Summer Breeze Kisses

by Addison Moore

  “Who the hell cares!” I bite the expletive in his face, and he inches back at the sound. His face contorts into twelve different stages of astonishment.

  “I care.” His tone softens as he struggles to pull me in close. The scent of his cologne lies heavy between us, and it makes me that much more insane.

  “Is that what you’re doing now?” I shout, pushing him hard in the chest. “Putting on cologne, looking your best while trolling cheap girls on a Friday night?” My voice pitches as tears come uninvited. I hate how I must look to him, to everyone around us who suddenly seems interested. I’m sure they all want to know why some crazy girl is screaming at their favorite gigolo.

  “No.” He shakes his head slowly, the denial ripe on his face. “I swear on all that is holy, it’s not what you think. I have no idea who that girl is. A friend of mine put me up to it.” He grips his hair by the temples and spins in a circle. “God.” He glances up as if he were actually summoning the Almighty. “I swear to you, Lex, it looked way worse than it was. My buddy, Keith, is standing right over there.” He looks to the empty bar, and a string of expletives runs from his lips. “I’ll find him. We’ll go right now and find him together.”

  His grip intensifies over my arms, and I struggle free. “Get away from me.” I beat him off with my purse, a Chanel clutch I found in a thrift store back in Hollow Brook named Karen, after the girl working the register. And to think I spent an entire afternoon envisioning how cosmopolitan Karen and I would look strutting around New York and here I’m nothing but laughable. “I was afraid I’d get accosted in this low-down and dirty town.” I beat him over the chest with my thrift store find. “And here it’s you doing the accosting!” I smack him hard over the top of the head, and a couple of beefed-up bouncers come up alongside me.

  “Ma’am, is this dude bothering you?”

  “Yes,” I seethe over at Axel with my newfound hatred for him. It’s always been there beneath the surface, and tonight it’s honored to make its official debut. “He most certainly is. Please escort me out of the building. I’d hate for him to follow me.”

  The wrestler to my right cinches his arm through mine while the one to my left holds a hand out to Axel in the event he tries to make a move.

  “Lex—wait!” he shouts over the music so loud even the DJ pauses his mixing moves to acknowledge the commotion. “This is a huge mistake! Don’t go!”

  His voice grows small as I speed up the stairs, taking them on two by two.

  No sooner do I get to the ground level, feel the rush of stale New York air hitting me in the face than a familiar voice roars from behind.

  “Lex! Lex—please! Come back to me, Lex. I love you! ”

  And those are the last words I ever hope to hear from Axel Collins.

  I sob like the weak-minded moron I had become all the way home.

  As soon as I set foot back in Hollow Brook, I knew Cupid and his stupid fictional arrow would never be a part of my life again.

  I would never allow it.

  Present Day

  Lex

  As if having a constant flock of protesters clamoring on the sidewalk in front of my home weren’t enough, they’ve managed to migrate to The Sloppy Pelican, filling in the lot with their ridiculous banners and homemade, mostly illegible third grade art on a stick.

  “Oh ma gah!” Raven strums it out, doing her best country girl impersonation. We drove in together since she’s agreed to help me with the working end of Teagan’s official Freedom Fest. It’s slated to begin in less than an hour. I’ve been doing a lot of back and forth today, helping to decorate the banquet room to make sure the details were just right.

  “They must have followed me this afternoon.” I click my tongue in disgust at the smarmy group, chanting boycott The Pelican!

  “Oh my God.” Now it’s me exclaiming my horror. “This isn’t right.” My feet pivot in the small crowd’s direction, and Raven wastes no time in twisting me back toward The Sloppy Pelican.

  “Never mind them. We’ll deal with them later. They’re old news anyway. We’ve got a Freedom Fest to tend to!”

  “Right.” We speed in through the oversized front doors, and each time I enter this place the butterflies in my stomach still take flight. It’s true. Axel Collins has never stopped having that effect on me—and just the prospect of being near him does the same.

  I’ve spent the night at his penthouse more times this week than at my own place. I guess it’s safe to say I’m warming to those Southern sleepovers quite nicely.

  The Pelican is usually full to the hilt for a Friday evening, but tonight it’s shockingly empty.

  “Looks like a slow night.” I head over to the bar where Mojo stands alone, polishing glasses instead of wowing the barflies with his mixing moves. “What’s going on? Is the Black Bear offering free food and booze tonight?” Everyone knows that the Black Bear is the only real competition for The Sloppy Pelican. But they’re located all the way on the other end of town. Even if the free scenario were true, I can’t imagine we would have such empty tables. The Pelican might be new, but it’s amassed a loyal following.

  “The Black Bear doesn’t do anything for free. Heck, they charge to take selfies with the bartenders. But, hey—we all know bartenders are worth the price of admission.” He gives a quick wink along with the cheesy line. “Seriously though—” Mojo flexes those behemoth biceps without meaning to. His features morph to something just this side of pity as he ticks his head toward the front. “I have no clue why we’re so dead tonight. But I doubt the Black Bear has anything to do with it. It’s probably just the calm before the storm.”

  “I sure hope so.” Raven shakes her perfectly glassy straight hair at the empty chairs and tables. “At this rate, there won’t be a need for another waitress.”

  “Come on. Let’s get to the banquet room before the birthday girl’s guests arrive.” I coax her out of her disheartened gaze before she gets cold feet and never lands a job and never moves out. Her slovenly ways have certainly not grown on me, nor do I intend to let them. This morning I found six different shampoo bottles in the guest bathroom, all of them flipped on their sides, vomiting pink goo from their spouts. Her razor was on the floor next to the toilet—working end up. If she slices her foot open and gets a staph infection, this girl will never leave alive.

  “Hey, Lex?” Mojo calls out, and I send Raven to the banquet room ahead of me before backtracking to the bar.

  “What’s up?” I lean over the icy granite counter as a knot begins to build in my stomach. There’s something about an empty restaurant that doesn’t sit well with me. Especially since it’s been brimming with bodies for the last four months.

  “Abby quit. Just thought you should know.”

  “What?” A pinch of excitement bubbles in me. Maybe this night is off on the right trajectory after all. “Tell me more.” I’m suddenly intrigued by anything to do with Abby Have-a-Cox-Will-Call-You. I know all about the heavy hitting she’s done to my boyfriend. Hey! I just called Axel my boyfriend! A giddy little laugh rides through me. Abby is gone, and Axel is mine. I’m two for two tonight.

  “She said she got some big gig at Collins Enterprises.”

  “Collins Enterprises?” My stomach drops. That’s Axel’s father’s conglomerate in which he attempts to take over the world by buying out or partnering in on brand new upstarts that look promising. A part of me was tempted to take the Epicurean Elite his way. It was back when revenge was the soup du jour, but now that Axel and I have patched things up, I’d feel strange asking his father to fund my new company. All that Collins-free zone talk was simply bull I was slinging Axel’s way. I thought the biggest knife through his heart was me getting in good with his father.

  “That’s right. She’s sold them in on some new venture she’s spearheading. Something Elite.” My stomach drops right through the floor. No sooner do a thousand traitorous scenarios float through my mind than I shake them right out again. “That’s great. As long as sh
e’s out of my hair.” Mojo probably heard me discussing the Epicurean Elite to Axel a dozen times. It’s no wonder he’s confused the name of Abby’s upstart. Can’t say I’m not envious, though. Whatever she has cooking, she has some serious funding to back her. I’ll admit I’m a teeny bit jealous.

  The front doors open and in walk Teagan and Axel, both of them looking as if they’re on their way to senior prom—Teagan with her raspberry svelte dress with spaghetti straps and a rose corsage strapped to her wrist, and Axel in a slick black suit, silver metallic tie that makes me want to use it as a soft form of bondage.

  I offer a naughty grin as he circles his arms around my waist.

  A dirty grin of his own blooms on his cheeks as he leans in to whisper, “I love that look on your face. Whatever it is you’re thinking, keep thinking it. In about six hours I plan on making all your fantasies come true.”

  “Then I hope Shep’s free.”

  Ax tips his head back with a moan, and we share a quick laugh.

  “Hey!” Teagan speeds back from the banquet hall. “It’s six fifteen. I’m fashionably late. Shouldn’t I at least have a couple of guests milling around awaiting my arrival?” She pulls out her phone and starts in on a texting spree before I can answer.

  Axel glances past me before doing a double take. “Where is everyone?”

  “I have no clue. The only people I’ve seen since I’ve been here are those idiots picketing my life. I’m sorry I’ve dragged them here.” I wince as if I had truly laid out a trail of breadcrumbs, and in a way I had.

  “What protesters?” His head turns toward the door, but his eyes remain trained on mine.

  “Didn’t you see them?” I point weakly to the front, sorry I ever brought them up.

  “I parked on the side, and Teagan practically ran us in here.” The joy drains from his face as he gently removes his hands from my hips. “I’d better go check this out.” He glances from me to a panic-stricken Teagan.

  “Go ahead. I’ve got this.” No sooner does Axel take off than I navigate Teagan to the banquet hall, empty as a tomb save for Raven who does an odd little dance once she sees us.

  Teagan tries to manufacture a smile for Raven but misses by a lip-quivering mile. “I guess if my friends don’t show, at least my family will be here.” Her voice breaks. “Except for my dad, of course. He’s working late trying to sort through his new acquisitions.” She looks up at me with her watery gray eyes, and my heart breaks for her. “It’s sort of a tradition at the end of every month—collect as many new interests as you can. My dad’s sort of bent on world domination.”

  She seems to be calmer with the diversion her father has provided, so I go with it. “Hey, a friend of mine just sold something to your dad.” Friend? I guess for the sake of argument Abby could be considered a friend. Although it’s more of a stale SAT question than it is an arguable fact. Abby is to friendship as Raven is to work. Lord knows I’d ace that one.

  “Really?” Teagan blinks back tears—a clear sign the diversion is working better than I thought. “What’s her name? I bet I met her today. It was my job to vet the prospects.”

  “Abby Wilcox.” I snarl as I say it. Old habits die hard.

  “Oh, the ditzy blonde!” Her overdone brows perk to life, and I warm when she refers to Abby as ditzy. “She’s the girl with the restaurant thingy. Yeah, Dad thought she was a ditz, too, but Axel swore up and down she had a brain.”

  “Restaurant thingy? Do you remember what it was called?”

  “No, sorry. Axel thought it was genius, though. He pushed her through all the way. He mentioned she’s a good friend of his.”

  The room sways for a moment. “Yeah, I guess she is.”

  Another frantic five minutes pass with nary a guest, and Teagan begins howling into her phone “No, no, no!”

  “What?” both Raven and I squawk.

  “My guests aren’t coming.” Tears spontaneously erupt airborne from the sides of her eyes as if she had morphed into a cartoon version of herself. “They said they can’t support an establishment that houses a confirmed canine abuser on its premises. What the fresh hell are they talking about?”

  “I’m going to beat those protestors with their own sticks.” My fingers fly to my lips as I look to Raven for help.

  “We’ll move the party!” Raven shrieks in an effort to save the eighteen and out bash that’s flopping like a dead fish at our feet. “We’ll navigate everyone over to the Black Bear. It’ll be a blast, I swear.”

  “But we won’t have tables.” Teagan’s delicate features morph into sheer panic— her eyes widen, her mouth pulls back in horror. “What about all the cute decorations and the Pinterest-worthy appetizers the kitchen is making just for me?”

  Raven looks to me in a panic. “We’ll have it at her place. She’s got a really cute dog named Strudel, and if you give me a running start I’ll work hard to pick my thongs out from between the sofa cushions.”

  I yank her by the elbow. “Are you kidding me?”

  “What?” Raven wrestles herself free. “I like to watch TV at night commando. Sue me, would you?”

  “Don’t tempt me. I happen to be bedding a litigator.”

  “Eww!” Teagan clamps her hands over her ears. “Can this night get any worse?”

  My phone bleats in my pocket, and I fish it out. It’s a text from Marlin.

  Emergency meeting at the Black Bear. Rush says he has something to tell us. I’m on my way. Can you make it?

  I glance up at Teagan and the tears melting her mascara into muddy rivers.

  “I’ll grab the Pinterest pineapple canapé and glitter cake pops. You and Raven grab the tulle covered balloons and whatever you can from the candy buffet! I’ll meet you in the parking lot in thirty seconds.”

  I could never pull off this change of venues without Raven—who ironically has been closer to me than Serena lately. We’ve bonded over missing our dads, and she’s the one who’s prolifically introduced me to rom-coms and girls’ night in while I introduced her to the finer points of cutlery.

  Yes, it’s nice to have friends indeed. Now that’s something I never thought I’d say. With Axel back in my life, with friends to call my own—life is shaping up to be everything I never knew it could be.

  Now if only this party shapes up, I’ll really have it all.

  Okay, so it takes almost twenty minutes to convince Teagan’s so-called friends that a change of venue will not land them on some social media blacklist under the header of hates pets. Darn Stumpy and that endeavor she’s spearheaded against me. I’ve let this nightmare go on for far too long. I may have been a tad complacent when I was the sole target of her hateful sooted soul, but now that she’s effectively killed business at The Sloppy Pelican and killed Teagan’s official Freedom Fest, she’ll have the wrath of the old me to contend with. The old Lex Maxfield was far more of a witch to deal with—if I do say so myself.

  The Black Bear is booming tonight, and just the sight of all these hippy dippy coeds bopping to the live band makes me scowl. I hate that I’ve single-handedly destroyed business for The Sloppy Pelican. It’s as if I’ve been dragging around a curse with me ever since the time of my mother when she abandoned my siblings and me. Speaking of my siblings. I turn to Axel and swipe a quick kiss off his lips.

  “Marlin is here. He sort of called a family meeting.”

  Axel cranes his neck and growls once he spots him. “I take it I’m not invited.”

  “Not yet.” I give a little wink. It’s safe to say Axel and I are well on our way to becoming inseparable. Soon Marlin will have to deal with that. “Why don’t you help wrangle Teagan and her guests inside? They can take selfies with that old stuffed bear later. Trust me, he’s not going anywhere. Raven is taking care of the food.” Axel called ahead to the owners of the Black Bear and they said they’d gladly give us their poolroom to do as we wish. It’s kind of sweet the way Levi, Brody, and Axel have forged a bond with the people who own this place. Especially since
it holds so much nostalgic meaning to all of us.

  “Will do.” He steals a kiss off my lips before disappearing, and I head to the back where Rush is flagging me down. Rush is Sunday’s older brother, the middle child of my Aunt Priscilla, and coincidentally the one who happens to blame himself for what happened to her. I’ve always had a soft spot for Rush for that very reason. I’ve felt the same guilt about my mother. I was the one who drove her away. It’s been obvious to me since the beginning.

  Both Marlin and Rush stand up once they see me, and I offer them each a quick embrace. Marlin is dressed head to toe in his navy Jepson PD garb, and Rush is every bit the preppy frat boy.

  “Why are we hiding in the corner?” I say as I bat a fake banana leaf out of my face. That’s one thing about the Black Bear—they’ve lined the periphery of the establishment with silk plants spanning ten feet tall. It gives it a slight tropical appeal, and yet it feels homey. Teagan and her friends run by in a flurry. On second thought, hiding in the corner might be best.

  Rush is the spitting image of Nolan, his older brother, yet his hair is a bit lighter. His eyes are the same steely shade as my aunt’s were, and he’s hands down to a fault like his father. Same straight nose, smooth brows, high cheeks, strong jawline. He’s built like an athlete, and the girls don’t seem to mind one bit.

  Rush leans in. “You’ll find out in about six seconds.”

  “Six seconds?” I parrot, amused. “Will Sunday be joining us in six seconds as well?”

  Rush glances to both Marlin and me. “Nope, I’ve arranged for her to show in about five minutes. Hate to say it, but Sunday has been harboring a little secret from the two of you.”

  “What secret?” My curiosity piques. Clearly, I haven’t spent nearly enough time with my family as of late.

  Serena pops up to the edge of the table, and both Marlin and I bolt to our feet to greet her.

  “Here she is!” Marlin gives his baby sister a quick embrace, and I’m quick to get in on the lovefest.