Better vs. Worse

by Mary E Thompson

  David nodded and kissed the side of her head before releasing her. “Thanks, babe.”

  Ada grinned and walked away, leaving me with her boyfriend and the knowledge that she was definitely fucking with me.

  “Can I help you with anything?” David asked. “Ada didn’t really tell me what we’d be doing.”

  “I’m just getting the tables set. Kiki doesn’t like anything done too early or we run the risk of it blowing away.”

  “This tent is massive,” David said, staring up at the white fabric that stretched out over our heads. “I don’t think I’ve seen one this big before.”

  I nodded, trying to keep my voice even. He seemed like a good enough guy. It wasn’t his fault Ada wanted him instead of me.

  “Kiki doesn’t use it much, but if there’s a chance of bad weather, she puts it up. She wanted something big enough to hold everything. Band. Dancers. Food. Guests. All of it.”

  David looked around and nodded. “Makes sense. How long have you worked here?”

  I shook my head and moved to the next table. David followed me but still hadn’t put a thing on the tables. He was just watching me work. “I don’t work here. I’m a surf instructor. I’m only filling in since some guys couldn’t be here tonight.”

  “Oh, I thought you worked here all the time. Didn’t you work the wedding before the tsunami?”

  “Yes. Again, to fill in.”

  “Right, sorry. So where do you work?”

  What the hell did Ada see in him? I knew what he saw in her, but he was not the kind of guy I thought she’d be with.

  Then I looked up and realized he wasn’t paying attention to me but was staring at one of the new waitresses. His eyes tracked her around the tent, dipping to check her out. He grinned when she bent over a table and flashed her rack.

  “What the hell?” I finally blurted, shoving him to get his attention.

  “What?” he asked, glancing at the waitress again then staring me down. “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Why are you checking her out when you’re with Ada?”

  David chuckled. “Ada and I aren’t exclusive. We’re dating other people. She doesn’t care if I look, as long as I don’t do it when she’s around.” He paused and scanned the tent. “She’s not here, so it’s all good.”

  “Hell, no, it’s not all good. She doesn’t know you’re not exclusive.”

  David laughed and nodded. “Sure she does. We never talked about being exclusive.”

  “That doesn’t mean she’s seeing other people. When she’s with someone, she’s with one at a time.”

  David shook his head, but I saw the hint of fear in his eyes. “You’re trying to create a problem where there isn’t one. I saw the way you looked at her. I heard all about you begging her to take care of you when you were sick. You’ve got a thing for her. She might not be able to see it, but I do. And if you go to her tonight, I’ll make sure she knows it’s your jealousy that has you lying about what you saw.”

  “Excuse me?” I said, stepping up to him. His eyes went to my muscles, which I flexed just to make sure he knew how big I was.

  His eyes widened just enough that I knew he got the message. Then a smirk curled his lips up. “You’re right, Kapena. That woman is pretty, but I’ve got the most beautiful one in the whole place, so I don’t need to look.”

  “What are you—”

  “Aw, you’re so sweet,” Ada said, joining us from behind me. “I’m a lucky woman to have a guy like you.”

  David leaned down and kissed her squarely on the lips while I watched. The fucking psycho even opened his eyes and watched me while he kissed her.

  I growled and spun away from them, working on the opposite side of the tent so I didn’t have to spend one more second near them.

  By the end of the night, I’d dropped three beers, tipped over two bottles of wine, and dumped an entire tray of food.

  Kiki was ready to murder me. I didn’t blame her a bit, but none of it was my fault. It was all Ada. That damn woman was all goo-goo over that slimy piece of shit she called her boyfriend. She sat on his lap and kissed him and completely missed it when he checked out the waitress.

  I could barely breathe, let alone serve food to a bunch of people who were happy and oblivious to the fact that I was ready to knock someone out.

  “Are you sick again?” Kiki asked when she caught up to me after one more spilled tray. Thankfully that one was empty plates, but she was still pissed.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Then get your shit together. It’s going to cost me more than I paid you all night to replace the stuff you’ve broken. It would have been cheaper to go without you here.”

  “I’m fine,” I growled again, dropping the tray off inside and going back out to help.

  I knew I should say something, to Ada or to Kiki or someone, but David’s words rang in my mind. I would sound like a jealous prick if I accused him of cheating on her. More than that, she didn’t deserve to have all her shit aired, especially at a wedding.

  I picked up dishes and carried them to the kitchen. I cleaned tables and served more drinks and avoided Ada and David.

  I was on my way inside when she stepped in front of me. We were out of view of the rest of the wedding, but I still expected someone to be watching us and glanced past her to see who it would be.

  When I couldn’t see anyone, a cold bead of sweat slid down my back. She had me alone.

  “Do you remember what happened last weekend?” she asked without meeting my eyes.

  My brain searched for anything out of the ordinary, but I had no idea what she was talking about. “No,” I said cautiously.

  “After you were sick, I offered to stay with you. You were pretty out of it. We laid down and you tugged me against you.”

  I knew that part. I wasn’t in complete control of my body when I dragged hers to me, but she felt too good to let out of my arms.

  “You said you left right after I passed out.”

  She grinned and looked up at me shyly. “I lied. When you fell asleep, I laid there with you. You said my name in your sleep. A lot. Especially when you grew hard against me.”

  Memories filtered in like forgotten dreams. I had a lot of dreams about Ada. It didn’t surprise me I had them when she was in my arms.

  “I… It’s a reaction. I couldn’t control it.”

  She nodded. “I figured you’d say that. The problem is, it didn’t feel like an uncontrollable reaction to having someone pressed against you. It felt like you wanted me.”

  “Don’t you have a boyfriend?” I blurted. One of us needed to think straight.

  “I do, yes. And he’s a nice guy.”

  “Then why are you telling me this?”

  She shrugged and turned away. Over her shoulder, she said, “I just thought you should know the truth.”

  Her parting shot was a barb that stuck and held. She was telling me the truth about the night I spent with her in my arms, but I didn’t tell her about her boyfriend not being exclusive and checking out other women.

  I owed her the same consideration. I promised myself I’d tell her as soon as I had an opportunity.

  I watched her the rest of the night, hoping I could get her alone. She didn’t need to leave with that guy. She deserved better.

  By the time the wedding was done and people were leaving, I was on edge, strung tighter than a leash about to snap. Ada and David said goodnight to Kiki and Sawyer then left hand-in-hand. I watched them until they disappeared, silently begging her to leave him where he stood and run back to me.

  But she just kept walking.

  When she was gone, I jumped into action. I was like a robot the rest of the night. Visions of her sleeping with David swam in my head until it pounded with the rhythm of a headboard against the wall.

  Which only gave me more visions of them.

  I was a miserable fucking asshole by the time I got home. I hadn’t eaten during the wedding, so I was starving. I couldn’t st
omach food. I couldn’t stomach anything. Ada was screwing that jackass as I sat on my couch, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  I finally flipped the light on the lanai on, grabbed some headphones, and cranked music while I worked.

  Thankfully, the music drowned everything else out. Before I knew it, the sun was peeking over the horizon and telling me I spent all night shaping my board.

  But it was perfect.

  I set the board aside and admitted I needed sleep. Too exhausted to think about anything else, I collapsed on my bed and passed out.

  Chapter Eight

  A pounding woke me up a few hours later. Irritated that I couldn’t sleep the rest of the day, I stomped to the door and yanked it open to find Jack, Sawyer, and Alvin on my doorstep.

  “Told you he was still sleeping.”

  “He looks like shit.”

  “He smells worse.”

  “Fuck you all,” I said and started to close the door on them.

  “I still have a key,” Sawyer declared.

  I let go of the door, knowing they’d come in anyway, and walked to the kitchen.

  “What the hell are you all doing here?”

  “We came to help with your house. Kiana said you had a few things you needed to take care of,” Sawyer explained.

  I shook my head and grabbed a bottle of water. “I’ll handle it. No big deal.”

  “Maybe not,” Alvin said, “but we came to help. At least let us do something.”

  “Fine,” I said. “I need to tear out all the baseboards and maybe some of the drywall.”

  They nodded and moved to opposite sides of the room. Surprised they actually did it, I stood there and watched them for a few minutes.

  “You could help, you know,” Sawyer finally said.

  I shook my head and got to work.

  A few hours later, we had all the baseboards and half the drywall pulled off the walls. It was like I suspected. The baseboards were more or less done. Half of it crumbled as we pried it off the wall. The drywall wasn’t much better, but the damage was limited to the first few inches where the water sat. The damage hadn’t climbed higher than that.

  “I’ll get some supplies,” Alvin offered. “How about you guys figure out dinner?”

  I nodded, knowing dinner was going to be on me. I didn’t mind. They worked their asses off to help me. The job had been too big for me to take of, especially between surf lessons, working on my board, and helping Kiki out. In just over a day, it would be done.

  Jack decided to go with Alvin to get drywall, baseboards, and everything we needed to put them in, leaving me with Sawyer.

  “I saw Ada leave with David last night.”

  I nearly punched him. Wouldn’t be the first time. He dropped like nothing last time. It would make me feel better.

  “I also saw her pressing up against you before she did. Looked like things got a little heated.”

  “Why are you pushing this?”

  “Because Kiana and I want you to be happy.”

  “Tell me you didn’t tell my sister anything,” I said with a groan.

  Sawyer snorted. “I tell your sister everything. She knows you’re in love with Ada, and that you’re pushing her away, and that you’re a dumbass.”

  I rolled my eyes and went to the kitchen for a beer. “I’m not in love with Ada. Want one?”

  Sawyer shook his head. “Hopefully Jack brings some good beer back with him.”

  “You didn’t mind drinking my beer when you lived here.”

  Sawyer laughed. “Yeah, I did. But I wasn’t going to complain.”

  “And you will now?”

  Sawyer shrugged. “So what’s up with Ada?”

  I growled, “Nothing. Nothing is up with Ada. She’s dating that piece of shit and has no idea who he really is.”

  Sawyer sipped a bottle of water and stared out at the water. “I miss this view. It’s not the same living in the condo.”

  “You’d rather live with me than my sister?”

  Sawyer chuckled. “Not a chance. But I’d rather live here than there. We’re thinking of moving into Ke’aloha.”

  “Where are you looking?”

  Sawyer shrugged. “Wherever she tells me she wants to be.”

  “Smart man.”

  “One of us has to be. I manned up and got the girl. You need to do the same one of these days.”

  “She doesn’t want me unless she’s drunk.”

  Sawyer shrugged. “She didn’t look drunk last night.”

  “And she wasn’t hitting on me. She was telling me—” I stopped myself before I said something I couldn’t take back. Sawyer didn’t need to hear how hard I got every time I was around her. Or about the dreams I had the night she spent in my arms. She didn’t want anyone to know she spent the night with me instead of David, so I’d keep my damn mouth shut.

  “Telling you what?”

  “Nothing. It doesn’t matter. She’s with him. And she’s happy. There’s no reason for me to mess with that.”

  “But you want to?”

  “Dammit, no. I’m done talking about this.”

  I ignored him and called in a pizza order. I sent Alvin a text to bring back more beer and went back to work, ignoring Sawyer until he lowered himself to the floor and got back to work cleaning up before we installed all the new stuff.

  Three days later, I finished up a surf lesson and finally had time to work on my board again. I was on the porch, marking the rail bands, when there was a knock on my door.

  When I opened it, I definitely thought I’d died.

  Ada stood in front of me wearing the sexiest fucking dress I’d ever seen. Bright red and cut low enough that I could see the edges of her lace bra. Black heels made her legs look like they went on forever. And a bag that smelled like heaven.

  I didn’t care about the food.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I brought you dinner.”

  Common courtesy demanded I step back and let her in. The guy inside who wanted to sink into her and never let her leave demanded I drag her inside before anyone else saw her in that outfit.

  I stepped back, groaning when she stalked past me and her light scent, like a fresh breeze on the ocean, assaulted me. She headed straight for the kitchen, leaving me to follow her. Like Pavlov’s dog, I did.

  “What’s going on? I don’t think you’ve ever brought dinner over here.”

  She didn’t look at me but shook her head. “Nope. But I really need your help with something. I figured I’d butter you up with dinner first.” She glanced at the lanai. “What are you doing outside?”

  “Oh, um, nothing,” I blurted, rushing over to turn the lights outside off. She shrugged and went back to emptying the bag of food onto my counter.

  “I brought us a bottle of wine, too. I hope you don’t mind, but I started without you.”

  She held up the bottle and revealed that it was half empty.

  “Were you drinking before you drove over here?”

  She shook her head. “Nope. I chugged it in your driveway before I knocked on the door.”

  “You’re going to be sick,” I said, approaching her. “Why did you do that?”

  “Liquid courage. Now eat.”

  My stomach rumbled in agreement, forcing me to accept the fish tacos on the plate she held out to me. I nodded toward the living room to avoid her seeing my board outside. She shrugged and followed me.

  We sat and ate without saying much. I turned on the TV and found something I thought might interest her, but she didn’t seem to be watching any more than I was.

  When we finished our food, I waited for her to say something, but she just sat back and drank more wine. If she didn’t slow down, she was going to have to stay the night, and that was not on the menu for the evening.

  “David said he told you he was seeing other people,” she finally said.

  I heaved in a deep breath and nodded. “He said you weren’t exclusive.”

&nbs
p; A dark, mirthless laugh burst from her. “Well, we never said we were, which he said was my fault. I thought we were exclusive.”

  “I’m sorry, Ada.”

  She shook her head. “See, here’s the kicker. I never saw it coming. We’ve been seeing each other for months, and all of a sudden, he tells me you two talked and he’s done with me.”

  “What?” I blurted. I thought the guy was a jerk, but I definitely didn’t expect him to break up with her.

  “He said there was too much drama in my life for him to get more involved, so he’s done. The funny thing is, I knew it was going to happen. I mean, it always happens. For one reason or another. They cheat or they’re not that interested or they met someone new. It’s normal. But what never happened before was a guy breaking up with me because of you.”

  “Because of me? What are you talking about?”

  She finally turned to face me, all her vulnerability and pain on display. “He said if I had someone like you in my life, he wasn’t. And since you’re my best friend’s brother, he wasn’t interested. So the way I see it, you owe me.”

  “I owe you?” I stammered. I didn’t know where the conversation was headed, but I knew it wasn’t going to be good.

  She nodded and sipped her wine, draining the glass. She set it down and stood before me. “Sex. Right now. I bought this outfit and sexy underwear and even got a damn wax for tonight. We were supposed to go out to a nice dinner and then back to his place. We had a whole night planned out. And you ruined it. So you owe me.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I pushed to my feet, which proved to be a massive mistake. She was right there, pressing against me.

  “I know what you think, Kapena. I know every argument you’re about to make. And I know you want me. I know you’ve wanted me for a while. I’m not drunk yet. I wasn’t drunk when I drove here. I made this decision with full awareness of what I was doing. I need you to give me a night that will take away the frustration that another one of my relationships fell apart. It’s your fault things ended this time, so you owe me. Please.”

  I knew what to say. I knew what to do. I knew how to react. But when I looked into those beautiful hazel eyes, the ones burning with shame that she’d lain herself bare for me, everything I knew went out the window.