Finding Us (Finding #2)

by Shealy James

  “No! I just want to feel the angst and the excitement of a new relationship again. I want it all with Max though. I love him, and none of this is about him. It’s just how relationships are. I miss the anticipation of waiting for him to call. I miss getting dressed up just to go to dinner. Heck, I miss him going to the bathroom with the door closed,” she giggled.

  “No more mystery there, huh?”

  “Mystery? What’s that? Max and I are too comfortable with each other. We’re like an old married couple.”

  “Enjoy this week then. We’re too young to be old married couples. Although when we are old married couples, I hope we still take trips together like this. I think we’ll all need just a few days to reconnect once we really let the real world in.”

  “Don’t mention the real world. I’m on vacation,” Becca said with a smile as she leaned back on her lounger and slid her sunglasses back over her eyes.

  Our quiet beach day ended up being one of the best days. Little did I know a dark cloud was on her way down to hover over our perfect break from reality.

  That evening as we were putting the finishing touches on the Low Country Boil we made for dinner, Sarah and Billy came bounding into the house. I ran over to greet them but stopped cold when I saw they weren’t alone. Grady and Alexis had joined them.

  “Hi…” I said too shocked to say anything else.

  “We brought friends. You said there was an extra bedroom with twin beds, so Billy invited Grady,” Sarah said with raised eyebrows. Her tone gave nothing away, but her face let me know she knew this was a terrible idea. She knew how much I didn’t want Alexis anywhere near me...well, anywhere near Parker, really.

  I kept my fake smile plastered on my face. “Oh! Well, the more the merrier.” I guess if my mother taught me nothing else, at least I could fake pleasantries. Thank you, Mother for teaching me the art of faking. Most helpful life lesson ever!

  She hugged me against her and quickly whispered in my ear. “I’m so sorry. I swear I had nothing to do with that one.”

  “Come on in. I’ll show you to your rooms.” I guided everyone into the house. The boys were on the porch but came in just as everyone followed me into the living room. “Look who’s here!” I announced with false excitement. Max’s eyebrows shot up. He knew that tone.

  Parker had a genuine smile on his face as he greeted his band mates. He hugged Billy and Grady and grabbed drinks for everyone. At least he didn’t hug the she-devil who had now joined our no-so-perfect-anymore vacation.

  After showing everyone to their rooms, Becca, Sarah, and I finished in the kitchen as everyone else sat down at the outdoor table.

  “What’s she doing here?” Becca asked when it was just the three of us.

  Sarah rolled her eyes. “Billy invited Grady, and I guess Grady invited her. We don’t know. They just both showed up late this morning with bags in hand.”

  “It’ll be fine,” I said even though I absolutely didn’t believe it.

  Sarah didn’t believe me either. “I warned Billy. If she causes any drama, he’s responsible for getting her the hell out of here.”

  “I’m not worried,” Becca said. “Parker hasn’t been able to take his eyes off Maggie yet. He probably wouldn’t even know Max and I were here had Max not made Parker try body boarding in the ocean again all day together.”

  I smiled widely and blushed. He couldn’t take his eyes off of me because he was remembering what we did last night. Perhaps he was even planning tonight. That thought alone sent chills down my spine. We needed to hurry this dinner up, so Parker and I could be alone again.

  “Oh. My. God!” Sarah squealed.

  “What?” Becca and I asked at the same time.

  “You,” she said and stared right at me.

  “What?” I asked trying to play innocent.

  “You did it!” Sarah whisper screamed.

  “Did what?” Becca asked confused, but I knew what she meant and blushed a hideous shade of red at her accusation.

  “You and Parker did the dirty, didn’t you?”

  Becca and Sarah were staring at me waiting for me to respond. My still red cheeks prevented me from being able to brush it off. “Shh…” I tried to hush her as I dragged them further into the kitchen. Sarah didn’t drop her Sherlock Holmes stare, so I finally gave into her. “Yes. Last night.” They both started cheering wildly. “Shhh!! Stop it, you two!”

  Max came inside right then. “What’s going on? I thought y’all said the food was ready.”

  “It is! Go back outside.” Becca snapped. Max’s eyes widened at her tone. She was never anything but calm, so I am sure he didn’t know what to think. Heck, I was surprised, and I knew why she was snapping at him.

  “What’s going on in here?” Max asked suspiciously.

  Sarah grabbed the salad bowl. “Nothing. Quit being nosey, Max. Here. Take this outside.” She shoved the bowl in his hands, and we all waited silently while he walked back outside watching us the whole time. Sarah turned back to me once he was out the door. “So, how was it?”

  “Let’s do this later. I don’t want to talk about this with them just outside the door.”

  Sarah frowned then looked at the door and back at me. She gave me a pointed look and said, “Ok, but don’t think you’re getting away with that. We’ve all been waiting four years for this day!”

  “Seriously! You’ve been waiting?” I scoffed sarcastically. The truth was I had been the one hoping for a night like last night with Parker since I met him on moving day. The moment I saw his shirt lift revealing a chiseled six-pack, I was done for. I knew I wanted him to be my first, but I never thought I would be lucky enough to get everything I wanted and more.

  Throughout dinner Sarah managed to keep her knowing looks to a minimum, but I knew it was only a matter of time before the interrogation really began. Fortunately the evening was spent as a group, so I was able to avoid her questions for one night. After dinner we all sat around listening to Grady and Parker play dueling guitars. It was pretty fun especially when they started making up their own songs. We were all impressed with their creativity. I thought Parker won the battle, but I might have also been a little biased.

  Unfortunately I had to wait even longer for alone time with Parker. After our sing along we all put on our bathing suits and climbed in the pool as the guys mixed drinks for everyone. Us girls all sat on the steps together, so we could talk. Even Alexis came over with us. Sarah happily climbed into the water careful not to get her hair wet before she said, “So, on the way in we saw that tomorrow night is Girl’s Night at The Swamp, that bar just down the road. I say we get all dolled up and go dancing tomorrow like we used to do.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I agreed.

  “Sounds fun. I’m sure the guys will agree to whatever we want,” Becca added.

  “Does that sound fun to you Alexis?”

  She shrugged in response then stared off to the side. Ok then.

  I continued to try to include Alexis in our girl talk, but she just wasn’t having it. I didn’t understand why she would want to come if she didn’t want to hang out with us. She already stood out like a sore thumb with her wildly colored hair and tiny body covered in colorful tattoos, so the least she could do was try to be friendly with us girls.

  I’m not saying her hair color or tattoos were a bad thing, but it was just different. I mean we all looked different in one way or another. Sarah was the tall, model thin blond girl who looked like Malibu Barbie. Becca was a tiny little Asian girl with no curves whatsoever. Then there was me. I was all curves and toned muscle with the mess of brown hair. We were all plain compared to Alexis though. She was like a coral reef growing in a forest, except a lot less pleasant.

  I about lost my patience with her later that night in the hot tub. I was sitting on Parker’s lap while Sarah and the band boys argued all around us about the merits of the music of the 90’s. While they were talking, Parker’s hands wandered all over my body distracting me from their
discussion of grunge music. His romancing hands weren’t scandalous or inappropriate, but I caught Alexis glaring at us as if we were doing the deed right there in front of her. Becca noticed as well because she caught my eyes and silently signaled towards Alexis with her gaze. I just shrugged like it didn’t matter, but it honestly made me uncomfortable.

  In an effort to escape her glower, I tried to shift off of Parker’s lap, but he tightened his grip on me. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  Uhh…your weird ex-whatever keeps glaring at me like she wants to kill me in my sleep. “Nowhere. I’m just hot,” I lied.

  “You ready to go inside?” He asked suggestively and squeezed my thigh gently to hint at what was to come when we went inside.

  “Yeah. If you are.” That was enough to get him moving. We told everyone goodnight before he threw me over his shoulder caveman style and walked into the house without even drying off first.

  Parker

  I grabbed Maggie in an effort to disappear from having my current girlfriend and the girl that took my virginity creating awkward soup in the hot tub. I don’t know what Alexis was doing there, but it was definitely not my idea of fun. In fact I didn’t find anything about having Alexis near Maggie amusing, especially when she had already tried to get her hands on me before dinner. I spent the rest of the night using Maggie as my shield, which was an ideal excuse to have her ass parked on my lap all night.

  When I had Maggie back in our room, I marched right into the shower and turned it on with us already under the faucet. Maggie squealed and squirmed wildly on my shoulder, but I didn’t mind having her ass wiggle on my shoulder until she about slipped from my arms.

  “Behave. It’ll be warm in a second,” I told her with a smack on her rear.

  “Or you could just put me down,” She suggested.

  I dragged Maggie down my chest so every part of her body was touching mine. I released the little ties that help her bikini on her body and let the fabric fall to the floor of the shower. She just watched me in fascination. My girl wasn’t afraid anymore. She knew this was all about her.

  Just as I was leaning in to run my lips down her neck, she stuck her thumbs in my bathing suit and dropped to the floor along with it. She had me in her mouth before I could even respond. So much for taking a shower. I moaned and that only encouraged her to take me deeper. Just before I was about to blow, I leaned down and lifted her from the floor. “Not in here, not like this. I want to be inside you, babe.”

  “We can do that too, you know,” she smiled flirtatiously.

  I grabbed her hips and pulled her naked body tightly against mine. “I want to do that now.”

  “Well, if you insist.” She smiled and kissed me. I knew Maggie loved when I took care of her first even though she would never admit it. She always put my needs in front of hers, so I took advantage when I had the chance to do the same. The bedroom was the one place I could always put her first, and I planned to do just that over and over tonight and for the rest of our lives.

  Needless to say we woke up late the next morning. Maggie didn’t feel like going for a run, and I didn’t argue. I wasn’t up for it either. Our bodies were sated and exhausted considering we only slept a couple of hours after I showed her just how much I loved her body. She enjoyed every second of it.

  We could hear our friends in the kitchen making breakfast and then heading out to the beach, but Maggie and I just stayed in bed in silence with our limbs wrapped around each other. We were both awake, but we were enjoying our moment of solitude.

  I wondered if Maggie was avoiding the awkward situation that was brought on by Alexis being there. I sure as hell was. I needed to ask Grady what the fuck he was thinking bringing her here. She was his friend, but she was never just a friend for me. She was a fuck buddy with hopes of being more no matter how many times I made it clear that it was just sex. She always acted like that was fine and gave me a hard time later, but a relationship with Alexis was never going to happen, not then and certainly not now.

  Even now she couldn’t handle being a normal friend with me. I hadn’t screwed her in months, but here she was. The way she watched me freaked me out. I ignored it for Maggie’s sake, but it didn’t mean I didn’t notice her gawking. I wasn’t sure how she could miss it, but the whole time I kept hoping Maggie wouldn’t become aware of Alexis’s eye flirting. Unfortunately she was pretty freaking obvious. Subtlety wasn’t one of Alexis’s strengths.

  Maggie spoke first bringing me back to the present. “You want to go hang out with everyone or lay here all day? I know what I’d pick.”

  I pulled her close and spoke against her forehead. “Are you asking what I want to do or what I think we should do?”

  “Neither really. I was just hoping you would say that it was a great idea to stay in bed all day.”

  “I think it is a great idea to stay in bed all day. Unfortunately, I give us about another ten minutes before Sarah or Max come pounding on the door.”

  It wasn’t even a full minute after he spoke the words before a gentle knock came at the door. Maggie groaned then pulled up the covers and turned so whoever was at the door wouldn’t see anything but her head.

  “Yeah?” I yelled at the closed door once she was completely covered.

  Becca poked her head in the door. “You guys coming out? It’s almost lunchtime.”

  “Yeah,” I sighed, “We’re about to get up. How did you get picked to be the one to come get us?”

  She smiled. “They knew you wouldn’t yell or throw anything at me.”

  “Sneaky bastards,” Maggie grumbled making us all laugh.

  I looked back at Becca. “We’ll be out in a minute. Tell Max to get the volleyball net up. Maggie and I want a rematch. Let’s see how well he can do when Maggie plays sober.”

  She smiled. “Oh, don’t talk trash. Volleyball is the only sport I can play. I may be small, but my ball hitting is supreme.”

  “Becca, there are about a million dirty jokes I can say about your supreme ball hitting. If you don’t want Maggie to die of embarrassment, I suggest you close that door and go on your way.”

  “Hurry up!” She laughed as she closed the door.

  I rolled on my side to look at Maggie. “All right babe, time to get up.”

  She frowned grumpily. “You just had to talk shit didn’t you? I can’t play volleyball. I play soccer, swim, and run because my hand-eye coordination sucks.”

  I kissed her pouty bottom lip. “You’ll be fine. It was me that was too drunk to play. We can take on the computer geek and his tiny girlfriend.”

  She groaned again and rolled out of bed. “Ok, but don’t make any bets please. I don’t want to do something humiliating after I warned you.”

  It turns out that Maggie really sucks at volleyball. I would have thought she was good at everything because she was so athletic, but she just could not get the ball over the net or up in the air really. It was pretty comical to watch right up until she gave up and dropped onto one of the loungers completely defeated. Billy and Sarah took our place and were able to beat Max and Becca, which made Maggie feel worse.

  After an intense afternoon of volleyball, the girls were ready to let loose. We all decided to go out that night, which meant that the girls took over our room to get ready like they did at home. After I showered and was exiled to the rest of the house, Max and I played darts and pool. Grady and Billy joined us and surprisingly Alexis went in with the girls. She wasn’t much for the girly shit that they tend to do, but I was glad she was away from me for a little while.

  While Billy and Max were taking their turns, I turned to Grady and spoke quietly to him, “What were you thinking bringing Alexis here? Are you trying to kill me?”

  “Yeah. That was precisely what I was trying to do,” he laughed. “No, man. I was thinking Nick was going to be out of town as well. I didn’t want to leave her alone. She’s been having a hard time lately, and I didn’t want her to get into any trouble because everyone was gone
.”

  I nodded in understanding. I knew what that meant. He was watching her to make sure she didn’t use again. Alexis was a recovering addict. She has been clean since I knew her, but I met her right after she came out of rehab a little over five years ago.

  “Has she used?” I asked.

  Grady shook his head and his jet black Mohawk moved as if it were a single unit. “Nah. She had a couple of bad nights when she wanted to take something, but she called her sponsor. She’s just seemed off lately. Quiet almost.”

  “You worried?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. A little. Billy is though. He was the one who found her last time.”

  “You’re up,” Max said nodding at me officially ending the conversation about Alexis. I wasn’t sure what to do with the information that I had just learned from Grady. I was worried, of course. My concern for her wasn’t anything more than what anyone would feel about someone they had known for years. However, I couldn’t involve myself and keep Alexis at an arm’s length. It just wouldn’t work. She would get the wrong idea, and I wasn’t about to jump down that rabbit hole with someone who could potentially ruin Maggie and me.

  Maggie

  It wasn’t in my nature to exclude people. I knew what it felt like to be on the outside, so I never want to purposely leave anyone out. That didn’t mean it was easy to include Alexis, the skank ho who used to have sex with my boyfriend. That also didn’t mean that Alexis didn’t surprise me when she said she would come and get ready with the rest of us girls. She came into my room while Becca, Sarah, and I curled and primped, but Alexis just sat in the big chair in my bedroom and listened to us talk for the most part. We tried to engage her in our conversation by asking questions, but she only gave us one-word answers and never elaborated. After a while we stopped trying.

  Honestly we probably would have forgotten she was there had Sarah not changed the topic of conversation. I could have killed Sarah for what she said though. All I could think was that she had forgotten about Alexis and didn’t realize what she was doing when she asked, “So Mags…you enjoying bedtime with Parker? You feel closer to him? More connected maybe?”