“I don’t neednice. I just need someone to throw me around like a caber toss for a night.”
My gaze shifted down to the beach where Blake was standing again, finishing up the last batch of oysters while he talked to Lucas and asshole—I mean Wesley. Blake was off-limits. Lucas wasdefinitelyoff-limits. And I wasn’t even going to look at the other one because that would be a cold day in hell.
While Blake gave Lucas his two cents on the whole Callie situation, I looked up from where I stood on the beach, taking in the partygoers mingling on the porch and the small side yard.
I’d hoped there might be some prospects at this party tonight, but save for a few girls, not including Callie and Satan—I mean Morgan, there were only a few. And out of those few, I think only one of them was single, and she…well, she wasn’t at all my type.
“Leave it to you to throw a party that’s a complete fucking sausage fest,” I said, interrupting the other two’s conversation.
Blake laughed as he and Lucas looked at me. “What’s wrong, Callahan? Not getting any?”
I scoffed. “Who said anything like that? I was just making an observation.”
“He’s not getting any,” Lucas said.
“Really, man? You’re just going to throw my business out there like that?”
Blake snorted. “More likelackof business.”
“Says the king of throwing out people’s business,” Lucas said. “Was it not you who told that story at trivia about me and the ‘girl who broke my heart’for the whole table to listen to,includingthe girl in said story?”
“In my defense, I didn’t know Callie was the girl in the story. Obviously, I wouldn’t have said anything in front of her had I known.”
Blake chuckled. “I’m honestly surprised, Wes. Usually, you have no problem roping in women. If you’re having trouble, we’realldoomed.”
“I’m not havingtrouble. I just…hit a little plateau, is all.”
“And this party isn’t a complete sausage fest,” Blake said. “There are girls here.”
“Yeah, and onlyoneof them is single.”
Blake looked up toward the house. “There’s at leastthree. Gabe’s friend Kendall, and…”
I followed his gaze to where Callie and Morgan were standing on the porch. I huffed out a laugh. “Two.”
“One,” Lucas rumbled, casting me a hard look.
“Down, boy.” I held my hands up in mock defense, knowing exactly what he was implying. “Callie’s off limits.I got it. I have no intention of making any moves on her. What kind of friend do you take me for?”
“I know you’re a good friend. I was just?—”
“Putting out a warning,” Blake finished with a chuckle as he clapped Lucas’s shoulder.
I sighed. “Well, it looks like I’ll be headed to Agora after this party tonight to scope out their scene because there isnothingfor me here…”
Chapter 8
It had beena while since we’d done an oyster roast, and it had been even longer since we had Blake’s version. We ate the shit out of his oysters and the rest of the side dishes he’d managed to whip up—lemon pasta and jalapeno cornbread. The man was a jack-of-all-trades; he could cook one hell of a meal and save your life at the same time.
Now, we were sitting around the fire in Adirondack chairs, drinking and chatting. All but a couple of Gabe’s friends had left. When the last remaining ones stood from their seats and announced they were taking off, we bid our farewells before Blake and Gabe stood to walk them around the front and up the street to their cars.
Lucas, Callie, Morgan, and I remained around the fire, and when the others disappeared around the corner of the house, Morgan sat forward in her chair. “I’m going to go grab a water. Anyone need anything while I’m up?”
Callie shook her head in response. Lucas was too busy staring at her like a lost puppy across the fire to respond.
I held up my bottle, taking note of the maybe sip-and-a-half I had left. “I’ll take another beer.”
Morgan glanced between Lucas and Callie. “No one? Okay.”
