“I don’t believe it,” Ashley said with a humph.
Rhees shrugged, thoughtfully. “It’s not just me. You know, he’s still friends with almost all the girls he’s been with. Even though he isn’t with them anymore . . . never really was . . . actually.” She reflected on that idea. In all the time she’d known him, Shelli was the closest he came to having a disgruntled girlfriend.
She smiled to herself, knowing he would deny Shelli was ever a girlfriend. But even after the way they’d parted company, Shelli had called him when she regained consciousness, to apologize for the way she’d acted. She told him she blamed herself for what Mario tried to do to Rhees.
After Shelli had left the shop, she’d met Mario and they hooked up quickly. Still upset with the way things had turned out, she said she’d talked too much about Paul the man-whore and Rhees’ virginal status. She said it hadn’t taken Mario long to start saying strange, inappropriate things like, he wanted to teach Paul a lesson, show him who the big bull really was, and how it would show Paul if he got to Rhees first.
Shelli told Paul that when Mario confessed what he planned to do, she tried to stop him, but he beat her for it, raped her, and left her for dead. Paul had told her not to blame herself and bought her a plane ticket home so her family could watch over her while she recovered from her injuries. The kind of person Ashley described wouldn’t have cared enough to do that.
“But they all still consider him a friend,” Rhees continued. “There has to be something to that. Like I said, he’s generous, thoughtful, and protective.”
“Bryce loves him,” Jeannie said. “He said Paul would do anything for him.”
“Taylor feels the same way,” Liz added, and then she repeated, “and he’s so pretty.” Jeannie nodded in agreement.
“Don’t let him hear you call him pretty,” Rhees warned. “He tolerates good-looking, handsome, and even beautiful, but he hates being called pretty.”
“See? Bully.” Ashley had heard David say the same nice things about Paul, but she wasn’t about to add that to his cause.
Rhees hated how Ashley ignored every nice thing everyone said about Paul and focused only on the one thing she’d said that made him look bad. She wished she could take it back and hoped to fix her blunder.
“Paul is more than just a pretty face. He’s the smartest man I’ve ever known. He’s a hard worker, he’s fun, funny,” Rhees continued. “So many of the things I admire. He’s a man of his word. He keeps his promises—almost to a fault—it’s annoying at times. Maybe what you’re picking up on is his honesty. When he’s angry, you know it. When he’s happy, you know it. There’s no guessing. He’s so honest . . . except when he lies.” She giggled, and the other girls giggled at that too.
“Isn’t that the way they all are?” Liz said.
oOo
The next day included shark diving in the morning, and a round of golf that afternoon. Once again, he’d had too much to drink the night before and didn’t come to bed. He’d made excuses to linger downstairs until all the other men went up to their dates before slipping into the media room to sleep on the couch. Rhees woke from a nightmare, found him missing again, and went searching for him. She rousted him up and got him upstairs before anyone could find him and ask him hard-to-answer questions.
“Sharks?” She followed him around the bedroom as he got ready for the activity. “Why can’t you use a cage?”
Paul was still confused about his feelings, and acted too invested in getting ready to answer.
“Paul, I’m so scared. Please, don’t go.”
“I have to go.”
“Then promise me you won’t get eaten.” That made him laugh in spite of his attempt to stay aloof, and she was finally able to catch him, throwing her arms around his waist. She’d chased him around the room as he wandered, gathering his things and packing them into his duffle bag. He liked the contact and that only confused him more.
“If a shark did take a bite, I’m so nasty, he’d spit me right out. Besides, I can’t get eaten. If I weren’t around, who’d take care of your beautiful ass?”
“That’s right. Without you, I’d wither and die.” She scowled at him and he sneaked in a quick squeeze of her butt.
That day, four massage therapists showed up after lunch and gave each of the girls a two-hour massage by the pool.
“These guys know how to take care of a girl,” Jeannie said.
“Only when they want something in return,” Ashley clarified.
oOo
At dinner that night, the guys went over their scheduled activities for the rest of the week. In the morning, they planned to do one of the longest and best zip lines in the world. The day after, their last day at the beach house, they’d scheduled kite surfing before they headed back to town for their last night together.
“A zip line?” Rhees’ attention piqued. “I need to do a zip line. It’s one of those things on my list of fears to overcome, like diving and ice blocking and . . . life itself.”
The guys stared at her, alarmed at her comment. Paul looked at her, distress written all over his face.
“Paul . . .” Bryce and Taylor both said at the same time.
“Rhees, I’ll take you sometime.” Paul tried to save the awkward moment, and his man card. “Not this trip, okay, Babe?”
“I know you don’t want me tagging along with you and the guys, but what if I went alone, or with the girls?” She turned to the girls. “How about it? Who else wants to do the zip line with me?”
“No way. I’d rather shop at Wal-Mart,” Ashley said. The other girls weren’t as vocal as Ashley, but it became clear they weren’t interested.
“Okay, looks like I’m on my own. I’ll go at a different time than you. I promise not to encroach on your, Brotherhood of Testosterone, time.”
“No!” Paul snapped out.
Rhees glared at him, and he found himself taken aback by her wounded expression. Shit! She’s serious. He suddenly felt torn between her happiness and appeasing his friends—his friends would be more vocal. Sure, Rhees would back down—she always gave in to him—he thought it would be a good opportunity to let the guys know he hadn’t turned soft on a girl—even if he had—he hadn’t figured that out yet, before this trip.
“I said I’ll take you, another time.” He gave her a, can we discuss this later, look.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would we spend all that money to come again when we’re here now, and I can just check it off my list?”
“No. You’re not running around in a foreign country by yourself.” She rolled her eyes at him. “Rhees, I’ve made up my mind about this, you’re not going alone. I said I’ll bring you back, and we can do it then.” She didn’t look happy, but she dropped the subject like he expected she would.
That night, they all decided to watch a movie in the media room. The remote beach house didn’t have cable, so they voted on which movie to watch from the large collection on the shelves. They decided on The Patriot.
Taylor and Liz didn’t make it fifteen minutes into the movie before they sneaked out and to their room. Bryce and Jeannie started making out on the couch as soon as Taylor left, and eventually slinked off to their bedroom as well, leaving Paul, Rhees, David, and Ashley to watch the movie. David kept trying to get Ashley to make out too, but she acted more interested in Heath Ledger and Mel Gibson than David.
With the extra space made available by the exiting couples, Paul and Rhees stretched out on the couch, lying next to each other, Paul behind her. When the movie reached the scene where Anne’s parents sewed Gabriel into a bundling bag, Rhees turned to face Paul with a questioning look on her face.
“I didn’t know they did that back in those days.”
Paul shrugged. He’d never heard of it before the movie. Rhees continued to
stare at him, inquiring.
“No,” he said. She raised a brow. She didn’t look like she agreed. “No! We’ll talk later.” He tipped his head at David and Ashley to alert Rhees of Ashley’s sudden interest in them, so Rhees turned her attention back to the movie.
Neither of them had slept well without each other the past two nights, and Paul and Rhees wound up falling asleep on the couch in their cuddly position.
David watched his friend, snuggled up to Rhees, wondering what was going on with Paul. He’d been acting different, strange all week.
“I saw Paul on the couch last night when I came down to get something for my headache. This is the first time they’ve slept together since they got here,” Ashley said. She and David both laughed that Paul and Rhees were literally sleeping. “I’d say the magic in that relationship is long over. They’re like an old married couple. I don’t know why she puts up with him.”
“You didn’t know Paul, pre-Rhees. I can’t figure out what he’s still doing with her!”
“It’s obvious. She worships him, and he’s clearly into being worshipped.”
David looked surprised at Ashley’s conclusion. “No. That’s not it at all. Paul’s always been low-key, quiet, kind of shy. He listens and pays attention, to everything, and then he’s just there when you need him.”
“He is not shy. He’s mean and grumpy and—”
“That’s because you’ve been pushing his buttons. Ash, you don’t want to push Paul’s buttons.”
“I’m not afraid of Paul. The rest of you can be if you want, but I’m not letting him push me around.”
“He doesn’t push anyone around. We respect him, and he’s usually right.” David chuckled.
“You’re saying I’m wrong? I am not wrong! How dare you say—”
David shushed her, turned the TV off, and they walked upstairs to their room.
“Paul’s a watcher. He sits quietly and watches, listens, and learns. Maybe that’s why he’s a good judge of character, and I guess the reason he’s so hung up on Rhees—I don’t think he even realizes it though.” David laughed at the thought of his long-time friend being blindsided by an emotion Paul always claimed to be incapable of feeling. “But she’s good people. She’s good for him. I’m just surprised.”
“Rhees is a wimp. That’s what he sees in her. She worships him and when he says jump, she asks, how high. If he were my boyfriend, he’d learn a thing or two real fast.”
Again, Ashley’s take on the matter surprised him. David thought the role was reversed, that Paul was the one doing all the jumping and worshipping. David didn’t want to argue with Ashley about it. “It’s like I don’t even recognize him anymore. He disappeared, just took off when his brother died five years ago. His dad hired an army of private investigators to find him and sent Taylor to check up on him, bring him back, but Paul refuses to go home. He’s changed—changes every time I see him.”
“How’d his brother die?”
“No one knows the details. The police never solved the case. He was mixed up with some drug ring, I don’t know, but they were very close.”
“Was Paul involved too?” Ashley grasped for juicy information.
David ignored her question. “The Paul I knew would never fall for anyone, let alone someone as tame as Rhees. Taylor mentioned she was a virgin when they met.”
“Are you kidding?” Ashley seemed too amused by the revelation.
“And have you noticed how territorial he is with her? He’s always been more like Taylor.”
“Taylor is so crude and horny. Poor Liz. They aren’t going to last, I just know it.”
David shot her a look. It wasn’t news to him. Liz was just a pretty lay for the trip and David knew how hard it was on Taylor to stick to the same girl all week. He’d rarely seen him with the same girl twice. “Honestly David, this trip hasn’t instilled a lot of confidence in me about your choice of friends. We’re going to have to work on that, find you more suitable people to hang out with.”
David’s heart sank. He wished Ashley would stop trying to change him and he wondered again why they were still together if she didn’t like anything about him.
“Well, the Paul I remember was more like Taylor, only stealthier. Taylor sees what he wants and goes for it, bold and loud, no holds barred. The girls either fall for him or they run like hell. Paul’s always liked his girls to take the initiative. He sits, quietly watching as they start to circle. Like a predator being preyed upon, he waits in the grass, not moving a muscle, only his eyes . . .” David huffed a laugh.
“His eyes just kind of drew them in like moths to the flame, but he never fell for any of them.” David paused, thoughtful for a minute.
Ashley slugged his arm. “You sound like you admire that piece of shit.”
David regretted saying anything. He slid his arm around her waist and tried to kiss her, but she pulled away, slapping his arm again.
“Come on, Ash. Let’s sleep together, and I’m not talking the Paul and Rhees kind of sleep.” He waggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.
“It’s late, David. Their kind of sleeping together sounds better to me.”
oOo
Rhees woke with a sore neck and had to reposition herself. She turned to face Paul. He didn’t stir, worn out from all the physical activity. She watched him for a while, unable to get back to sleep.
She finally slid out from under his arm and held her breath, waiting, hoping her escape didn’t wake him. She carefully crept out of the media room and went to the breakfast bar to look at the reservation confirmation for the zip line. She found the name of the company the guys had booked their excursion with and walked into the office. She sat down at the computer, took a deep breath, and started typing.
Chapter 17
Thursday morning, Rhees didn’t need to prepare breakfast or lunch. The zip line company offered a package deal, which included meals, and the men had already paid for both. Rhees ate an apple and left the fruit out for the girls, knowing they only ate real food when their dates were around.
The zip line company provided a shuttle and the guys played Cutthroat while they waited for it to pick them up. Paul had a glass of juice while he waited for his turn at pool.
Bryce hollered a string of cuss words when he missed his shot.
“Get your ass out of my way, and I’ll show you how a real man plays pool.” Always so full of himself, Taylor pushed Bryce out of the way.
Ashley had been on a mission to annoy Paul as much as possible since the first day. She felt the need to prove him the bully whenever possible. She walked past him just as he lifted his glass to his mouth, and she bumped into him, pretending it was an accident. Orange juice spilled down his shirt.
“Dang it!” he yelled, brushing himself off, evaluating the damage, and didn’t notice the stares being shot his way from his friends.
“Dang it?” Taylor asked. “What the fuck is this? Kindergarten?”
“God, Paul. You had the nerve to accuse me of being henpecked,” David said.
Paul finally realized what he’d said and it bothered him. He knew it shouldn’t, but he felt conflicted between his old Taylor, Bryce, and David self and his new Rhees-inspired self-project. He wished he’d kept the two separate. He should never have come. He laughed it off, but he couldn’t get it off of his mind and he grew irritable.
The van showed up and Rhees practically had to tackle him for a good-bye kiss, the only girl who bothered to give her man one. She’d made Paul feel even more self-conscious as his friends so obviously noticed and gave him taunting looks of disappointment. Rhees stood on the porch and waved as the men loaded the van and then she strode back into the house. She headed up the stairs to get ready.
Rhees had just made it to the landing at the top when she heard the door sl
am so forcefully, the whole house shook.
“Danarya!”
She dropped her head back and looked up at the ceiling. “Shoot.” She turned slowly to see Paul standing in front of the door, his feet spread apart, his hands fisted, and his murderous glare, the one she hadn’t seen for months, fixed on her.
“The driver wanted me to let you know that you’re welcome to come with us now. The zip line company noticed the same address and thought you might be more comfortable coming with a familiar party than by yourself . . . later.” He strained to sound pleasant and calm.
The other guys made it back into the house to offer Paul moral support while he laid down the law to his woman. Rhees had to think about her next move and decided to play it with the same calm, cool, and collected tone he’d used.
“Please thank the driver for his consideration, but I will be keeping my original appointment.” It came out as steadily as she could manage.
“Like hell you will!” Paul yelled, dropping all attempts to sound reasonable. “You’re cancelling. I told you I didn’t want you going alone.”
“I’m not cancelling,” she tried to say, but it came out as a hoarse rasp.
“God damn it, Rhees. I’ll cancel for you then.” Paul didn’t stop swearing as he stomped off toward the office, intending to go online and do just that.
“Paul, no. You have no right to do this.” She leaned over the rail so she could still see him as he moved toward the room behind the stairs.
He stopped, looked up, and raised an eyebrow at her, challenging her to stop him.
She pinched her lips together in anger and ran into her bedroom. She grabbed her wallet, a jacket, and her backpack, and ran down the stairs and out the door as fast as she could. She jumped into the front seat of the van and slammed the door. She even locked it for good measure, although the sliding door behind her was still open.
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