he was a cheater, but everyone expected us to get married. Sad really, how a proposal never really even happened; we just sort of planned and did it. And though Jake is the best thing that ever happened to me, and Bryan is an okay father…I learned before we were even married that he had a hard time keeping his dick in his pants.

I rolled over and stared out the balcony, thinking about the times in med school when I had caught him—three different times…yes three. Not one. Not two. But three times, I had suspicions…knew the truth…but I was so busy and distracted that I justified and rationalized his behavior. I certainly wasn’t being the attentive wife. I’d come home exhausted, and that was if I came home at all. Sixteen years married…a fifteen year old son.

It’s hard to wish I’d done things differently because that would insinuate I wasn’t happy with Jake. He was my life. The reason I was born…

After a short nap, I joined the girls, this time by the adult pool, which meant naked people. This would certainly make for comical entertainment for the afternoon. Kat lounged peacefully in her chair and Juls was…my eyes roamed over the deck of the boat. Juls was… wow, talking to Thor? My heart shriveled like an untied balloon.

Without making it too obvious, he back stepped away from her when he saw me; his lips barely moved and he slid his shades over his eyes. Instinctively, she turned my way. What the hell?

Making a pit stop at the bar, I had no doubt she knew my eyes were burning into her beautifully toned back.

“What was that about?” I asked Kat.

“What?”

“Juls and Thor. Why was she talking to him?” I spread my towel out over the chair.

Kat protected her eyes with her hand from the sun and gazed across the pool to the bar.

“She’s alone at the bar.”

“Seriously, you didn’t see them talking?” I asked, truly not believing her.

“Waa laa!” Juls sang and held a tray of shots along with three frozen pina colada looking drinks in fancy glasses. “I figured since you broke the alcohol barrier at warp speed this morning we could toast this trip right.”

“What were you talking to Thor about?”

I’d known Juls my entire life, ever since we started in ballet together when we were five. Watching as her throat jetted out and back in with a swallow, I knew she was going to lie.

“He made a joke about the adult pool. Let’s toast.” She handed us each a shot glass of an amber color liquid. After a quick raise of the glass, we threw it back. The fiery liquor hugged my throat.

Kat knowingly glanced at me with suspicion in her eyes. Only once had I questioned Juls’ loyalty and that was when we were juniors in high school. I’d caught her messing around with Todd Riley…the guy I’d just broken up with. She was right at the time, I HAD broken up with him. I just don’t think I was prepared for her to be doing the nasty with him a few days later.

“RULE 14. The Todd Riley rule…never ever go after your friend’s ex.” I stated.

“Thor is not your ex. And fuck off for bringing Todd Riley up. We were 16!”

What difference did it make? I’d blown it with Thor anyway.

We all lounged back in our chairs, drinking from the fancy straws. My eyes casually searched for him.

“Just to be clear,” Kat said. “Sam did call dibs on him.”

Simply knowing she was standing up for me made my lips curl upward.

“Would you two give me a break! You act like I’m a damn ‘ho’ and gonna go fuck him behind your back.”

I lowered my glasses on my nose as Kat sarcastically cleared her throat.

“Ok. So, I like to get laid. But I wouldn’t go after Thor and you know it. Besides, how long has it been since you’ve had sex, Sam? Five years?”

The ginormous shadow that stretched across me from behind could only be one man. My eyes popped wide as I slowly leaned my head back, bending my neck at a near 90 degree angle. There he was, Thor, standing with his neck angled down at me.

“Five years?” he asked with that cocky side smile.

You’ve got to be kidding me! Blood swooshed in my ears. “RULE 15,” I gritted. “Never, ever talk loud enough for others to hear when it comes to sex, weight and love.” I glared at Juls, who fought her smile.

“You know, that’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he said. Just hearing his voice made my nipples pebble up. For Christ’s sake! It was ninety degrees!

“Look. I don’t know if you walk around listening to all private conversations or just ours. And I’m sure that your little fella hasn’t gone five hours without seeing some action, but…some of us have standards.”

He came around to the front of my chair. The little lines around his eyes when he grinned made me wonder about his age.

“You’re like a little pit-bull. Ready to fight at a moment’s notice,” he chuckled.

My jaw snapped shut. “Seriously. Comparing me to a dog?”

“A vicious dog,” he clarified.

“Are you really the sperm that won? About 180 million of you suckers shoot out of a dick and yet you won? It’s simply amazing.”

He yanked off his reflective sunglasses and captured me with those perfect blues.

“First the whiskey dick comment and now talking about cock. Seems to me you’re pretty fixated with my junk.”

I stifled a gasp. “Oh yes, I am. So much so, that I’d like for it to go wee wee wee wee all the way home.” My arm shot out toward the angels sitting on the other side of the pool.

When he stood, he leaned forward near my ear. “Sweetheart, there is nothing wee about me.” With those words he stood and backed away from me. Then suddenly he tilted his head and started moving forward again.

Before I realized, he nuzzled near my ear, and I lowered my chin to let him.

“You know. You’re more like a third grade boy than a dog.”

Of course he wouldn’t say something nice.

“Oh yeah, how’s that?” I asked barely above a whisper.

“Third grade boys pull the hair of girls they like. Or they steal their backpack or they…”

I pushed his shoulder, moving him back until his eyes were inches from mine.

“You think I’m flirting with you?” I asked, appalled at the thought.

“There are a few things I’m sure of in life,” he said standing. “I’m sure the sun will rise in the morning and will set at night. I’m sure we will all die. I’m sure there are too many people who worry about tomorrow instead of enjoying today. I’m sure that you are one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. And I’m damn sure that you’re flirting with me. Most importantly, I’m more than sure it’s time for that five-year drought to end…let me know when you get a clue. Because the last thing I’m sure of is…I am going to fuck you.” He winked, lowered his shades and then walked away, with every woman’s eyes on the deck on him.

“Sam. Wow. You seriously need to check into that. My God woman.”

Few people can render me speechless. I was the reigning state debate champ four years running in high school. Everyone thought I’d become an attorney strictly because I was witty and argumentative. Yet in this moment, I had nothing. Nothing but a growling in my groin that suddenly ached.

Thor joined the guys on the other side of the pool, and the blond angel snaked her arm around his waist. I breathed a sigh when he rolled away from her touch.

“Seriously, Sam. What have you got to lose?” Kat asked.

As I sucked down my now melted pina colada…I silently answered that question—everything.

***

Staring at myself in the mirror, I’d never felt more insecure about myself and it pissed me off! My boobs didn’t sag, but as I slid my bra on, I recognized that they weren’t near as perky as they once were. Even worse, when I breastfed Jake, they became more veiny than before. Faint blue lines etched through the transparent pale skin and my nipples seemed double the size that they once were.

Bryan’s words haunted me still after all this time…
Her body is just different.
Of course her body was different. She’d had no kids. She was twenty-freaking-seven! My body was toned for the most part, but the extra skin across my stomach was loose, flabby…regardless of the thousands of sit-ups and crunches I did.

Once I arched my head through the neck of the sundress without touching my hair, thank God…I looked pretty damn good. I’d brought stilettos to wear with the dress but decided my flip-flops would do just fine.

“Don’t you look hot as hell?” Kat said when we met up in the hall.

Juls let out a long cat call drawing the attention of some ladies up the hall as they rounded the corner.

“Shut up, you two. You’re gonna give me fake confidence.”

“You’ve got that ‘I’m going to get laid’ air about you,” Kat teased as we ventured down the hall.

“I’m not getting laid. I’m going to try and talk to him though. That’s all.”

“You mean you’re going to apologize for being a bitch?”

I glared at Juls.

“Something like that. And I’ve not been a bitch. I’ve been…on guard.”

“Yeah. OK,” Juls joked. “If that’s what we’re calling it, fine by me.”

She paraded off down the hallway with Kat and I rolling our eyes and tootling after her.

***

Over the years, I’d learned to walk into a room, hold my head high and carry myself as if I’m on a mission. So, as we made our way to our table, I did that. As much as I wanted to look for Thor, I smiled and kept my eyes up. Weirdly, I didn’t feel the recurring anxiety I normally felt when he was around…once seated, my eyes began their search.

“Any one see him?”

“No, the angels are over there though. Hell, there is a full table of them now!” Kat said.

“Perfect. Now there are enough angels that we can include all the ones who filled the spots of the ones who left,” Juls laughed.

“I can’t even remember their names,” I said, trying to recall the actresses. “Wait, Kris was one.”

“Yep, she was Jill’s cousin or something.” Kat waved at a server and ordered us drinks.

“Wasn’t there a Tiffany…they called her Tiff? Wait! And a Julia!” Juls shouted.