dibs (11 page)

What the fuck was wrong with me? I swallowed, trying to squash the growing feelings inside. Don’t do this. Never once have you gotten emotionally involved…don’t start now. After a deep breath, she stirred and whimpered, and my heart did that fucking palpitation again as I pulled her deeper into me. Maybe I needed to see a doctor.

When I saw her in the airport talking to the New Jersey douche bag, I chuckled. She was damn funny. When I saw her anxiety on the airplane, I felt bad for her. When I saw her on the same damn cruise ship with a lifejacket stuck on her head and sweaty hair plastered to her face, I couldn’t believe the coincidence. Yet, there she stood, right in front of me…suffocating herself. There was no other alternative but to touch her…to help her. Nothing could have prepared me for her feisty wit or the fact that she hated me at first sight.

Nevertheless, at this moment, she slept in my arms. I had honestly never met a woman with more guts and more spirit than this one. Part of me, buried so deep I wasn’t sure it even existed, hoped I was up for this challenge because all those coincidences were too much to bargain against.

***

Walking down the ramp, holding her hand, my heart was doing that same shit as last night, and it was starting to piss me off. We’d kind of become a six-pack—Cody, Kat, Blake, Juls, Sam and me.

After taking a shuttle down to the market area, we came back with a butt load of souvenirs and hit the tiki bars for Kat. I had a sneaky suspicion this was going to be an every island event.

The waitress was clearly local, exotic and hot as hell. Blake disrespectfully looked her up and down, but I noticed her eyes on me. I, respectfully, kept mine on Sam. We ordered our drinks, and thankfully, she disappeared.

“How about a game of truth or dare?” Cody threw out, rubbing his hands together.

“I’m sorry, are we twelve?” Sam asked.

Cody didn’t miss a beat. “No I’m the one who is sorry. Clearly, you ladies are too old for a fun game like that.”

Closing one eye, I braced myself for Hurricane Sam. With my open eye, I saw her teeth grit together as both nostrils flared. I reached for her hand, but she swatted mine away. A slow grin crept across my face.

Kat covered her face, probably preparing for Cody’s upcoming lashing.

“I’m sorry. What’s your name? I’m so OLD I can’t remember,” Sam said.

Cody grinned, taking a drink from his beer bottle.

“No, really. I’m so old…my memories are in black and white and it’s difficult for me to remember shit.”

“Sam. He was kidding,” Kat defended.

“Wait! There’s a sign that says Happy Hour. Surely that means we all get to nap for an hour, right?” Sam sarcastically laughed.

Cody took in a deep breath as regret floated over his face. I glared at him, shaking my head. Dumbass.

“I’m sorry! I don’t think of you all being older at all. I was totally joking.”

“Truth or dare, Cody?” Sam asked, and obviously game was on.

“Dare,” he challenged right back with a grin.

“I dare you to stand up and yell, I am so young, I still think sex is about the man rather than the woman.”

Cody sputtered on his drink, swiping at his nose. Shaking his head, he rose to his feet.

Sam shot to her feet quicker and shouted, “Can I have your attention please? My friend Cody has something he’d like to say.”

The bar quieted and all eyes were on Cody. Blake and I chuckled as we watched him chew on his cheek.

“Cody!” some guy on the other side of the bar shouted holding up his beer mug.

“I am so young, I still think sex is about the man rather than the woman!” Cody yelled.

Some woman threw a pretzel at him as a broad smile broke out over Sam’s face.

“Cute,” I whispered.

“You want to make an age comment too?” Her brows cocked high on her forehead.

“No ma’am.” I winked.

The guy who gave a shout out to Cody stumbled over to our table looking about six months pregnant—all beer belly I’d guess.

“Yeah, partner,” the youngster said to Cody. “These bitches need to know it’s a sprint not a marathon, and if I finish first the game is over,” he laughed.

“Let me guess, you aren’t here with a girl?” Sam chimed in.

“Why’s that sweetheart, you want a piece of this?”

The humor in the situation was lost on me the moment he addressed Sam, but I took into consideration that she was a grown woman who could take care of herself, so I hesitated.

Sam’s nose crinkled up. “I’m trying to understand things from your point of view, but it’s hard for me to get my head that far up my ass.”

Gripping the hem of her dress, I tugged, trying to get her attention.

“What’d you say?” the man asked.

She rose to her feet. Shit…

“I said, I’d slap you but that would be animal abuse.”

When his belly turned in her direction, I stood. “So you like it rough?” he asked her.

“Hey buddy,” I interrupted, towering over him and eyeballing his belly. “When’s the last time you saw your dick?”

His eyes widened as he glanced down to where his dick should be. He rubbed his engorged belly like any pregnant woman would and chuckled, backing down.

“You have a table. Why don’t you get back to it?” I added, tilting my head to where he sat.

He backed away from us and nodded. It wasn’t until Sam’s delicate fingers pried my fingers open that I realized my hands were fisted. Her green eyes stared up at me.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed, her emerald eyes filled with regret.

When I sat, I placed her hand on my thigh, not ready yet to occupy my hands with any distraction.

“It’s ok. Not your fault. Where were we?” I tipped my bottle to the group, and everyone awkwardly toasted.

Cody leaned over Kat to get to Sam. “That was a good one, Sam. I like you!”

“Please, Cody. Don’t give her any fuel. She can destroy you with her words. She’s the wittiest bitch I know,” Juls added.

“Who said playing truth or dare wasn’t fun?” Kat laughed, clinking her glass with Cody’s drink.

“I’ll take a dare,” the waitress said. When I turned, her pierced navel was at my nose. The hits just kept on coming.

“Do we all want another drink?” I asked, leaning away from the exotic beauty. Most everyone said yes. “We’ll take another round.”

“And shots of sex on the beach!” Juls added.

“You want sex on the beach?” the waitress asked me specifically. Her English was broken, but she did pretty well. Sam’s nails were like a cat’s claws as they tightened on my thigh. There was no stopping me from laughing out loud.

“I will take the shot just like everyone else,” I answered, not looking at the girl, but I knew she started to walk away.

“Excuse me,” Sam said.

Fuck…

“Can you tell me how to say hoochie mama in Spanish?” she asked with a straight face.

Juls cackled, and I had my hand ready to stop the waitress if she came at Sam. Jesus, this girl kept me on my feet.

I’m not sure of the girl’s response, but I watched Blake and Cody…and by the look on their faces—she left the table in a huff.

“So, I was thinking,” I said to Sam. “What do you think about kissing me for the rest of the night?”

She grinned and leaned into me.

“You’re saying that so I will keep my mouth shut, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Unmistakably, yes.”

Her forehead rested on my shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’ll be good,” she spoke so softly.

“Oh trust me, I like you naughty,” I rumbled as I popped wood. “You’re just a handful, my pretty.”

“Good thing you have two hands, huh?” she grinned.

“Truth or dare,” Cody asked Kat, and both Sam and I looked at them.

“Dare?” Kat answered like it was a question, and Cody put his arm around her but in a friendly way…I hoped.

“I dare you to go up on that little stage and dance to the next song.”

Kat’s eyes darted to the girls…an unspoken message made its way telepathically between them.

“Fine,” Kat agreed.

Once the current song ended and the next one started, all three of the girls, shook their asses all the way to the stage.

“Wait!” Cody shouted. “That’s bullshit. It was just supposed to be Kat!”

As difficult as it was to take my eyes off Sam, in her sundress, swaying and swinging to the music, I kept an eye on the douchebag from earlier. He and his buddies watched them as closely as we did. Thank God the song came to an end and the three of them shagged their asses right back to the table.

The odd feeling infiltrating my mind and body was foreign to me. I was used to being turned on by women, but I’d never wanted one to stay by my side before. I fought to keep it at bay.

After a few more drinks and a couple extra shots, I figured it was time to ditch this bar. Too much more to drink, and I wasn’t sure I could adequately protect Sam from doughboy, who continued to keep an eye on all of us.

“So I was thinking we could take this back to the ship and hit the pool?”

That went over exceptionally well…everyone agreed. After we tabbed out, our feet hit the sand. Perfect. As the girls took a selfie by some neon pink, lit up flamingo, I kept my eye on the bar to make sure no one was following. He wasn’t.

“Truth or Dare, Sam?” Blake asked as the wind picked up.

The breeze felt great.

“Duh. Dare,” she giggled, peeking up at me with puppy dog eyes as I steadied her when she fell off balance. “I’m drunk,” she whispered.

“No shit.” I winked.

“I dare you to go skinny dipping in the Caribbean.”

The speed at which my head snapped toward Blake broke the speed of light. My eyes murdered him.

“Fuck that, dickhead!” I roared, then turned to see both spaghetti straps off her shoulders and her dress inching its way to the sand.

“Sam, don’t,” I growled, rushing toward her.

Kat and Juls hands covered their mouths.

Sam’s laughter made me smile, but I pressed my body up next to hers when the dress pooled around her feet.

“Sam. Baby. Don’t. Let’s go back to the ship. We can swim there.”

I’ll be damned if my buddies were going to see her naked. For fuck’s sake, I hadn’t even seen her naked yet. With the utmost eloquence, she bent back over my arm as if it were a ballroom dancing move. An official dip. She was beautiful.

“Mac. It’s a dare. I have to do it.”

“Yes. Yes, you do,” Blake added. I made a mental note to destroy him later, but right now I wasn’t leaving her side. In that split second I took to glare at Blake, she reached around and unclasped her bra.

“Samantha!” I hissed, seeing her breasts freed. It was hard to see in the dark, but damn they were beautiful. Saliva pooled in my mouth.

Her mouth formed an O. “Now you’re talking dirty,” she laughed. “You vant sex on da beach?” she asked, trying to imitate a Spanish accent, but it came across more Swedish.

When she looped her thumbs in her panties, I’d had it. Even though it left her breasts exposed, I cradled her drunk ass in my arms.

“Blake. You open your goddamn mouth again and I swear, you’re a fucking dead man.”

He only laughed as he and Juls walked ahead of us.

Fucker.

“You got her?” Kat asked with concerned, rounded eyes. I made a mental note at how good of a friend she was.

I nodded.

“You don’t want to have sex on the beach?” Sam slurred softly, hurt coloring her tone.

“You know I do, Sam. Very much. But I’d prefer you not get naked in front of everyone. I’d also prefer you conscious.” I swept a kiss over her forehead and winked at her.

“Aww, come on. It’ll be great. I’m so drunk I might not even remember it, so we could do it all again later and it will still be like the first time.”

“Trust me, Sam. I’m going to make it worth remembering.”

She giggled, her breath drenched with alcohol.

“May I slide your dress back over your head?”

Her head fell backward exposing her full neck to me. I wanted to devour that beautiful neck worse than a vampire would.

“OK,” she finally agreed, and I rested her feet on the ground. Every part of me wanted to cover her breasts with my mouth. Her nipples begged to be kissed…pebbled up beautifully in the breeze.

“Fuck,” I breathed out, bunching up the dress and ducking it over her head.

“What’s wrong?”

“You’re beautiful, Sam. I’m going to have a serious case of blue balls tomorrow.”

She snickered. “Can’t you just masturbate tonight?”

My laughter echoed up the beach, and Kat and Cody turned and glanced at us.

“Well, yeah, there is that,” I said still chuckling. “I’ve never done that before,” I lied.

She steadied herself on her own two feet, but I kept an arm around her.

“Whatever,” she said. “You know 99 percent of people masturbate and the other 1 percent lie about it.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep.”

“I like you, Sam.”

“I like you too, Jr.”

Damn I liked her way more than I should.

Worst. Day. Of. Trip. I puked twice through the night and was so grotesquely hung over that I didn’t get out of bed until noon. I think I partially stayed in my room because that was the one place where Mac knew to find me. But, he hadn’t come by so far today. Plus, I didn’t know how many people saw me naked on the beach last night. Forty-year-old doctor runs naked on the beach…God help me.

After talking to the girls, I was embarrassed as hell at how I’d acted and the possible things I’d said. They, of course, thought it was funny, and Juls so graciously snapped a couple of photos with her damn phone.
Memories
is what she had said of me half naked on the beach.

Casino night was dressy, so we fancied our butts up for the evening. Mac had been MIA all day, and Juls hadn’t seen Blake either. When we walked into the casino, slot machines were already dinging away at the sounds of winners. At the bar, we all ordered our drinks and sat at a high top table. The anxious feeling inside of me reminded me of the feeling long ago when I first started dating. Damn it felt good to feel alive again. For so long, I’d gone through the motions of living and being responsible. I wanted to feel again. I couldn’t wait to see Mac.