by Barb Shuler
“I’ve explained to you, in detail, the reasons I can not work a private party for you and your - friends. I would prefer to not have to repeat myself, yet again. I spoke clearly and gave explicit details as to why I will not work with you.” Her tone of voice told me all I needed to know. She was annoyed.
“I don’t think you understood what I was saying about this event and the big names that will be there. It would be great publicity for you,” he said, his lips in a tight smile.
“Oh, I heard and understood it all, but if you’re not careful, I’ll tell you where you can stick that business card of yours. I don’t care what movie stars you say are coming. I don’t care what rock legend is coming. They are people just like us. The answer is still no. So, goodbye.”
“Ms. Callahan-”
“I said good day, Mr. Winston,” Jenn ground out. Her brows pulled together. She was upset, more than she wanted to let on.
I knew my sister. I could read that look. She was fighting to be polite and professional with a yard full of clients milling about. With a final huff at him, she turned on her heels with Hunter’s hand still gripped in hers and walked off.
I smirked at Thurgood as I guided Kennedy up the grass to the big palm trees where Jenn and Hunter had stopped. Kennedy flopped down beside Jenn on the wooden bench and sighed.
“What an asshat.” Her words carried more than she meant them to and a few of the guests looked around. I crouched down before the girls.
“Care to tell me-” I corrected myself after a few throats cleared behind me. “Care to tell us, what that was all about?”
“I’ll tell you,” Jenn said. “That weasel wants the Magnolia for some business meeting on a night we already have a party. He took it upon himself to ask the other couple to move their party. That didn’t go his way. Mr. and Mrs. Davenport told him to fuck off. Nicely, of course, so now he thinks he can buy himself into the party. I’d like to flatten him.”
“What’s so special about that date?” One of the guys asked from behind me. I moved to take Kennedy’s hand. I had to touch her. I needed her to know I was here for her before I spoke to Jenn again.
“Kid,” I started. My sister looked at me. “I know the feeling, but he’s not worth an arrest record.”
“Plus if you did that and he hit back, we’d have to kill him,” Rooster said, seriously.
“I’d do it before he took another breath,” Hunter growled out. No joke. That punk would die faster than he came into the world.
“Least no one would find the body when we were done,” Kelly shot out as he came up with fresh drinks in his hand.
“True, but I’d still like to slap the shit out of him,” Jenn said on a sigh.
“Y’all are no fun,” Kennedy huffed.
“No one said we were supposed to be,” Rooster said, with a big grin on his face.
I shook my head as both girls laughed. Leave it to the team to calm them down. I glanced over, seeing that Hunter was still holding Jenn’s hand. I stood, my grip still on Kennedy’s hand. My gaze went from Jenn’s hand in Hunter’s then to her face. She was smiling up at the bastard. I'd have to have a talk with him later. If I tried that now, Jenn would have my balls.
But, who better to protect my baby sister than the man that had saved my ass in combat more than once? I looked from her to Hunter. My mouth moved before my brain had time to catch up. Guess my balls were done for.
“You get one shot, fucker. Hurt my sister and I will kill you, slowly. You got me?”
“Got you. You have nothing to worry about. I’d never hurt her.”
“He hurts me I will cut his dick off myself and toss it to the gators,” Jenn said, standing, her face as serious as could be. She gave us all a look and nodded to the back door. Kennedy stood and gave my hand a squeeze before pulling away. I watched as they moved towards the house to meet a few more guests.
Well, shit. How about that?
“You know I don’t have a good feeling about the Turd. He seems extra shady lately.” My gaze shot to Hunter and I nodded.
“Yeah, I think it’s time to do a little investigation of our own,” I said.
“On it,” Kelly said.
It was on. We would keep an eye on this situation and make sure it didn’t escalate. If it did, someone could get hurt.
2
Kennedy
“For all the love of hot men and suntan lotion,” I whispered, watching the group of men heading our way. It was our Saturday off and we were spending some of that time at the beach. My best friend Jenn and I never passed up some fun in the sun. I mean, it’s Florida, after all. Might as well take advantage of this glorious view and the warmth of the sun kissing your skin.
“Hunter has on his board shorts. God help my ovaries,” Jenn said with a laugh.
“Oh, shut it.” I slapped her on the ass and pushed past her. She shrieked out another laugh, which made me laugh as well. Her relationship with Hunter was still new and the two were sickening to watch.
I needed to get myself under control. My hormones were running in overdrive at the wave of testosterone about to hit us. But mainly, it was because Max was headed this way in nothing but a pair of black board shorts that showed the most important things off perfectly. That delicious pack of abs; that V peeking from the waistband that fell just off his hips.
I wanted to explore each one, and what was under those shorts... with my tongue. I shook that thought off and sighed as I grabbed my bottle of SPF.
I was not going to fall for my best friend’s brother. The last man I was with turned out to be the biggest dickweed in Florida. I wasn’t in the mood to be saddled with another broody, bossy, arrogant asshole.
“Ladies.” I turned to look over my shoulder and smiled as Rooster, in his true country boy fashion, dipped his head as he took off his cowboy hat. “The both of you are lookin’ mighty fine today.”
“Why thank you, kind Sir,” I said in my best Scarlett O’Hara voice.
“Anytime, darlin’,” he said, winking before he plopped down on one of the big blankets Jenn and I laid down earlier.
“If you get sand on my blanket, I’m gonna skin your hide, Michael Conroy!” I laughed at the scowl on Jenn’s face as Rooster looked up at her with that innocent face he was so good at. Her hands were on her hips, so she meant it.
“Best mind her,” I said turning to toss the bottle of SPF to Jenn.
She caught it with one hand and followed my actions of applying yet another layer of sunscreen.
Our number one rule is, one layer goes on thirty minutes before we even leave for the beach. Then, we apply another once we get to the beach. If we get in the water, which we always tried to do as much as possible, then we applied more.
So, to say we should buy stock in this stuff was putting it lightly, but seriously, skin cancer was no joke.
My shades helped keep my eyes hidden as they traveled up and down Max’s body. Jesus, I couldn’t look away. His muscles flexed every time he moved. It was distracting, to say the least. I blinked when he came closer to where I was, dropped a cooler at my feet and took the sunscreen from Jenn.
“Here, let me get your back,” he said, not waiting on me to fully turn before his big hands were lathering a layer of sunscreen into my skin.
“I… can do it,” I stammered.
Thinking fast, I had to bite the inside of my cheek to hold back a moan at the warmth of his palms against my back. I jerked a little when his hands moved down to my legs. He massages the lotion into my legs between his hands. Not missing a beat, he kept refilling his palm with more lotion.
He was careful with my thighs. Not getting close to touching me in an inappropriate way, though it didn’t matter because right now, I was so turned on… I’d have begged him for it if we were alone. I swallowed again as he took my hand and put some of the lotion in my palm.
“There ya go, beautiful, now do your face,” he said, standing.
“Thank you.” I smiled softly up at him. Hi
s dimpled grin made my ovaries do a damn happy dance. It was like he had me under his spell. One I wasn’t sure I wanted to break free of.
He used the bottle to fill his palm again and rubbed lotion into his own skin. As his hand skimmed along his arms and shoulders my mind fogged over. I followed the movements of his hands across each and every muscle. They rippled like a snake moving across the sand. I moaned and, as the mortification of what I had just done sank in, I turned around quickly. I pulled my shades off and tossed them to the blanket. My feet moved quickly out towards the water. I needed to cool down, now.
“Hey, wait up, woman,” I heard Jenn call from behind me. She grabbed my hand and I used her being there to calm my nerves. Jesus, what was that man doing to me? “Wanna talk about it?” she asked softly.
With a heavy sigh I leaned my shoulder against hers. “I like him, okay? He makes my girly parts-”
“Ew, that’s my brother. I don’t need to know what he does to your girly parts, okay? I mean, gross. Remember our TMI rule,” she pretended to gag as she laughed. I shoved her playfully away from me. Bitch!
“Sorry, but seriously. Everytime he looks at me something inside of me melts. That’s all it takes, Jenn. One frigging look and I’m a puddle of goo.”
“Aww... well, yeah I get it. I’m the same way with Hunter.” The happy sigh that left her lips made me smile. I wrapped my arm around hers and nodded.
“He’s good for you,” I said, stating the obvious.
“Well then, my bubba is good for you. Y’all need to just go for it, go out together, have some fun. He’s got the hots for you. A sister knows these things,” Jenn said. I gave her a hard look and shook my head.
“I can’t, not after Eric,” My voice shook with the onslaught of emotion his memory brought me.
“My brother is nothing like that asshole! Don’t you dare compare anyone in this group to that asshole, Kennedy Elise!” I went wide-eyed at her standing here, on the open beach, all but yelling at me. I sighed and turned from her. She wouldn’t understand. She couldn’t.
“No, you’re not turning away from me. You put up with so much from that- that- asshole! You didn’t deserve the things he did to you. You are better than that. If I had known before you told me, I would have charged in and gotten you out of that. No man, and I mean no man, has the right to make you feel inferior in any way.”
“It’s not his fault, it’s mi-”
“I swear, if you finish that sentence, I will hit you! It was entirely his fault! He hit you. He broke something inside of you. None of this was your fault. Are you dense? You did nothing to deserve being talked down to. You did nothing to deserve being hit on. He was just another big bully who suffers from little-man syndrome and a little limp dick!”
She was breathing heavy as she got the last words out. I sniffled and wiped tears from my eyes. I really did love this woman. She was more than just my best friend, she was the ying to my yang.
“I know that, but-”
“No!!” She shrieked. A long grunt of frustration leaving her mouth.
“Stop,” I pleaded.
“I just want to shake you!” she ground out.
“I want to beat the shit out of whoever hurt you.” The voice that came from behind me had me turning with a gasp. My eyes met the furious gaze of Maximus. The others were behind him, the look of rage covered their faces as well. I shook my head and swallowed hard.
“I’m fine. He’s gone. I’m going for a swim.” I walked off before any of them could say more. I was mortified. God! How much of that had he, they, heard? With a heavy sigh I walked out into the water and, as soon as it was deep enough, I dove down and started kicking.
The water would clear my mind. It always did.
3
Maximus
It took all of my willpower to let Kennedy walk away from me. The tears I saw on her face had my rage spiking. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and protect her all while beating the shit out of the man who dared touch her in anything but a loving way. My eyes swung to meet my sister’s. She looked down and, with her left foot, drew her toes through the sand.
“Jennifer.” My tone was light, yet firm, controlled. She shook her head and refused to look at me. I moved to her and wrapped my arms around her.
“She made me promise,” her voice broke and a sob escaped her. I squeezed her harder.
“Tell me,” I ordered. She shoved me back and shook her head.
“No! I- I promised!” With a growl of frustration she stormed off. I moved to follow her, but Hunter's hand on my shoulder stopped me.
“I’ll go talk to her, you go talk to Kennedy. And don’t be an ass about it, bro,” he walked off after Jenn and I nodded to the others before I moved in the direction Kennedy went.
I watched Kennedy swim for a while. When she finally came back in I jogged over to where she stood at the water's edge, wringing her hair out. I moved up behind her and wrapped my arms around her. She tensed, but only for moment. I spoke before she could.
“It’s just me. Please, tell me what happened? Who hurt you?” I pleaded for her to tell me, prayed for an answer.
“No one. It doesn’t matter, really. He’s gone,” she replied, trying to pull away from me. That wasn’t happening.
“Sweetheart,” I said, tightening my arms around her, pulling her closer to me. I turned her head and lifted her chin with my fingers. “It does matter, to me. Tell me, please.”
“Max…”
“Kennedy, please, baby. I need to know.”
After a moment of looking into my eyes, she sighed and said, “Eric, his name was Eric.” She bit her bottom lip before shifting her feet again. I could feel her anxiety from telling me about this man rising. I could feel it radiating from beneath her skin. I wrapped my arms a bit tighter around her and kissed the top of her head.
“Tell me about him.” She shook her head, pulled from my embrace and walked back to the water’s edge. I went with her, needing to be close to her. She stopped when the water hit just above her knees. When I got close enough, I stepped up behind her and once again wrapped my arms around her. Letting her know I’m still here for her. I gave her a moment to compose herself before I turned her to face me. My fingers brushed the wet hair from her face as I leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“He was nice at first,” she sighed, “then he just, changed. I came home from the Magnolia a little later than normal. He was waiting at my apartment for me. Apparently, I wasn’t dressed to fit his standards.”
“What does that mean?” My words came out in a growl. My muscles tensed, waiting for her to answer me.
“He’d said that I needed to be taught a lesson. He always made sure he didn’t leave bruises where they could be seen.”
“I’ll kill him!” I snarled.
“No! He’s not worth it. It was my fault. I wasn’t being what he wanted me to be. I knew it wasn’t right but, dammit, I was the one who let it happen!” she said as she pulled from me and went out, deeper into the water. I watched as she swam out again, her body moving perfectly with the rolling waves.
“Is she okay?” I heard Jenn ask from behind me. I shook my head.
“I don’t know, kid, I just don’t fucking know.” I turned and took a few long strides to her. I wrapped my sister in a tight hug. I was already planning this Eric motherfucker’s death… he would pay for hurting my girl.
After a few minutes, Jenn looked up and started to ask a question when her body suddenly tensed. She gasped and pushed against me.
“Kennedy!” That one word had my head whipping around to see Kennedy struggling out in the water. Damn she was out there a good ways. “Let me go, I can help her!”
“Shit! Lifeguard or not, you’re not going out there! Keep her here!” I said to the guys as I took off into the water, diving in as a wave rolled through.
I pushed my body to get to her as fast as I could. I could feel the current pulling against me. I cursed. With this riptide, her struggling would only
pull her under quicker. I dove down, kicking my legs harder and faster.
I finally made it to her. I came up from under her, wrapping my arms around her. I had her back to me and kept my arm wrapped securely around her as we broke through the water’s surface.
She was spitting and flailing while trying to gasp in a lungful of air.
“Relax, sweetheart, I’ve got you. Trust me,” I said as I started to swim parallel to the shoreline. I needed to get us out of the undertow of the current she had been fighting against. Right now, getting her to safety was my only priority.
She tried tugging at my arm again, gasping out words, “let me go!”
“I’m not letting you drown. Stop being a brat, Kennedy.” My temper was out of order, but she was trying to hurt herself and I wasn’t going to allow that.
When I no longer felt the pull of the RIP current I shifted her to face me and moved to lay on my back, which pulled her on top of me. I was trained to be in the water, I could get us back to shore, no problem, but I needed her to know I had her. I wasn’t letting her get hurt, not on my watch.
“I’m okay, Max, come on. Let me go,” she whined. My grip around her tightened.
“Don’t fight me, baby. I’ve got you. That was a seriously strong RIP current, I need to know you’re okay. Just let me get you out of here first.” I dropped my voice, trying to keep my emotions in check. I didn’t want her to fight me anymore. And I didn’t want her to see how much her almost drowning affected me. I’m man enough to say, I was worried I wouldn’t reach her in time, even though deep down I knew I could. I was trained for this shit, after all.
“Okay,” she said, a slight cough coming from her.
I shifted us, pulled her against me and wrapped my arm back around her, before I started swimming towards the shore once again. I could make out the lifeguards putting up the flags that warned of a RIP current and moving along the water's edge. A jet ski was headed this way, but I waved him off. I was a fucking SEAL, I had this.