“Not exactly,” Ash said.
“Then what gives? You’re obviously off today. I saw you crash those waves. You only nailed two this entire morning.”
“That’s the girl from the club,” I said.
“Wait, your date?”
“Yep.”
“Doesn’t look like things went very well if she’s already rubbing up on another guy. Usually you’re trying to knock them off after the first night.”
Ash threw him a look and Johnny cleared his throat.
“Did you get hooked on her or something?” Johnny asked.
“I think she’s married,” Ash said.
“She doesn't have a ring on her finger.”
“She had a bouquet of flowers sitting by her bed with a card that read ‘congratulations on your nuptials.’ From the resort.”
“Doesn’t mean she got married. No ring, she’s fair game.”
“Yeah, I saw you talking to her earlier,” Ash said.
When did his morality outstrip his friend’s? Was the lack of a ring really all it took for married women to get laid? Did mean really not find marriage that binding? Ash scowled at Johnny and he threw his head back, laughing while Ash took another glance at Kallie and the guy at the bar.
She was leaning in too close for his liking.
“Come on, it’s just some chick. If she’s married, you didn’t know. No ring. No husband anywhere, obviously, since you went back to her place and banged. A host of things could’ve happened. Maybe they have an open marriage. You don’t know.”
“Kallie doesn’t seem like the kind of woman to go for something like that,” Ash said.
“Yeah, because you know her after screwing around with her for one night.”
But he was no longer paying attention to Johnny.
Ash watched as Kallie slipped her hand into the crook of the asshole’s arm that she’d been talking to. She was stumbling a little bit on her feet, which meant she’d had too much to drink. And Ash didn’t like that. He watched as they headed out to the sand and his eyes fell to her ass. She was fucking sexy as hell in the tiny bikini she was wearing, and he felt a sick punch to his gut. That asshole had nothing on him. He was big, burly, and probably clumsy in bed. Men like him didn’t have the fluidity he had. Men like him didn’t give a shit about the woman’s pleasure. He could see it in the man’s eyes. He was looking for one thing and one thing only.
And Kallie didn’t seem to give a shit as she stumbled beside him out to the ocean.
Maybe it was better this way, Ash told himself. Maybe this was how it was supposed to end. Maybe she was in an open marriage, or playing her husband, or waiting on the island to get married. Maybe she really had played him as good as he thought she did.
But even though he told himself he didn’t care, he found his feet carrying him down to the beach.
Johnny called out behind him, but Ash didn’t listen. He grabbed his board and his wax, then set himself up next to where Kallie and the asshole were. He pretended to wax his board, setting it on his thighs as he sat back on his heels. He kept a close eye on her. On how the waves easily pushed her over into the man’s arms and how he caught her effortlessly. How she giggled and smiled up at him and how he looked at her with a predatory stare.
He waxed the same spot on his board several times as a small volleyball game was forming. She and asshole were on the same team, and it was clear to Ash that she wasn’t very good at it. And of course, that didn’t stop the brute from touching her any chance he could. Showing her how to hit the volleyball from her palm. Gripping her hips and raising her up so she could hit the ball coming over the net. He knew that game. That play. That ploy. He’d used it on Kallie when they were surfing.
Jealousy overtook Ash while he continued to watch.
Even the lame high fives made Kallie laugh. She was tipsy all right. On the verge of being drunk. Ash didn’t want to admit how annoyed he was by the entire situation, but he was. Pissed. Frustrated. Confused.
But the volleyball slapping the side of his surfboard brought him back to reality.
He stood from the sand and picked it up in his hands. He threw it up and smacked the ball, hitting it much harder than he should. Trying to prove himself to Kallie like some high school douchebag. He could hit that ball harder than anyone else out there could. And with greater accuracy. His eyes locked with Kallie and he expected to see her impressed. See her happy. Like it was a privilege he was looking at her.
Only he found that she simply shook her head and scoffed.