Mack pulled his sopping shirt over his head as he made his way towards the room he’d chosen. Taylor and Josh took the master, leaving Mack and Abigail with rooms that were side by side and connected by a bathroom.
He laughed at the state of her beautiful curls and ducked into his room as she tried to shove him. What he didn’t understand was why she seemed so pissed at him. She was one of the few girls he’d hooked up with that had no reason to be mad. He’d wanted to see her again. He’d been good to her. He’d fought for her.
And she was treating him like he was an imposition on her vacation. If anything, he was the opposite. He wanted to make it a vacation she’d never forget.
She was fiery. He liked that.
Chuckling once more, he threw on some dry clothes and went outside to wait for everyone else by the car.
They tried to follow the map they grabbed at the airport, but it wasn’t easy. The road they took was narrow with a drop-off into the ocean on one side.
“Pizza?” Taylor asked, pulling a nearby restaurant up on her phone.
“Yes!” Abigail and Mack said in unison. She scowled at him and he smirked.
See, perfect for each other, he thought.
The place they stopped at was a little hole in the wall. A bar stood against the backdrop of the ocean, surrounded by picnic tables right there in the sand. A small shack that housed the kitchen was off to one side.
“Sit anywhere you like,” a waitress called out.
Mack sank into his chair and sighed. This was perfect. Waves crashed against the rocks nearby, reminding him they weren’t at just any pizza place.
The food was good, the drinks were better, and they were in paradise.
“Slow down there, champ.” Mack laughed as he snatched Abigail’s second drink out of her hand. “Save some for the rest of us.” He took a sip and wanted to spit it out immediately. “That’s strong as hell.”
The rest of them laughed.
“I’ll take a Corona,” he said to the passing waitress.
“Aww.” Taylor smirked. “Too much for you to handle?”
Abigail had taken her drink back, tipping the Styrofoam cup against perfect lips. “Man needs beer,” she said, hiding her laugh with another sip.
“Yeah yeah,” Josh came to his rescue as he looked down at his own beer. “We’ll see who has the headaches in the morning.”
“Exactly.” Mack smirked in agreement. “Plus, someone has to drive your sweet little asses home.”
They stayed for a while, watching the dark, churning water and talking like nothing was wrong in any of their lives. Everything else faded into the background and Mack hoped it stayed that way until they left.
The waitress came back and set a shot down in front of each of them. “We do a toast every night. These are pineapple upside-down shots.”
She hurried away and a moment later was sounding a gong. Taking their cue, they threw the shots back.
“What was my drink called again?” Abigail asked as they stood to leave.
Mack hid his smile behind his hand when he heard the slight slur to her words.
“A Cruzan confusion, Hun,” the waitress told her, handing Mack his receipt. “A number of different flavors of Cruzan rum with a splash of pineapple juice.”
“It was good.” She swayed on her feet so Mack wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.
“I’ve got you,” he whispered against her hair. She shivered, despite the warm air.
He swiped a hand across his face and then urged her towards the car.
Back at the house, Mack lifted Abigail from the car. It’d been a long day, and she’d fallen asleep on the way. His muscles strained as he carried her inside, into her room. After setting her on the bed, he removed her shoes and covered her with a blanket. Then he couldn’t help himself. Leaning forward, he placed a light kiss on her forehead, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. Her eyelids fluttered, but she didn’t wake, and he left her to her dreams.
The next morning, Abigail woke just as the sun was rising. Her head pounded, keeping her from falling back asleep. With a groan, she kicked off the covers and stretched her legs out on the bed. She didn’t remember going to sleep the night before. Nor did she remember the drive home from the restaurant.
Exhaustion is a bad mix with booze, she thought. What are the odds there’s coffee?
They’d come straight to the house from the airport, no passing Go and no stopping for life’s essentials like caffeine.
Resigning herself to the fact that there was no way she was getting anymore sleep, she sat up and swung her feet off the bed. The cold tile felt good on her toes. Someone had removed her shoes, but left her in last night’s clothes.