After All(19)

"I don't get you," Alyssa says to me. "One minute you're trying to get me drunk, the next you're ordering me a non-alcoholic drink."

"It's not a real Manhattan unless it's made with Crown Royal. Which this bar doesn't have." I grin at the bartender. "No offense, of course. I'm sure the groom made sure to stock all of his favorites."

"And you snuck your own booze into a wedding?" she asks me.

"You've never been here before, have you?"

She shakes her head. "Does it look like I get wined and dined by the yachtie set?"

"Hey I'm the yachtie set."

"You're something all right."

Fuck. I can't stop staring at her lips. I could watch her throw sass my way all night.

When the bartender hands me our drinks, I take both and motion with my head for Alyssa to follow me. "Come on."

She doesn't move. "Where are you going?"

"To get the booze. Come on."

"Alyssa," Tiffany says, seeming to appear out of nowhere. She's drunk again, stumbling a bit but smiling. "Where have you been?"

"Hey hot non-blonde," I tell her which makes Tiffany's eyes light up. "How did you get drunk so fast? Again?"

"She can't hold her liquor," Alyssa explains.

"The Asian curse," Tiffany says with a laugh.

"Not a curse, a blessing," I tell her. "Your friend would be a lot easier to seduce if she was a lightweight."

Alyssa smacks me across the arm. "Shut up. You're the one who just ordered me a Manhattan with no booze."

"Oh Alyssa is super easy to seduce," Tiffany says. "You should see how many guys she sleeps with."

A ragged gasp falls from Alyssa's mouth and I laugh.

"Tiffany!" she exclaims.

"What?" says Tiffany, oblivious. "I only know this because you tell me every single detail from your dates. You always said there's no shame in just getting fucking laid when you need it. So you should probably take Emmett up on his offer so I can hear about it."

"Two minutes," I playfully remind Alyssa, wagging my brows.

"Fuck you," she says to me, and then looks at Tiffany. "And fuck you too."

Then she storms off.

I look at Tiffany in surprise. "Man, she is hard to read."

Tiffany shrugs. "She's simple when you get to know her. You must not be used to women giving you the brush off."

Considering the amount of wedding guests who've approached me for an autograph tonight, she's right.


      ///
       
         
       
        

"It happens," I say taking a sip of my drink and then feeling severely disappointed when I remember there's no booze in it.

Since I have no idea where Alyssa has gone, I tell Tiffany, "If you see Alyssa, tell her to find me."

"You think she listens to me?"

"I'm feeling lucky."

Then I leave the ballroom and head down the plush-carpeted hall, past the walls lined with charts and nautical flags, all the way to the locker room. It's a long-standing tradition here for each member to have their own locker. Their purpose is solely to house bottles of booze. That way when you're dining at the yacht club you can just drink from your own stash.

The locker room is long, filled from top to bottom with narrow wooden lockers and mine is located around the corner near the end. I bring out my tiny key from my jacket pocket and unlock it, sliding out a half-empty bottle of Crown Royal. I haven't been at the club all that much since Boomerang got started but I make a mental note to take the boat out one free Sunday.

I pour the Crown in both drinks, unsure if I'll actually see Alyssa again and lean against the lockers, enjoying the quiet.

I'm not sure what it is about Alyssa that has me so intrigued. It's probably a lot to do with being given the brush-off, even though I know that she likes me. Or, maybe she doesn't like me per se, but she wants me. And the fact that I can tell she wants me, that I've seen her checking me out, the lust in her eyes, makes me want her even more. It's her brain that's holding her back. I have to find a way to shut that off.

I sigh and swirl around the glass before taking a gulp. The silence here is good. As much as I love Will and am happy for him, events like this take a lot out of me, especially when I've been working non-stop. I need solitude more and more lately, the more that people want me, the more I need to pull away. The only problem is finding the balance. While I crave alone time when I'm being spread thin, I can't handle too much of it. Loneliness has found me many times before, always the wolf lurking outside.