Spiked Lemonade: A Bad Boy Sailor and a Good Girl Romantic Comedy Standalone (18 page)

“Right, I’m sure she just adores it—your dirty mouth.”

“She does.” I place the bike back up against the wall. “She keeps coming back for more. I bet you she’s been locked up in her parents’ attic for so long that she’s dying to see what she can spike her lemonade with.”

Bambi laughs at my analysis. “Look, I’d laugh at you if I saw you dumped by a Southern belle because it just sounds like a stupid idea, but don’t get wrapped up in something like that. The novelty of your dirty mouth to her virgin ears will get old real fast, and you’ll be left on the side of the road somewhere while she drives off into the sunset with a Ken doll. Sorry, but she doesn’t sound like the G. I. Joe type.” I can see this all happening, and if I were in love with the girl, I’d consider it, but right now, I kind of just have a little personal challenge going on. I think it’ll be impressive to turn a Southern belle into a little badass chick who can walk in heels after she’s slugged a glass of Jack. We’re halfway there.

“Thanks for your concern, Bambi.” I run the backside of my hand across my forehead, feeling the sun beating down on us. “I gotta run over to the hospital and see my buddy during lunch. Can I bring you back anything?”

“I’m good,” she says, looking away from me. What now?

“Did I say something to hurt your feelings, Bambi?”

“Yeah, I was hoping you’d say you’d run off into the sunset with me tonight.” A sneering grin tugs at the corner of the lips.

“I offered the other night.”

“No, you didn’t, remember?”

“I can’t remember. I was drunk.”

“You’re wasting your lunch hour.”

After stopping for some nudie mags and a couple of burgers, I make my way into the hospital. Tango’s in a different room now that he’s not fresh out of surgery so it takes a few minutes to find out where he is.

As soon as I enter his room, I find I’m late to the party. Cali, Tyler, and Sasha are all here with lunch in hand. I don’t know if Tango forgot I told him that I was bringing lunch or if they just showed up with it, but I guess now there’s more for me. “Hey dude, I didn’t know they were bringing lunch by,” Tango says, shoving half a sandwich into his mouth. “You haven’t eaten yet have you?”

“Nah, I just came straight here.” I had no idea they’d be here, and I’m not sure what to do with the magazine-filled bag dangling from my hand. I subtly try to move the bag to my back so no one notices it, but I know Tango has already spotted it. I don’t want to get him in trouble while he’s totally immobile.

“Bro, we read that shit together before bed every night. Hand it over.” Cali’s looking at Tango, confused yet intrigued at the same time. He waves me over, and I feel like everyone’s eyes are burning into me, including the pretty young nurse in the corner who looks very curious.

I reach the bag over to him and take a few steps back. He’s going to whip those things out right here in front of all the ladies. Class-act, Tango.

Shit. He does. He yanks them out, and Cali quickly meets him at his side. “Ah! I love
Cuffs Satin Pages
. Thanks, Jags. That’s so thoughtful of you.”

“Oh my gosh,” Sasha says, covering her mouth. “Cali, you can’t be serious.”

“Sasha, haven’t we had this talk a few times in the last couple of days. Until you really explore your inner interests, you don’t enjoy things to the fullest.”

“Cali, those women are degrading themselves, displaying all of their private parts publicly. How would you feel if you saw Tyler on that?” she whispers the latter half of her question.

“Tyler knows better,” she snaps back.

“At five?” Oh man, these two are going to brawl in a minute.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be lecturing
me
after your escapades last night,” Cali warns Sasha.
Oh shit
. She knows. Just four hours ago, Tango was accusing me of bringing another woman home, so how did they draw this other conclusion that includes Sasha? Her cheeks are burning red, and she whips her head around to look at me as if I had run and told them what happened last night.

“Cali,” Sasha snaps. “What are you accusing me of?”

“Jags?” Cali asks me. “What am I accusing her of?” Why is everyone looking at me again? All I was trying to do was jack off alone in a dark bathroom. Damn. “And then again this morning?”

“Um,” Sasha says, clearly stalling and trying to think of a response. I’m so busy watching her trying to come up with something that I haven’t tried to think of anything on my own.

“Neither of you have anything to say?” Cali presses.

“Aw, leave them alone,” Tango tells her. “We knew it was inevitable.”

“It’s not what you think,” Sasha says.

“Yeah, Mommy, Auntie Sasha was just praying to God last night. A lot. She must be scared about something. You always tell me if I’m scared that I should pray to God. Right?”

Everyone erupts with laughter, everyone except Sasha. I’m pretty sure if she could melt into the floor and disappear, she would right now.

“Well, Tyler thinks it was what it sounded like,” Cali says, sneering at us both.

“It was just a misunderstanding,” I finally say.

“Yeah,” Sasha adds in. “That’s right.”

Tango and Cali share a look and then peer back over at us. “Whatever. I hope you both enjoyed your misunderstanding.”

I clear my throat because even
I’m
getting uncomfortable right now, but only because Sasha looks like she might vomit. “You going to stay and hang out for a few?” Tango asks.

Even though I feel like I’m going to do more harm than good, I take a seat in the corner of the room and unwrap my sandwich. I’m going to guess it wasn’t nearly this quiet before I got here. “Sasha, have you heard from Landon at all?” Cali asks her.

Sasha looks down to her feet as she digs her toe into the linoleum tile. “Yeah, he tried calling me this morning. I didn’t pick up, though.”

“Shit,” Tango snaps. “Don’t answer his call.”

“I wasn’t going to,” she says, sounding defensive.

“Did he leave a message or anything?”

Sasha looks up and stares blankly through Tango. “Just that he wanted to talk and explain some things.”

Tango struggles to pull himself up against his pillow and groans, “Great, well he can explain himself to me if he needs someone to talk to.”

I stand up to help Tango since none of the ladies in this room would have any chance of lifting his heavy ass, but he waves me away. “So, I’m thinking you shouldn’t be engaging in any physical altercations right now,” I tell Tango.
Because that should be an obvious statement.

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbles. “Sasha, you’re staying at our house for a bit, right? No more being stupid and going back to your house, you got it?” Tango says, coldly.

“Tango,” Cali scolds him.

“Dude, no need for name calling. She wanted to grab her stuff; I get it,” I defend Sasha even though I don’t agree with her going back to that house.

“We need to get out of this area,” Tango says. That’s his answer to everything. Run away. Hide. Erase identities.
Not that I should talk
. Tango and I are very alike in that respect. I’ve been running away since I was discharged two years ago. Like Tango, I have the thought that if I run fast enough and far enough away, the truths and memories will never catch up to me.

“Maybe you’re right,” Cali says to Tango.

“You guys, I’m sure everything will be okay. There’s no need to make a hasty decision like that,” Sasha argues.

“Sasha, you don’t get it,” Cali says. “Guys like Landon don’t give up. I’m sure he knows he fucked up. I’m guessing he’s having regrets now, but he’s obviously crazy enough to sacrifice your life and safety for money. I think we both know what a person like that will do for money.”

“Okay,” Sasha says. “I get it, but I still don’t think you need to move away.”

“By the way, I’m coming home tomorrow,” Tango interrupts the heat growing in the room. “Jags, man, you’re still more than welcome to stay at our house for as long as you need.”

As much as I appreciate the offer, I think I need to play this one out slowly. I don’t want to push Sasha to leave that house, and if I’m there, she may not want to be. And looking back on the last few days, her thoughts might change by the second about that.
Typical woman
. “I’ll let you know what I’m doing. Thanks for the offer,” I tell him. I crumple up the paper from my sandwich and toss it in the trash. “Here’s an extra burger if you’re still hungry,” I offer it up to Tango. Normally I’d have eaten that thing in one second flat, but the reality of what the hell I’m doing here just kind of slammed into me and I need a breath. I came here to help Tango out with some shit. We took care of that shit, and now I’m just lingering again. I don’t linger. Lingering causes settling and that’s not something I want to do, either.

“I’ll see you all later. Glad to hear you’re doing better, man,” I tell him.

“Thanks again for swinging by with the “literature” and burger, bro,” Tango offers.

Sasha’s focus is locked on me as I move around the room, giving Cali a quick hug and then Tyler. Hugging Sasha right now would make things worse for her, I’m guessing, so I offer her a small smile and a salute as I walk out of the room. Every time I end up somewhere new, I somehow end up fucking up more people, as well as myself. Maybe it’s time to move on again.

SASHA

“SASHA,” CALI SINGS.
“Where are you in that head of yours?” I realize I’m staring through her and Tango as Tyler bounces up and down on my lap.

“Oh, I’m here. Sorry, I’m just tired, I think.”

“Yeah, physical activity so late at night can wear a person out,” she says, grinning. “Come on, spill it.” Considering the fact that Tango is here listening, and he happens to be Jags’s best friend, I’m thinking divulging my errors over the past twenty-four hours isn’t a great idea.

“I heard the power went out last night,” Tango adds in, smirking.

“Yeah, it did,” I agree.

“Must have been hard to see what you were doing in the bathroom,” he continues.

“Okay, I need to get going. Are you keeping Tyler here or do you want me to take her with me?” I ask, standing from my seat.

“No!” Tyler shouts. “Daddy promised I could play with the buttons on his bed and maybe go for a ride!”

“I’ll keep her here,” Cali says, eyeing me wearily. “Where are you off to?”

“I have to go groveling to Daddy for a job, remember?”

Cali stands up from the edge of Tango’s bed and meets me at the door. Her arms loop around my neck and she whispers into my ear, “Thank you for being here for me. Things might get a little rough for a bit, and it means a lot knowing I have you.”

“What do you mean?” I ask softly, pulling away to look her in the eyes. “What’s going to get bad? His leg?”

“I—” Cali turns her head, watching Tango and Tyler playing some hand slapping game. “There’s some concern with his blood work. They’ll need to do more testing before I know anything else, but there might be a regrowth in his lungs.” Her eyes are glossy and staring right into mine.

“But it could be nothing,” I say, trying to keep positive.

“Sure,” Cali says, sporting a fake smile.

My heart aches for her. I just want to hug her tightly and tell her everything will be okay, but she’d just push me off and then badger me some more about last night. So all I can do is let her know I’m available if she needs me. “Let me know if you want to talk. I’m here.”

She bites down on her bottom lip, to stop it from trembling, I think. “Thanks. Tell your dad ‘Hi’ for me.”

I nod my head a bit, trying not to open my mouth since I feel tears pooling in the corner of my eyes. Cali may be able to keep a straight face through tough times, but I’m always the one sitting in the movie theater crying my eyes out when a dog dies.

“Bye, guys,” I tell Tango and Tyler, waving overhead as I walk out.

As I’m heading down the long the hall, my phone vibrates in my purse and my stomach immediately cramps with the mere thought that it might be Landon again. I wish he’d leave me alone. Why would he even want to come near me or talk to me after Jags beat him to a pulp? I’m pretty sure they made it very clear he wasn’t to make contact with me again. Maybe someone is paying him to call me.
That
, I wouldn’t put past the jerk.