“Mara forgot she did that to herself,” Dash signals the bartender. “She sometimes hurts herself in her sleep. It’s called REM Behavior Disorder. She’s been seeing someone for it.”
“Can I get you a drink?” Ruddy Bartender asks my nemesis.
“Two Sex on the Beaches, please,” Dash winks and slides a $20 bill across the bar. The bartender grabs the money, smiles brighter, then turns to make up the cocktails.
This cannot be happening.
I go from being perplexed to pissed off in the blink of an eye.
Where the hell is Rand? And why did he choose today of all days to ghost me?
“I don’t drink those, Dash,” I point at the glasses that are plunked down in front of us.
“You used to love them, Lina,” Dash shakes his head, then points to the doorway. “Isn’t that your fiancé?”
I whip around to look. There’s no one at the door. I turn back to face Dash, dejected. There’s a look on his face that hits me so hard, a flood of memories wash over me from thirty years ago.
“Hey, Lina,” Dash smiles. “Fancy meeting you here.”
I shrug. “We’re here for a party. My teammates know one of the guys in the frat.”
“So, you don’t know any of the guys here?”
“Nope.”
“Well, you have to be careful at these types of parties. You never know what will happen to a young woman left alone. Be vigilant.”
I roll my eyes at my ex-boyfriend. Be vigilant, my ass. Manipulative sociopath was trying to scare me into hanging out with him all night. It’s the last thing I want to do.
“Goodbye, Dash,” I turn to leave.
He grabs my arm. “Wait. Don’t go. I want to apologize.”
I shake him off. “Apologize for what?”
“Everything.”
I sigh. Yes. He does need to apologize to me. I never thought I’d see the day.
“How about we drink on it?” Dash offers me a fruity drink.
“What is this?”
“It’s a Sex on the Beach,” Dash wiggles his eyebrows.
I roll my eyes. He’s watching me with an expectant look on his face.
“If I accept your apology, you’ll leave me alone?”
He points to my drink. “And we drink to it. We are at a party, after all.”
The faster I drink, the sooner I can get out of here. As I gulp down the drink, it’s like his good guy mask slips. I see danger. I see evil. And suddenly, I can’t feel my arms or legs anymore.
I fall to the floor. Dash stands over me with an evil smile. “We’re going to settle this, once and for all, Lina. Let’s go.”
Dash looks at me with that same glint in his eyes that he had at the party, right before he dragged me off to rape me. I reach into my purse and feel around for the second-best present Rand ever gave me.
The first-best present, of course, is multiple orgasms.