“Help me fix it.” She breaks away from the guys. Whatever their names are. Heads straight to the bar.
I grab two red plastic cups.
She fills both with ice. Fills one with diet. The other with ginger ale.
There’s no bourbon, so I grab the rum. Pour something light. I think. It’s hard to tell with these wide cups.
She holds up her drink. “To truth or dare.” Her cheeks flush. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“Me either.” I tap my glass against hers. Take a long sip. It’s shitty rum and worse ginger ale, but it’s not terrible.
She takes a long sip. Swallows hard.
“How many is that?” I ask.
“What if I lost count?”
I can’t really talk. “Let’s get you water after this.”
She nods okay. “What do you think?” She motions to the makeshift dance floor. Then to the poker table.
“Aren’t you a card shark?”
“I’m not sure I know the rules.”
“Follow my lead,” I say.
She nods sure. Takes my hand. Follows me through the crowd.
To the table.
Her gaze goes to the game on the green felt. A deck. Three face up cards. Ace of spades. Eight of spades. Eight of diamonds.
People throw their chips in. Raise. Call.
The table jumps.
What the—
A guy on the other side pulls at something. Something in his lap.
He groans.
The table jumps again.
Oh fuck.
“Let’s go,” I say.
Daisy looks up at me what do you mean?
“Hey, Eduardo, take it somewhere else,” a guy says. He motions hold the cards. Pulls the table aside.
I push Daisy backward reflexively.
But it doesn’t do shit.
The guys still pull the table out of the way.
And it’s exactly as I expected. There’s a topless woman on her knees, bobbing her head up and down this Eduardo guy’s dick.
“Oh my God.” Daisy’s eyes go wide.
The guy looks at me. Nods yeah, that’s what’s up. His gaze shifts to Daisy. “You could go next, baby.”
“Fuck off.” I take another step backward. Scan the room for our hosts. They’re on the couch, a girl between them, flirting like there’s no tomorrow.
It’s not that big a deal. A rowdy party. It happens all the time.
Usually, I’d stay and watch. Hell, there’s a topless girl sucking cock. And she’s hot.
It’s free porn.
But so not where Daisy needs to be.
I don’t wait for her response. I turn her around, march her out of the party, to the elevator.
The shiny silver doors close.
She looks up at me with wide eyes. “Was she really?”
“Yeah.”
“Is it really… like that?”
“Like what?”
“So…” Her gaze travels down my body. Stops on my crotch. “I don’t know. I… Uh…” She hides behind her drink. “I should finish this.” She takes a long sip. Then another.
“Sure.” I finish my drink. Swallow the dirty talk that rises in my throat. How about we go back to your room so I can show you exactly what it’s like? I promise I’ll be gentle. I have to see those pretty lips around my cock. After you come on my face.
We stop at the ground floor. Step into the lobby. Then into the parking lot of a marina.
“I should text Oliver,” I say.
“It’s just a party. I can handle it,” she says.
“I don’t want to be there.” I pull out my cell. Shoot him a we’re turning around text. “Let’s take a walk for a minute.”
“Here?” She looks around the empty parking lot.
“There.” I motion to the marina. It’s a nice size. A dozen shops on three sides, a bridge over the fourth, a bunch of boats on the docks, calm blue water.
“Sure.” She takes our cups. Drops them in a trash can. Follows me.
Her movements aren’t messy, exactly. More swaying. I’m not sure if she’s drunk or tipsy. But she’s definitely not sober.
Not that I can talk.
Fuck, she looks cute strutting around the sidewalk, half nervous, half turned on.
She can’t hide it. At all.
She liked watching.
Not that I can talk about that either.
If circumstances were different—
I pull her closer. Fuck, she feels good. And she smells good too. Like lavender and citrus and rum.
I’m drunk enough that appeals.
Or maybe it always does.
We step into the marina. A square of shops around a tiny harbor. Yachts tied to the dock. Stars reflecting off the deep blue water.
Daisy crosses the sidewalk. Moves toward the water. A rocky decline leads to the marina.
But it’s blocked off with a temporary metal railing.
She moves closer to the railing.
Toward—
“Slower.” I pull her body into mine.
She looks up at me with a curious expression then she looks back to the water. “Holy shit.” She pushes back. “Is that a—”
“Yeah.”
“Oh my God.” Her eyes go to the metal railing. The rocks. The crocodile sleeping in the water. “That’s an alligator.”
“A crocodile.”
“What the hell is it doing?”
“It’s normal.” I pull her back. Motion to a sign on the light post. Watch out for alligators. Even though it’s a crocodile (they live in salt water). Mistranslation, I guess. “There are two that live in the marina.”