No response.
Hey, Mill. Wondered if maybe you wanted to grab a drink this week. Perhaps dinner.
Not a peep.
It’s been a week since we got back, just thought I’d check on you. Hope everything’s okay.
Nothing.
All right. Now I’m starting to worry, Milly. Can you please just text me back so I know you’re all right?
Evidently she couldn’t, because she hadn’t.
There were several more, all reflecting how completely ridiculous he was. He looked like a love-struck kid, eager to catch the attention of his crush. It seemed AJ was the only one who remembered those nights they’d spent together.
His thoughts drifted back to the first conversation they’d had. When she had discreetly probed as to the status of his relationship, he had done the same to her. Her response: I’m the kinda girl who ends up with the bad boy, and while it’s fun to entertain them, they’re always looking for the next best thing.
Fun to entertain them, huh? Was that what he was to her? The bad boy who she believed was ready to move on to the next best thing? Surely he hadn’t given her that impression, had he?
AJ sighed and considered sending her another message, but he shook off the thought. He already looked far more desperate than he was comfortable with.
After it became apparent Milly wouldn’t text him back, AJ had commenced with calling her. He left stupid voicemails. A few words, nothing serious. While the anger churned inside, he had masked it, asking her to call him.
Three long weeks he’d been acting like a fool. And for three long weeks, Milly had ignored him.
AJ knew it was time to move on. He had no choice but to put her in the past and get with the program. He had a job that needed his full attention. He was about to walk onto a plane. Another trip to California was on the agenda. He had clients to see, asses to kiss, bigwigs to schmooze. He didn’t have time to be chasing Milly. Even if he did, it was obvious she didn’t want to be caught.
*
Later that evening, AJ sat in the hotel bar. He’d frequented this place over the past five years or so. It wasn’t his favorite place to be, but it offered a bit of solace from his thoughts. It was always busy with mostly business professionals staying there. This particular hotel was one the local companies utilized for their out-of-town guests.
As he sat staring at a rum and Coke, he fought the urge to drink it. AJ knew he didn’t have a problem with alcohol, but he’d gone on the straight and narrow years ago when it became obvious he was quickly heading in that direction. So, rather than end up with an addiction he couldn’t get out from under, he’d stopped drinking altogether.
Now, he wanted that drink more than anything else.
Well, maybe not anything. He would’ve preferred Milly; however, she clearly wasn’t on the menu.
“Someone sitting here?”
AJ glanced over at the woman with the sweet, feminine voice. A smile tilted his lips when he recognized the familiar face. He motioned for her to have a seat.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Sue said with a smile, her glossy lips curled upward.
“I didn’t realize you were visiting this side of the country these days.” AJ fingered the glass as he stared at the beautiful brunette now sitting beside him.
“It looks as though I’ll be back for a while,” Sue admitted.
AJ liked Sue. They’d spent quite a bit of time together in the past, a lot of it naked in her room or his. Sue had been quite the treat back when he found himself lonely. They’d hooked up repeatedly, agreeing from the beginning that nothing serious would ever come from their out-of-town rendezvous. So, with those terms in mind, they’d thoroughly enjoyed one another.
He knew it wouldn’t take much to convince her to take her drink up to his room so they could engage in a one-nighter. She wasn’t the clingy type, which AJ approved of. However, as he glanced over her from head to toe, he knew he wasn’t going to suggest anything of the sort. He had no desire to bed her regardless of how willing she might be.
Then again, he was getting ahead of himself. It was quite possible Sue was in a relationship. He hadn’t seen her in almost a year. Hell, she could be married with a kid at home if she’d found someone who struck her fancy.
The bartender appeared to take Sue’s drink order.
“White wine, thank you.”
He disappeared quickly.
“So, how’re things?” she probed, turning slightly so that she was facing him.
Her body language was open, inviting. AJ glanced down at her ring finger. There was no sparkling rock signifying that she’d drifted into wedded bliss.
“Good,” he told her, turning his drink, debating on whether or not he would down it and risk giving in to his male impulses.
His thoughts drifted to Milly, to their time on the ship. He fucking missed her and it was killing him. He hated that she was ignoring him when the only thing he wanted was to spend more time with her. Didn’t necessarily have to be naked time, either. They’d passed a lot of hours laughing and joking, getting to know one another.
But he was the discardable bad boy. That was what he’d determined after hours of thinking about it. She had entertained him for those few days, never considering something might come out of it. She’d had her mind made up in the very beginning.
“Earth to AJ,” Sue said, snapping her fingers.
When he focused on her, he noticed her smiling. AJ briefly wondered if Sue felt the same. Was he the bad boy she wanted to use and discard? Was he that to all the women he’d spent time with over the years?
“Penny for your thoughts.”
AJ shook his head. “Just work shit,” he lied as he glanced down at his watch. “In fact, I really should head up to my room. I’ve got a presentation to work on.”
Sue’s brown eyes glittered. “Is that an invitation?”
AJ pushed off the stool and tossed a twenty on the bar. “Not tonight.” He offered a wicked grin. “But maybe I’ll catch you tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here.”
Which meant AJ wouldn’t.
As angry as he was at Milly, the mere thought of spending the night with another woman only pissed him off more.
*
The instant Gannon opened his front door, Milly practically threw herself into his arms.
“Well, nice to see you, too,” he said with a chuckle.
“I missed you so much.” She squeezed him tightly. “I’ve been counting down the days until you got back from your honeymoon.”
It was true.
Granted, she had given him a few days to acclimate before she barged back into his world, but enough was enough. Milly needed someone to talk to and her best friend was the only person who would understand what she was going through.
“Well, come in,” he urged, placing his hand on her back and gently nudging her into the house.
“Where’s Cam?”
“At the marina. Busy time for them right now.”
Milly could only imagine. Summertime at the marina was hectic. She’d seen it firsthand. And for Cam to have been gone, that had to be tough. He handled most of the business end, which meant he would have plenty to keep him busy.
“Can I get you something to drink? Wine? Water? Tea?”
Normally, Milly would jump at the opportunity for wine, but … well, that wasn’t a good idea right now.
“Tea sounds perfect,” she told him.
Gannon’s eyes narrowed as he studied her. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” she huffed. “Why?”
“Because I’m not sure you’ve ever turned down wine.”
Milly waved him off. “Oh, hush. It’s too hot for wine. Plus, I’m driving.”
“Right.” Gannon stared at her for another moment before turning toward the kitchen.
Milly followed, setting her purse on the table by the door. She squared her shoulders and put on a brave face.
“So, how was it?”
; “How was what?” Gannon poured two glasses of tea.
“Really? You’re going there?”
Gannon smirked. “It was amazing, Mill.”
Of course it was. Their honeymoon was probably full of fun days and sleepless nights. Not that Milly was jealous.
Okay, maybe she was a little jealous. After all, Gannon had fallen in love and he was living his happy ever after.
Did it make her a bad person to want that?
“What about you?” Gannon asked, bringing over two tea glasses and setting them on the kitchen table.
Milly frowned, not understanding his question.
“I happen to know you and AJ were hot and heavy on the cruise. How’s it been since you came back?”
She waved him off. “That was a vacation fling. It’s over now.”
“Really?” Gannon didn’t look convinced. “Why’s that? He ignoring you?”
Milly stared into her glass, hoping the question would simply vanish into thin air. She honestly didn’t want to talk about AJ.
Okay, fine. That was a big fat lie. She wanted to talk about AJ. In fact, she wanted to talk to AJ. But she’d already spent the past few weeks ignoring him and now she felt like an idiot. She hadn’t heard from him in a couple of days, which meant he had likely moved on to someone else.
“Milly…”
Her eyes cut to Gannon, who was staring at her expectantly.
“No, he’s not ignoring me. I’m ignoring him,” she admitted.
“Why? He suck in bed?”
Her face heated. Although Gannon was her very best friend in the whole wide world, Milly still had a hard time talking about certain things with him. Such as how a guy was in bed.
Granted, she liked giving Cam and Gannon a hard time and she didn’t shy away from much, but when it came to this—discussing the exquisite way AJ had played her body—Milly couldn’t find the words.
Gannon cleared his throat, evidently waiting for an answer.
Milly stared back at him and grinned. “He was great in bed,” she finally admitted.
“Okay, so what’s the problem?”
Shrugging, Milly dropped her gaze to the table. “I know how it works, Gannon. We might’ve spent a few hours doing the horizontal mambo, but eventually, it would’ve gotten old and AJ would’ve kicked me to the curb. At that point, it would’ve been weird for everyone involved. I’m simply fast-forwarding things and omitting the part where I fall in love with the man and end up getting my heart broken.”
Gannon’s hand landed on her forearm. A soft, gentle touch that had tears springing to her eyes. Her stupid emotions had been rioting these past few weeks. It seemed no matter how hard she tried, they were overwhelming her and she didn’t like it one bit.
“Mill. Look at me.”
She forced her gaze to meet his.
“You can’t predict the future, no matter how hard you try. And pushing AJ away isn’t going to stop you from having feelings for him.”
“I don’t have feelings for him,” she argued. If she did, she didn’t want to, anyway.
“Really?” He didn’t appear convinced. “Because you sure do look miserable.”
“I’ve been sick,” she admitted. “I haven’t been feeling well.”
His dark eyebrow raised. “What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “No idea.”
That was a lie. Milly suspected she knew what was wrong, but she couldn’t quite wrap her head around it. And until she did that, she was keeping her suspicions to herself.
“Well, honey, I really hope you’ll talk to me. You know I’m here for you, no matter what.”
Milly smiled sadly. “I know. And I’m fine. Really.” She reached for her glass. “Now seriously. Let’s talk about you. Tell me all about the honeymoon.”
Gannon groaned.
Clearly, her best friend wasn’t happy that he was going to be the topic of conversation.
Six
A show of solidarity
Seven weeks later, August
AJ stared at the television screen, but he wasn’t seeing much of the baseball game he was watching with his brother. Even the quiet night in wasn’t helping to ease the strain in AJ’s brain.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking about Milly. She had not answered any of his messages, so he’d given up trying. For the past few weeks, he’d had to hide his damn phone from himself so he wouldn’t risk sending her a stupid text asking for her to talk to him.
Not once in his entire life had AJ been so fucking love-struck over a woman. But that seemed to be exactly what he was. He thought of Milly every single day. When he took a shower, he remembered the showers they’d taken together. When he ate dinner, he thought about sharing meals with her. When he had a beer, he thought about the times they’d spent on the ship talking about everything and nothing at all.
Needless to say, the past eleven weeks since he’d left that ship had been the worst that he could recall. AJ just fucking wanted to hear her voice, to see her, to listen to her laugh.
He was pathetic.
Hudson’s phone buzzed, drawing AJ out of his stupor. He glanced over at his brother as he pulled his phone from his pocket. His expression went from relaxed to stressed in under a second.
“What’s up?” AJ asked, curious.
Teague, Hudson signed.
“Something wrong?”
Hudson shrugged but pushed to his feet.
“Where’re you going?”
Hudson signed, I have to go to the marina.
“I’ll go with you,” AJ offered, not sure what he was walking into but it was rare for his brother to panic. And this was definitely panic.
Without waiting for him, Hudson grabbed his keys and headed for the door. AJ did the same, grabbing his truck keys and chasing after him.
“What’s going on with him?” AJ hollered as he raced toward his truck.
Hudson shrugged again.
Well, shit.
“I’ll see you there,” AJ yelled before jumping into his truck.
He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen Hudson this upset before. Then again, he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen his brother quite so taken with a man, either. And despite what Hudson wanted everyone to believe, AJ knew his brother was in deep when it came to Teague.
AJ didn’t know a lot about the kid, other than he had some issues. Something or someone had hurt Teague and he walked around with a huge chip on his shoulder.
When Hudson laid rubber to asphalt in front of AJ’s house, he knew something was seriously wrong. He put his foot to the floor and followed him.
Fifteen minutes later, he was pulling into the parking lot behind Hudson. He noticed there were several other vehicles already there and a handful of people standing around. He put the truck in park, then climbed out.
As he walked over, AJ scanned the many faces before him. Cam, Gannon, Dare, Noah, Roan, along with Cam’s father and a man AJ didn’t recognize were standing in a huddle.
“You have any idea what’s wrong with Teague?” Cam asked Hudson directly.
Hudson shook his head.
“Something going on with you two?” Unlike Cam, who sounded concerned, Roan’s tone held a bit of accusation.
Hudson stared Roan down, but he didn’t respond. Instead, he pulled out his phone. AJ assumed he was texting Teague, likely trying to figure out where he was and what he was doing. Once he put his phone back in his pocket, Hudson turned to Roan and signed: Where did he go?
Roan shrugged. “He didn’t say. But he was pissed. More so than I’ve ever seen him.”
AJ moved closer. “Does he have any family? Maybe he went there.”
Cam shook his head. “Not that we know of.”
“Did he put an emergency contact down on his application when you hired him?” AJ asked.
Cam grinned. “Yeah. Nine-one-one.”
“Well, that doesn’t help.”
Before they could brainstorm any more, Cam’s father’s phone
rang. He answered immediately. Everyone stood there watching him as he spoke calmly to whoever the caller was. When he hung up, he directed his attention to the group.
“A woman just called in to emergency dispatch. Apparently, there’s a blond guy sitting on her private pier.”
“Shit,” Roan snarled.
Text me the address, Hudson signed to Cam.
“Will do.”
Hudson spun around and raced back to his truck, everyone else following.
Ten minutes later, AJ slammed his truck into park once more and jumped out. His brother took off like a shot across private yards, racing toward the lake. AJ followed in hot pursuit, his chest aching at the thought of something happening to Teague. AJ knew Hudson would never forgive himself if that happened.
AJ noticed Hudson throwing things out of his pockets before he dove into the water, disappearing into the inky darkness.
Holding his breath, AJ shot up a silent prayer. Please let Teague be all right. Please let him be all right.
Time stood still as AJ waited for Hudson to emerge from the water. He started to panic, wondering if he should go in after his brother. Suddenly, Hudson appeared, hefting Teague’s dead weight.
AJ threw himself to the wooden planks of the pier and reached over the side, wrapping his arms around Teague and lifting him out of the water.
Once the man was laid out flat, AJ put two fingers against Teague’s neck, then looked at Hudson. “Fuck. I don’t know CPR.”
His heart raced. How the fuck was he supposed to help?
As soon as Hudson was out of the water, he dropped to his knees beside Teague. He started the process of CPR while AJ dialed 911.
When the operator answered, AJ frantically relayed the details of what had happened. They’d found a man in the water; he was unconscious. That was basically all he knew. “Yes, we need an ambulance.”
Minutes felt like days as Hudson pressed on Teague’s chest, attempting to make his heart work. Finally, Teague started choking, spurting water. AJ released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding as Hudson flipped Teague onto his side, allowing him to expel the lake water.
AJ breathed a sigh of relief. Another came close on the heels of that one when the EMTs arrived to take over the difficult task of ensuring Teague stayed alive.
Clueless (Pier 70, 5) Page 4