“Are you sure you don’t want to go because it’s a dump?” Max quizzes. “Or maybe it’s another reason?”
Lana snaps her neck, looking at me straight-faced. “You didn’t!” she pleads, looking back and forth from Max to me.
“What’s going on?” Drew asked, sensing he’s missed something.
Max pokes his finger in Lana’s side and says, “Why don’t you ask little Miss. U.G.A. what she did last night?”
“YOU BITCH!” she shouts, throwing herself across me, trying to put her hand over my mouth. “I’m going to KILL y’all!”
Still confused Drew asks, “What happened last night?” Clueless, but still laughing at all the commotion.
“Oh, she and Kate’s little brother graduated FROM. HIGH. SCHOOL last night!” Max says, being sure to emphasize the “from high school.”
Drew’s mouth drops. “No way!”
“Yes, way!” Max confirms.
Speechless, Drew makes a quick grab for Lana’s purse sitting on the floor, snatching her wallet before she can react.
“Nooooo!” she screams, jumping off me to tackle him.
Already pulling out the driver’s license Drew begins to read aloud, as Lana makes a few poor attempts to snatch it out of his hand.
“Lana Michelle Mathews, 840 Arlington Drive, Alpharetta, GA. 98lbs. Blond hair. Blue eyes. Crazy hot,” he adds with a grin. “Born….,” he pauses. “July 17th, 1977! Making you?” Lana throws a pillow over her head as he says, “Dum, Dum, Dum, Dum…. Seven-teen!”
The room breaks out in uncontrollable laughter as Max and I high five each other over our brilliantly laid plan.
Lana’s mortified but makes the best of it. “I’m glad I could give you all a good laugh tonight,” she says, relenting. “I’ll be eighteen in like three weeks!” she yells as most of the group heads back outside.
“It’s all good,” Drew whispers as he sits beside her. “It’ll take more than a number to scare me off,” burying his head into her neck.
After coming up for air, she asks, “Seriously, do you think everyone would be up for coming to our place?” she asks, looking over at me. “Kate isn’t going to drink anymore because she knows she’ll have to drive us back. I want her to be able to let her hair down.”
“I can probably talk the guys into it,” he says.
“I promise it’ll be just as fun,” she adds as he heads outside to round up the others.
It’s almost midnight and I’m shocked at how well the night has turned out, after such a crappy start.
The guys have been a blast to hang out with and at no point have made us feel uncomfortable or unwanted. They’ve been fun, but perfect gentlemen.
Conversations with Max are getting easier and the butterflies are starting to settle. So much so, we’re flirting a little back and forth.
“We’re moving this party to our place,” Lana says, snapping me from my thoughts.
“We are?”
“Yep! So no more of this three beer limit bullshit!”
“Who all’s coming?
“Don’t know yet. He’s outside rounding everyone up.”
Lana grabs her purse and both of us head towards the parking lot, giggling like schoolgirls, watching the guys in the distance.
“Isn’t there always supposed to be at least one unfortunate one in every bunch? It’s like we hit the hot guy jackpot,” I say.
“I know. You could bounce quarters off Drew’s ass,” she whispers as we make it to the parking lot.
“You girls ready?” Drew asks as he and Max head towards the car.
“Your friends aren’t coming?”
“Nope! It’s only the four of us. They’re all about to crash for the night. It’s been a long day,” he replies, throwing his arm around Lana and giving her a mischievous grin.
“I hope you don’t mind?” Max asks quietly, directly to me.
“Of course we don’t,” Lana answers for me. “Do we, Kate?”
“No, No. Not at all,” I stammer. My nerves getting the best of me again.
“Can you run us home later? It’ll be a helluva long walk back you don’t,” Drew asked.
“Sure! Not a problem,” I say as Lana and Drew quickly jump in the backseat together.
I’m driving and Max has taken up residence in the passenger seat. Traffic’s bad, but moving better than earlier. A group of girls we know from home honk and wave as they pass by. “Ain’t Nothing But a G-Thang” spews from the speakers as the car cranks.
“Oh dear Lord!” Max shouts, turning the volume quickly down. “Not this shit!”
“Heyyyy! Don’t be hatin’ on Dr. Dre!”
“Mind if I play DJ?” he asks, already flipping through the channels.
I pull onto the parkway. “Be my guest!”
He hits about four stations, stopping as “Hotel California” by the Eagles begins to play. A band I know well thanks to my dad, but not one I typically rock out to on my own.
“I loveeeee this song! Turn it up!” Lana shouts from the backseat.
As we drive, the four of us belt the words to “Hotel California”, “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” and “Back in Black” at the top of our lungs. We’re laughing and dancing as we pull into the parking lot of our shitty motel. I choose a spot directly below our room so I can keep an eye on the car from our window.
It’s late, but the motel is still buzzing with activity. We plan to sit on the beach, but yet again, Lana needs to pee. So against my better judgment, we make a pit stop in the room.
We round the top of the stairs on the third floor, as people dart in and out of the hallway around our door. My stomach drops, fearing it’s Wayne and his friends.
Please don’t be Wayne! Please don’t be Wayne! Please don’t be Wayne! I chant to myself as we walk the long, musty, hall.
The door across the hall from ours is wide open and the girls who we had waved to earlier are inside. But thankfully there’s no Wayne in sight.
“Hey, Kate! Hey Lana! Our friend from home, Joy shouts, running into the hall to greet us.
“Hey, Joy! What’ve you gals been up to tonight?” I ask as Lana, Drew, and Max head into the room.
“We were at the Sunspree with your brother. It was totally insane over there. They were tying bedsheets to the balcony railing and flinging themselves to other floors.”
“Please God, tell me my brother wasn’t in on it too?”
“Nah. You know your brother has more brains than most of the boys from home.” She peers over my shoulder. “Clearly you girls were having more fun than we were. Where’d you find the hotties?” she asks, making a desperate attempt to slip past me.
“Oh, them?” I look back. “We picked them up wandering along the side of the road,” I say with a smile, closing the door on her.
Lana flips off the lamp. Allowing the television to be the only light in the room and continues make out session number six as Max refills the cooler.
“So much for a swim,” I say, gesturing toward the lovebirds.
“Should we give them some privacy?”
“It definitely appears so,” I say, a little uncomfortable by our voyeurism. “We’re going to head to the beach, you two. Y’all come on when you’re ready.”
Lana gives a quick thumbs-up, never unlocking her lips from Drew’s.
I check the room across the hall again before making the long trek to the beach. Where I take the time to give Max a quick backstory of Wayne and our unfortunate hotel debacle.
The moon is full, reflecting a bright path across the calm water. “What a perfect night,” I say, spreading beach towels across the cool sand.
“So I have a confession,” Max says as we settle into our spot.
“Do tell.”
“The reason why the others didn’t come along...” he nervously scratches the back of his head. “We didn’t invite them.”
Sensing confusion, he continues. “Drew’s really into Lana. And well, I wanted some more time to talk to you an
d knew it would be a continuation of the craziness if the rest came. So we made it look like y’all only invited us.”
Flattered, but shocked, I take a swig of beer to clear the lump in my throat. “Well, I’m glad you came.” Trying desperately to keep my nerves in check. God, he smells good!
We’re quiet for a moment, listening to the waves crash in. We watch a group of rowdy kids out crabbing pass by.
Their flashlights snipping back and forth across the sand.
“So where’s home?”
He smiles big. "I’m a proud Texan. Born and raised!”
“Oh really? What part?”
“Morgantown. It’s about sixty miles west of Dallas. Blink and you’ll miss it.”
“And all your family is still there?”
“Yep, my parents, who’ve been married for twenty-five years, still live in the house I grew up in. I have an older sister who’s a middle school teacher in town. She married her high school sweetheart and they have a baby girl who’s nine months old.” He reaches for his wallet and pulls out a small picture with tattered edges. “Adaline. I’ve only seen her once. When I was home for Christmas,” he admits.
I lift the picture in the direction of the moonlight. “She’s adorable Max. Look at all that hair!”
“They’re going to have to batten the hatches of every door in town when she’s a teenager,” he chuckles.
“I bet you ruled the roost around there when you were younger.”
He laughs. “Oh, yeah? What makes you think that?”
“Oh come on, Max! Don’t act like you don’t know how good looking you are. I bet you had the girls lined up back in the day.” I’m teasing, but serious at the same time.
He lifts his chin. “I may have dated the head cheerleader and prom queen back in the day.”
“I’m not the least bit surprised,” I tease, slinging a handful of sand across his feet.
“I guess spending the evening with the co-captain of the dance squad is small potatoes in comparison.”
He gives a wink and taps the end of my nose. “I guess I can make the sacrifice.”
“I was never the prom queen. That was always Lana’s department. But I was voted ‘prettiest smile’ in high school.”
“Well, I can definitely see why.”
I chuckle. “I guess those two awkward middle school years in braces and hideous headgear were worth it after all.”
He rubs his thumb across my jaw. “You’re beautiful, Kate.” His tone serious, causing a sudden shift in the mood.
His compliment catches me by surprise. “Thank you, Max.” I look away. Don’t say something stupid and ruin the moment, Kate!
“Maybe it’s my sweet Southern charm!” I draw out in my best Georgia accent, hoping it lightens the air.
He places his hand on top of mine and our eyes meet. “I honestly haven’t had this much fun in ages.”
I don’t know what to say as I pull my gaze from his. I run my fingers through the sand, to cover my shaking hands. Heat radiates from my cheeks. My heart pounds as he leans in. Oh my God! This is actually happening!
My breath quickens as our lips inch closer. My eyes close when his…
“Oops! Sorry, you guys. Didn’t mean to interrupt.” Drew says, looking off as not to be rude as we snap away from one another.
Max drops his head and huffs.
“It’s ok,” I say, a little embarrassed. I look over at Max who has frustration in his eyes. “What’s up? Where’s Lana?”
Drew’s hands are on his thighs, breathless from the long trek across the sand. “Well, that’s why I’m here. She walked out of the room twenty minutes ago and hasn’t been back. I thought maybe she came down here with you guys.”
I’m going to kill her! I think.
“She’s pretty drunk. Lord only knows where she could have wandered off to,” I say.
“The girl you were talking to earlier came back by. She and Lana talked for a few seconds, then she said she’d be right back. Haven’t seen her since.”
“Ok. Let’s go find her,” I growl, snatching up the beach towels.
When we make it back to the motel, I split us up. I’m pretty sure I know where she is and I don’t want the guys to get mixed up in it. I send Drew towards the pool and Max to check the parking lot. Giving me enough time to check Wayne’s room before they make their way back into the building.
The door to Wayne’s room is shut, forcing me to knock. Voices are at the door and I can tell they’re looking through the peephole. The door flies open and AJ lunges towards me and flips me over his shoulder.
Hanging upside-down I scream, “Put. Me. Down! Put. Me. The. Hell. Down!” Repeating it over and over, pounding my fists into his back.
He slings the sliding glass door to the balcony open, setting me down to an already waiting Lana. He slams it closed and locks it before I have time to react.
The room clears instantly. “What the hell is going on?” I shout, banging on the glass. “Why did he lock us out here?”
“Wayne came back and Joy opened her big ass trap about Drew and Max being in our room.”
My hands fly to my temples. “Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!”
“She came over and apologized. Asked me if I’d come help defuse the situation. I should have known it was all set up. Because the second I got in here they did the exact same thing to me. I’ve been stuck out here for a damn half hour, while they went on a wild goose chase looking for you. Too damn stupid to check the beach.”
Shouts and commotion echo from the hall. “What are they doing to them?”
I already know the answer to my own question and realize how incredibly outnumbered they are. Rage begins to boil through my veins as Wayne and his crew pile back into the room, laughing and high fiving each other. Reenacting punches in the air, clearly proud of their conquest.
AJ shouts, “I hit that mother fucker square in the jaw,” as Joy releases us from balcony purgatory. I’m happy to see he has a cut on his lower lip, indicating Max and Drew got a few good swings in.
“I popped the smaller one in the eye so hard my damn hands bleeding,” Wayne yells from the bathroom.
I’m so angry I can barely speak. Wayne’s pulled some pretty shitty tricks over the years, but nothing compares to this. “I hope you’re all proud of yourselves!” I scream as the ruckus in the room silences.
Wayne storms out of the bathroom, a wet towel wrapped around his busted knuckles. “They were punk mother fuckers, Kate. Dumbass soldiers looking to get laid. They had no business being here!”
“Don’t. You. Dare!” I slam my finger into his chest. “You had no right sticking your nose in my business. Who the hell do you think you are?” Lana’s crying behind me as I continue my wrath. “I don’t tell you who you can or can’t screw. If I want to hump the entire U.S. Army, that’s MY business. You stay the hell out of it!”
I grab Lana by the arm and head towards the door, turning back one last time. “Oh, and Joy…you’re a fucking bitch!”
I fling the door to our room open and peer in. “They aren’t here.”
Lana throws on her shoes and wipes smeared mascara from under her eyes.
“We’ve got to go look for them, Kate. They have to be around here somewhere,” she chokes out between sobs.
“We were their ride.”
“We’ve got to explain what happened. They’ve got to know we didn’t have anything to do with this,” I say breathlessly, trying to calm the coursing adrenaline.
We head toward the stairwell we think all the madness happened. My hands fly to my mouth when we spot drops of blood on the concrete.
“Oh no, Kate! What if they’re really hurt?”
I’m unable to speak as my mind spins with worry.
“Let’s split up. You check the parking lot and I’ll head towards the beach,” she says.
I say a silent prayer we find them as I scan the lot. There’s no way we can let the night end like this.
After my search
, I spot Lana as she’s walking back up the boardwalk. “I see two people way down the beach, but I can’t make out if it’s them.”
“They weren’t in the parking lot either,” I say, crashing on the stairs. “I can only imagine what they must think of us right now.”
She lays her head against the wall. “They probably wouldn’t have believed us anyway.”
“I know,” I sigh. “It’s just… Tonight I met the most amazing, sweet, drop-dead gorgeous man I’ve ever seen. And my stupid, redneck, sack of shit ex-boyfriend and his cohorts beat him up. I can’t think of anything more horrible!”
“We could always go by their room tomorrow and explain.”
“Maybe we should go tonight? They might still be walking,” I say, hoping we may still have a chance to catch them.
“Kate, it's two in the morning. I’m mentally and physically exhausted and I have a terrible headache. Let’s just call it a night.” She moans as she drags up the motel stairs. “Besides, we’re probably the last two people they want to see right now. We can check on them tomorrow after they’ve had a chance to cool off.”
I blow out a heavy sigh. “I guess you’re right. I’m pretty spent.” Giving up, I drag my aching legs behind her.
Once we’re back in the room, I notice a few things out of place we hadn’t realized earlier. It’s not torn apart, just slightly disheveled. Lana’s suitcase is open and a few of her clothes have been thrown out. And a bloody wet towel is flung across the bed.
Panic floods our faces when we both spot my purse open with my wallet pulled out.
“Oh God! Did they rob us?” Lana asks as I snatch up the wallet.
My face twist as I thumb through it. “No, all my money’s here.”
We both let out a huge sigh of relief. “I wonder what the hell they were doing in my purse?”
It hits us in unison. “THE CAR!”
“Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!” I sprint to the window with Lana in tow. “Please tell me they didn’t...” I shout, throwing the curtain back.
Speechless, I point at the empty parking spot.
“Are you sure that’s where you parked?”
“Yes! I purposely parked it there so I could keep an eye on it!” I run back to my purse and dump its entire contents across the bed.
Love on Leave Page 4
