“Oh, I don’t think you’ll mind.” She giggles.
“Hi, girls. Any chance you’d mind some company?”
I nearly choke mid-sip on my Margarita when I recognize Matt’s sultry voice. My head snaps up, and I find him and his brother Harrison at our table. He’s wearing a pair of dark jeans with a black button-up. The domes of St. Basil’s Cathedral tease me from the ink tattooed atop his chest where the buttons remain undone.
“We’d love some.” Char grins up at Harrison before patting the seat beside her.
My eyes connect with Matthew’s deep chocolate orbs, and my breath catches in my throat. I was in no way prepared for this tonight.
“Have you two eaten?” Matt asks, nudging me with his firm body.
I was fine making the tortilla chips and salsa in front of us my dinner until I could get home and find some leftovers.
“I’m starving,” Harrison says as he rubs his flat stomach. I can only imagine what lies beneath his palm. Other than the fact they’re both built like star athletes, these brothers look nothing alike. Harrison has soft wavy dirty-blond hair to Matt’s deep dark thick locks. His brother is clean-shaven with no visible tattoos, while Matthew looks like a lumberjack covered in ink.
“Let’s get the shrimp boil,” Matt blurts without looking at the menu.
Harrison gives him a quizzical look. Probably because it’s a ton of food for two people. I look over at Matt, my paranoia from the other night taking over. Is he doing this after seeing where I live? Attempting to order enough food so I don’t feel conspicuous about not being able to order myself dinner?
“We might need two of them.” Harrison laughs. “I’m not kidding, man. I didn’t eat lunch. I don’t think shrimp are going to cut it.”
My mouth drops open. The shrimp boil pots come with a ton of food. Shrimp, potatoes, corn, sausage, and they usually bring along all the hushpuppies you can eat.
“Order a steak to go with it. I’m dying for some seafood. You forget I don’t get a lot of fresh catch where I’m from. Well, unless I fish it out of the lake myself.” Matt laughs and drapes his muscular arm over the back of my chair, and I can’t help but revel in the moment. He’s honestly the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. And the little crinkles next to his eyes that appear when he grins cause my heart to skip a beat. He turns his head, catching my ogling, but merely gives me a sweet smile. “Come on, Ellie. Have some with me so he doesn’t make me pick something else?” he pleads, his dreamy smile nearly causing me to swoon.
“Sure,” slips out before I can think better of it. Forget the kid I knew in high school. I’d givethis mananything.
The four of us spend the next few hours eating and drinking around easy conversation. At one point, I stealthily cup my cheek to ensure it’s not swollen from smiling and laughing all night.
Matt excuses himself to the restroom to wash the remaining shrimp seasoning from his hands, and his brother crosses the bar to talk shop with a local.
“Sooo?” Char asks, dragging out the o.
“Sooo what?”
“You two seem cozy.”
I give her a blank stare. “We were sharing shrimp out of a pot. Nothing more.”
Charlene arrived in Candy Cane Key during my senior year of high school. Her parents transferred here for her dad’s job. Or, as she describes it, his midlife crisis. He’d worked in a stuffy office job his entire life until one day, he came home and declared he wanted to move to the beach and fish for a living. But Char’s father’s change in gears was a gift. Because his daughter quickly became my closest confidant.
Matt had graduated the year before, so she only knew of him through my lamenting about falling for a guy who, in the end, was no different than the sharp-tongued snakes I was surrounded by on the daily. Those hateful derelicts she witnessed up close and personal as the taunting wasn’t limited to high school. Yet, unlike everyone else I knew, Charlene didn’t put up with their crap. She had no problem confronting them if one said something nasty to me. I was just waiting for her to get arrested for shoving Jenn’s teeth down her throat.
“Look. He’s hot. And he’s been really sweet lately. But a leopard doesn’t change its spots. I’m sure he’s only trying to see if he can get in my pants before he takes off again. Do a little slumming before heading back home.”
“El. Don’t.”
“I’m sorry. I’m just beating myself up that I’m letting him get to me. I crushed hard on him before he graduated.”
“I can see why,” Char says as she fans herself with her napkin while holding her little cocktail umbrella over her head as if trying to protect herself from the imaginary sun. “Why don’tyougo slumming?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, in this equation, by everything you’ve told me, he’s beneath you. So, why not take a ride?” She wiggles her brows at me before a chuckle escapes.
I throw a lemon slice at her just as Matt returns to the table. “What’s so funny?”
“Char’s a comedian,” I say, my eyes trained on her as she continues to taunt me, one brow raised in question.
