String Beans (The Girls of Beachmont #2)

by T. K. Rapp

  “Nah, it was cute.”

  “What about you? You don’t look like clubs are your scene,” I told him as I blatantly looked him up and down.

  “Don’t let the clothes deceive you. The life of a realtor is quite glamorous.”

  “Glamorous, huh?”

  I instantly thought of Dani’s brother-in-law. Good guy—super boring—and I tried not to laugh.

  He started telling me about some of the homes he’d listed in the area and dropped the names of a few celebrities, as if it might impress me. As he continued talking, I caught sight of Wyatt walking toward our table and interrupted Owen.

  “Can you do me a favor?”

  “Sure. What’s that?”

  “Just…play along?”

  “Okay.” He looked around and watched, but it was clear the poor guy was confused by my request.

  Wyatt got closer and I saw Emma walking behind him. She was smiling at people as they passed them, but Wyatt was looking at me and I felt like I had to sell it.

  “Emma!” I called out when they were closer.

  She stepped around Wyatt and walked over wearing a sweet smile. She hugged me briefly before Wyatt joined us.

  “Owen, these are my friends Wyatt and Emma. Guys, this is Owen.”

  “Nice to meet you both,” he said. “Viola’s told me a lot about you.”

  I realized he was truly helping me out and playing along, but thought these were the friends on the dance floor.

  “Dallas said you weren’t coming tonight,” I said to both of them, though it was directed at Wyatt.

  “Change of plans,” he said. He bent down and whispered something to Emma, who nodded and walked over to Dallas, leaving me with Owen and Wyatt, who looked at me with accusation in his eyes. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  “I’ll be right back,” I said to Owen, who simply nodded as the two of us stepped away.

  I glanced back at Emma, who was talking to Dallas and James happily. I had never seen her so bubbly and full of smiles, though I attributed it to her new relationship with Wyatt.

  “Looks like it’s going well,” I said as I turned to face him.

  He looked at her and then back to me. “I could say the same about you and Owen.”

  “We just met.” I didn’t admit that just meant, literally, ten minutes before.

  “Oh yeah?”

  “Yeah.” I looked over at Emma again and then back to Wyatt. “She seems really happy.”

  “You haven’t been around lately, and I wanted to talk to you about that night.”

  “It’s not a good time, Earp.” I used his nickname as a way to make things seem as normal as possible. Unfortunately, it felt anything but. “I should get back to my table.”

  I turned to walk off, and his hand reached for my elbow to stop my retreat.

  “Can we talk tomorrow?”

  “I’m going out of town,” I answered and saw Emma walking toward us.

  “Vi…”

  “You two have a good weekend,” I said with a forced smile, and Emma’s face contorted to confusion.

  As I stepped away and walked toward Owen, who was still waiting at my table, my regret about telling Wyatt about Emma grew. He told me he wasn’t in any rush. He said that he would have waited for me until I was ready, but it wasn’t true.

  “You okay?” Owen asked when I joined him.

  “I’m great. Thanks for that.”

  “Not a problem.” He looked over where Wyatt and Emma stood talking intently and gave me his attention again. “Ex?”

  “No. Just a friend.”

  “You sure about that?” he asked as he raised his chin toward Wyatt, who started walking toward us.

  I grabbed Owen’s hand and pulled him away from the table. “Let’s dance.”

  “I thought you don’t dance,” he said as we walked through people to get to the dance floor. “I’m not sure I can handle your Dynamite moves.”

  “I’ll do my best,” I laughed.

  When we were lost in the crowd, we stopped walking and turned to face each other to dance. Owen was pretty decent; at least he had rhythm. I tried to move freely, but I was too concerned that someone was watching and judging my less-than-stellar moves.

  I couldn’t see Wyatt, Emma, or any of my friends, for that matter, which alleviated some of the pressure. Owen stepped closer to me and nodded his head once, asking permission to touch me, and I responded with a nod of my own. He placed his hands on my hips, helping me move to the music more smoothly than I was on my own. I smiled up at him and allowed my inhibitions to dissipate.

  It surprised me how much I enjoyed it, considering I didn’t have liquor to numb my senses. Owen and I were laughing and teasing each other as we danced, helping me to almost forget about Wyatt and Emma.

  But it all came flooding back the moment Owen dipped his face to mine and kissed me. It was void of any feelings and it didn’t send butterflies fluttering about in my stomach. It certainly didn’t make me question if I was ready to move on.

  I was ready, and that question had been answered long before… I’d just ignored it.

  Owen wasn’t the one who made me feel something.

  Wyatt was.

  And I’d already let him go.

  Chapter 19

  I woke up to the sound of Jolie calling my name.

  “We need to get moving if we’re going to be to the airport in time to get Dani.”

  “I’m up,” I groaned, pulling my pillow over my head to drown out the noise.

  “What was that?” she asked when she walked into my room and pulled the covers off my body.

  “I said you’re a dick.” I tried to pull the comforter up, but she had a tight grip. “That’s the last time I take care of you. How are you even functioning today? You drank so much and I had nothing…and I’m the one who feels like shit.”

  “Probably because you were making out with some rando last night.”

  My eyes opened wide and I sat upright, staring at her.

  “How did you know about that?” I sputtered. “I didn’t kiss him…he kissed me.”

  “Does it even matter?” she laughed. “Get up and pack. We gotta get going. I told Callie we were leaving in an hour.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Seven.”

  “I hate you.”

  “That’s fine. You can hate me while you sleep in the car. But we have to get out of here.”

  She left the room and I dragged myself out of bed to start packing. I’d pulled out most of my clothes while I was getting dressed the night before, so I just needed a bag. I didn’t know what the plan was, but when the girls and I got together, I knew to expect the unexpected.

  My luggage consisted of heels, sneakers, jeans, club attire, makeup, and emergency cash hidden in the bottom pocket of the bag. One never knew if or when they’d need money to bail someone out. Dani was usually the straight one of the group, but Tabor had managed to get her to loosen up. And Jolie was our wild child. I honestly had no idea what antics Callie might bring to the occasion, so I erred on the side of caution.

  Jolie offered to drive since I was tired from the night before. Callie was crammed in the back seat, using our duffel bags to rest on. She’d fallen asleep in the first hour, leaving Jolie and I talking about Dallas and James.

  “I figured Dallas would have jumped at the chance to come with us,” Jolie said.

  “He and James made plans for tonight.”

  “Did you meet him?”

  “No, I was a bit occupied.”

  “Yeah…me, too.”

  “Did you see Wyatt and Emma?” I asked.

  “I thought he had something to do.”

  “Yeah. I thought so too.”

  “Did you talk to him?”

  “I did. He and Emma walked over to our table. I was talking to Owen when I saw them.”

  “Owen…is this the mystery kisser?”

  “He was just a nice guy who I happened to be talking to when
the happy couple joined us.”

  “And the kiss?”

  “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

  “Was he a good kisser?”

  “Jeez, Jo! You’re ridiculous.”

  “Answer the question.”

  “I don’t know. It’s was weird.”

  “Weird how? Like he has a forked tongue? Or worse…he doesn’t know how to kiss?”

  I laughed so hard at her question, and she smirked as she kept her eyes on the road.

  “Forked tongue? Really?”

  “Think of the lizard dude. Have you seen that?”

  “Yeah, that’s crazy.”

  “Wait. You’re distracting me. How was it weird?”

  I considered the question, because it was something I’d tried to figure out when he kissed me. He was attractive and incredibly sweet, but nothing clicked for me.

  “If I had a brother, I imagine that’s what kissing him would be like.”

  “Ew,” she said as she shuddered. “So he was bad.”

  “No, it wasn’t that,” I defended, feeling bad for Owen. “There was just no spark there at all.”

  “And when you kissed Wyatt?”

  “Jo,” I said in warning. “We’re not doing this.”

  “Wait, just answer me. I’m curious. Is it because you aren’t ready or because this Owen guy didn’t rock your socks?”

  “I’m pretty sure that I’m more ready than I thought.”

  “Well, between you filing for divorce and kissing two different men, I’d say I believe you. So back to Wyatt…when you kissed him, did you feel anything?”

  I didn’t have to answer her; she could see from the look of regret on my face that I did feel something.

  “Oh honey, I’m sorry,” she said and patted my leg.

  “Like you said, I did this to myself. I got what I deserved.”

  “You deserve good things, Vi. And it will happen for you—no need to rush it, right? In the meantime, we are going out and celebrating your freedom.”

  A pang of guilt shot through me and I looked over at my friend, who seemed oblivious to her comment. “Jo, that’s not something to celebrate.”

  “Vi, I love you, and I even love Will…beyond the urges to hunt him down, string him up by the junk, and cover his piece with honey so ants attack…I love him. But the two of you together, that’s over. And I think you and I both know it’s for the best.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t get married with the intention of divorcing. So let’s not say that again,” I said with a smirk.

  “Okay. Fine. If we’re not celebrating the end of your marriage, we can at least celebrate the beginning of your single life.”

  I laughed softly. “Same thing…but I guess it has a positive ring to it.”

  “Exactly!”

  ***

  “There she is,” I said, pointing to Dani who was waiting on the sidewalk in front of the airport.

  She spotted my car and began waving excitedly as she jumped up and down.

  Jolie pulled the car to a stop, and I jumped out and ran to hug our friend.

  “I love your hair,” Dani squealed as she touched she short pieces tucked behind my ear. “I can’t believe you actually did it.”

  “I needed a change,” I said and then looked her over. “You look great, too! Being the girlfriend of a football star seems to agree with you.”

  “So does this,” she said, and held out her hand and displayed a gorgeous diamond on her ring finger.

  “You’re engaged?” Jolie asked before her jaw dropped open. “And you didn’t tell us?”

  “It happened last night!” she squealed excitedly.

  My hands covered my mouth and my eyes watered. Dani reached for my hand but I shook my head dismissively. “I’m so happy for you! This is the best news.”

  “Thanks,” she gushed before leaning toward me and whispering with concern. “There’s a blond Jo Jr. behind you.”

  I turned around to see Callie stepping out of the back seat stretching and laughed. “Callie, come meet Dani.”

  Callie walked over and greeted Dani in her usual over-the-top manner. I could see that Dani liked her, and she was right when she’d compared her to Jolie. The blond hair and facial features made them look related. Little did she know they also shared a similar personality…though she’d figure that out soon enough.

  We put her suitcase in the car and the four of us continued our drive to the hotel, where we were directed to the fifty-first floor. From the surprised look on her face, Dani had no idea that Tabor had booked us such an amazing room. The two-bedroom suite had a living room and a small kitchen area. It was, by far, the nicest hotel I’d ever visited.

  “Tabor has great taste,” Jolie said appreciatively. “This place is amazing.”

  “What’s the plan for tonight?” Callie asked. “And where do I sleep?”

  “We’ll take this room,” Jolie said to Callie, grabbing her luggage and disappearing into the first room.

  “I guess we’ll take this one,” Dani said and I followed after her.

  It was barely one in the afternoon and we had two whole days to spend in Vegas. I was eager to get my drink on, so we decided to change out of our comfy clothes from the four-hour drive and into something cute…just in case we didn’t make it back to change for the evening.

  We stepped onto the casino floor looking like a sexy chick-version of The Hangover, and I almost wished we had some kick-ass music as we strutted—yes, strutted—to the tables. Since Callie had never been to Vegas, we let her pick the table and she opted for roulette. We tried to explain to her how to place her chips, but she was determined to drop a hundred dollars on red.

  There were some guys playing on the table as well, and because of her decisiveness, they decided to play red as well. The dealer took the little white ball in his hand and gave it a flick so it spun on the wheel. Callie was bobbing up and down muttering, “C’mon, red.”

  I watched until the ball started bouncing around, but looked away before it stopped moving.

  When there was no sound, I slowly turned my face to see what number hit. Before I could figure it out, Callie and the rest of the table started screaming and shouting.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, looking in disbelief at the red number three.

  “And now we walk,” Jolie said as Callie collected her winnings.

  “But I want to do it again,” she pouted.

  “Trust me. You don’t,” Jolie said. “We have two days. Don’t give it back to the casino on day one.”

  Callie looked at Dani and me and we both nodded our agreement, so she reluctantly walked away, luckily with more money.

  We went from casino to casino, people-watching, drinking, and gambling. We told Callie we were getting one drink in every casino, though I knew we’d get more. It was our attempt at pacing ourselves so we weren’t wasted before dark.

  Dani wasn’t typically one to bet, but even she played. She wasn’t a fan of the tables, but if she found a slot machine that she thought was hot, she’d stop, put in a twenty, and spin the reels a few times before walking away.

  “You lose money so fast on those things,” I said.

  “It’s Vegas, Vi. You lose money everywhere,” she responded.

  “True.”

  I sat down at a machine next to her and put in my own money so I could spin. A waitress walked up and brought drinks over while we played. We’d lost Callie and Jolie at a table across the way and agreed we’d meet them at five to see what we were up to next.

  “How was the club last night?” Dani asked.

  I pushed the button and watched the reels spin. “It was fine. No big.”

  “Not even that kiss?” she asked, still staring at her machine.

  “Jolie has such a big mouth,” I muttered.

  “Callie,” she corrected.

  “Callie?”

  “Yeah. She told me about it while you and Jo were in the bathroom before. And she
said it wasn’t Wyatt.”

  “No. But I did see him, too. And his girlfriend.”

  “The one you set him up with?” she asked.

  “The very same.”

  “How was that?”

  “Better than I expected,” I answered. “It sucked seeing them together, but nothing I can do about it.”

  “You mean, nothing you will do about it,” she said.

  “I’m not a dick.”

  “So deciding what you want and going for it makes you a dick?”

  “That’s not what I’m saying.”

  “Tell me about the guy you kissed.”

  “Kissed me,” I corrected. “The guy who kissed me.”

  “Does it even matter? Did lips touch?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you kissed some guy.”

  “Owen. His name is Owen.”

  “Was Owen a good kisser?”

  “What’s with you and Jo and the kissing? The guy just laid one on me. I wasn’t expecting it, but I also felt nothing.”

  Her hand hovered over the spin button on her machine and she turned to look at me. “Nothing?”

  “Nothing.”

  “How do you feel nothing?”

  “I just met the guy. I don’t know anything about him. And for whatever reason he decided to kiss me, and I might as well have been kissing you.”

  “Thanks,” she scoffed and then laughed. “Is this a normal thing for you…to feel nothing?”

  I remained quiet and continued pushing the spin button. I was down to five dollars, and I should have stopped, but I liked the noises that came from the machine and it was something to keep me busy.

  “No. I felt something when I kissed Will. I mean, he was my husband.”

  “Is your husband.”

  “Not after he signs the divorce papers,” I said.

  That was easier to say than I thought.

  “You filed?” she asked as she turned her body completely to face me. “When did this happen?”

  “A while ago. I didn’t make a big deal about it and didn’t tell anyone. I just told Jo last night.”

  “Are you okay?”

  I smiled and looked at Dani. “I really am. It’s been nine months… I think it’s time.”