18
Casey: The SecretKeeper
Jake and I,along with Kyle and Kenzie, watched from a distance as Luke attempted to flirt with a woman at the open bar. It seemed to be going well at first, with him sliding in next to her and offering up some funny tidbit to break the ice. She smiled, tilting her head back. Definitely interested. This was good. Jake and Kyle clinked their beer bottles together, proudly cheering on their protégé. They’d spent the last hour giving him lady-wooing tips, and once they felt their baby bird was ready to fly, Luke was kicked out of the nest; or in this case, the luxury poolside cabana we were allsharing.
It was family week on the Outlast tour. True to his word, Luke had secured time off work and was staying with us for the last six days of the kids’ visit. Kenzie had arrived in town a couple of days before him, but I hadn’t seen much of her. She and Kyle had been holed up in a hotel room. I didn’t blame them one bit, as the two hadn’t been together for nearly three months due to workresponsibilities.
Since moving to Los Angeles, Kenzie had become quite the social media darling after starting her own YouTube channel for small town girls living in the big city. Her fun personality combined with a talent for connecting with the average, everyday person had brought her millions of subscribers and started her on a path to a whole newcareer.
Initially she’d planned to take her show on the road and travel with the tour, as she’d been doing since getting together with Kyle. The two had even bought their own motorhome for the road. But then an opportunity presented itself that she couldn’t pass up. Kenzie was tapped to fill in for a daytime talk show featuring a panel of women when one of the leads went on a three-month maternity leave after the birth of her child. Although she’d appeared on a reality show, Kenzie had never done live television so she was initially quite hesitant to accept the job. Kyle was the one who ultimately talked her into doing the show and so began their long-distancerelationship.
Jake and Kyle, having the day off, joined us at the pool. The cabana was in a secured area, so Jake was able to relax without worrying about being bothered, and the kids were currently off having a blast at the hotel-provided child care facility. This was adult time, and we were sucking up the quietmoments.
My hand in Jake’s, we sat side by side in our own individual lounge chairs watching the Luke show. Although there were ample chairs around them, Kyle and Kenzie had squeezed into one lounge chair, vying for buttspace.
“Hey,” Kyle said, wriggling around. “Hands to yourself. I don’t appreciate it when you manhandle me like a piece of meat, Kenzie. I havefeelings.”
“We’ll talk about your feelings when you get your hand offmyass.”
“I only have it on your ass to keep you from crushing myballs.”
Jake audibly groaned before getting up and dragging another lounge chair up next to them. “There. Problemsolved.”
Following Jake’s entire spectacle with his eyes, Kyle turned back to Kenzie with a dopey grin on his face. “Geez, what’s hisproblem?”
“I know,” she agreed. “As if we want to be apart. I like squeezing in with you,sweetie.”
“Me too,honey-pie.”
“Oh, my god. Can you two take that cutesy shit someplace else?” Jake grumbled, but the upturn of his lips gave him away. “I can’t hear what Luke’ssaying.”
“He’s across the pool, dipshit,” Kyle explained. “You couldn’t hear himanyway.”
“I know, but I just want you to shut up. Oh, damn, look at that…a hand on the shoulder. That’s a bold move,” Jake said, assessing Luke’sperformance.
“Too bold,” Kyle replied. “We told him no physical contact at the first meeting. Makes him appeardesperate.”
“But she looks interested, right?” I asked, a hopeful tone to my voice; but one look at the female in question and the way she leaned away from him answered my question. “Crap.She’snot.”
And just as predicted, the woman got off her stool andwalkedaway.
We all let out an audible sigh. Another one bites the dust. Luke walked back with a dubious smile on his face as if to say, ‘See, Itoldyou.’
Obviously, baby bird was not yet prepared to fly, and after giving it his all, he had plummeted to the ground in a puff offeathers.
Luke dropped into an open chair, sprawling out everywhichway.
Kyle, who’d taken to being his wellness coach asked, “Did you ask to buy her adrink?”
“I did,” Luke affirmed. “And sheaccepted.”
“And you told her a joke to breaktheice?”
“Yep. She was squirting some Germ-X on her hands when I walked up, so I told her hand sanitizer was a gateway drugforOCD.”
“Nice,” Kyle smirked. “Good one. And did you compliment somethingabouther?”
Just by the look on Luke’s face, this was where things had gone downhill. “I told her she hadnicelips.”
