I said what I said.
“Earth to Kendra?” Jesse waved in front of my face. “What’s got you so giggly?”
I shoved my phone into my pocket. “Nothing. Chatting with someone.”
My longtime friend tilted his head. “Amansomeone?”
A sour feeling coated my stomach, and I shook my head. Why didn’t I tell him the truth?
Hey Jesse, funny story, last month, when you rocked my world with the worst news possible, I got shitfaced and rage-fucked a stranger in an outdoor shower at the Flamingo Cove Marina. Now, I can’t ever go back to that town and will likely have to find another way to drive down the highway to avoid all signs pointing to Flamingo Cove. The fucking was angry and hot and has been lady spank bank material for weeks. But it might get a little complicated because that man is no longer a stranger and is my new boss. Did I mention he lookedeven hotter yesterday than when he was covered with sketchy shower water?
Yeah. Not going there.
I spotted an opening in the restaurant's corner and led us to the weathered wooden table. It wouldn’t be much privacy, but it’d be better than sitting in the middle of the proverbial spotlight. My little brother, attuned to the commotion, swiftly joined us at the table.
“Jesse!” Boots fist-bumped my friend. “Long time, no see! Congratulations on the impending nuptials.”
“I forgot how fast news travels around here,” Jesse chuckled. “What did you do, skywriting?”
“It was on the Pleasure Point Network,” I answered. “Our new television station.”
“We have a television network?” Jesse goggled.
It warmed my heart to hear him say, “We,” as if he already imagined himself fitting right back where he had left. Maybe that would make convincing him to join my charter business easier.
All I could do was nod. My brother saved the day by talking.
Boots handed us menus and lowered his voice. “We have WiFi, too, but we don’t let the visitors know that.” He glanced around the bar, looking for imaginary WiFi pirates as he returned to the kitchen.
Piratesmade me snicker.
“What’s gotten into you?” Jesse frowned. “You’ve been weird since we caught up on your boat.”
I shook my head and swallowed down a little bile. “It’s nothing. Let’s eat.”
“And that’s when I got into Bitcoin,” Jesse rambled. “It may become the 21st century’s ‘gold standard.’”
I spent the better part of the last hour listening to Jesse talk about day trading, a brief involvement in multi-level marketing (which is much different than it was in the early days when it was only pyramid schemes), and an investment in a tech startup that had developed a new dating app that was gaining popularity worldwide. The dating app investment sounded promising, and I wondered if that’s how he met his intended.
“Tell me about Truette,” I prompted. “How did you meet?”
“True is wonderful. She came along exactly when I needed her,” Jesse answered with a smile.
My heart broke a little.Exactly when he needed her. I wondered what it would have been like if I had been there when he needed me.
“It was lucky,” Jesse continued. “I recently moved out of the house. The ex and I signed the paperwork the week previous. I got a sweet apartment nearby. ‘Divorce Housing’ is what the guys call it.”
“The guys?”
“The other divorced guys who move there.” Jesse smiled and snatched two fries from my plate. “It’s a great place. They have a concierge to pick up dry cleaning and laundry. Grocery delivery. And it’s adults-only, so the pool can get a little wild. Well, not on Sunday afternoons. That’s when the kids visit their dads.”
“Sounds,” I searched for the right word. “Wild.”
Jesse’s lopsided grin expanded. “It is. A week after I moved in, I went to one of the monthly parties and met True. She was staying there temporarily while exterminators fumigated her house. We struck up a conversation, and wouldn’t you know it? She was staying in the apartment right below mine! It was a sign!”
“A sign it could have blown up in your face,” I countered. “Haven’t you heard, don’t shit where you sleep?”
He blew me a raspberry. “Naw. It was fate. She was there. I was there. We were both single.”
