Chapter 1
Jake sat on the patio of the honeymoon suite he had booked near the O’Hare airport. There was a full moon hanging in the Saturday sky, almost mocking him with its golden smile. He should be making love to Charlotte right now, properly celebrating their wedding. He should be cupping her soft, pear-shaped breasts as he suckled her pebbled buttons into his mouth. He should be sliding his hardness into her core, so tight and wet as he had done hundreds of times over the two years they had dated since college. He should be, but she never showed up to the wedding.
He recalled how foolish he felt standing at the dais of the chapel in the hall they had rented. They waited an hour. He should have known something was up when the maid of honor went looking for her and never returned. She showed up for her salon appointment, taking advantage of the high-end hairdresser they had booked for the bridal party. Somewhere after the bridal party headed to the chapel, she got cold feet. Sarah, Charlotte’s best friend, eventually returned after all the guests had gone home. She told him Charlotte had spent the last weekend with the stripper from her bachelorette party engaging in wild sex acts including bondage. Charlotte couldn’t face Jake knowing the things she had done. Also, she wanted to do them again. Jake was shocked. Their sex life was normal, and exciting, in a vanilla 24-year-old way. She had never let on she wanted to explore kinkier options. However, Sarah had taken photos that proved otherwise. Jake was heartbroken. He suspected Sarah had ulterior motives with the photos. She had always been a little too flirtatious with him, even in front of Charlotte. But the last thing Jake wanted was to get involved with one of Charlotte’s friends, so he removed himself from the conversation as soon as he was able.
Jake wiped the lone remaining tear rolling over his cheekbone before it hit his goatee. His initial reaction was disbelief and anger. He spent the better part of an hour paying the vendors and apologizing to the guests. How could she have left him to explain to her family that she wasn’t coming? He hadn’t had time to let his emotions out until he got to the hotel. He had lost so much on the wedding; he wasn’t about to let the $2,000 honeymoon suite go to waste. Sarah offered to come back to console him., implying something more passionate. Part of him gave it some thought, believing revenge sex with Charlotte’s slutty friend would somehow make him feel better, but he knew it would only cause more heartache. No, he needed to be away from everything that reminded him of Charlotte.
“Hey Jake, you ok?” Sean’s voice echoed from the suite’s living room. “You should see this! They have a 21-year Oban scotch! You want some?” Oban was Jake’s favorite, imported from Scotland. The 21-year-old was a limited run of just under 3000 bottles. With a copper-golden color and an aroma of gingerbread, apples, and caramel that gives way to vanilla, pears, and ginger, it was almost enough to convince Jake to come inside.
“Maybe later Sean. Go ahead if you want, it’s paid for. I’ll stay out here a little bit longer.”
A few minutes later, Jake heard Sean’s footsteps as he stepped over the sliding glass door’s threshold and placed a hand comfortingly on Jake’s shoulder. “Here, it will help.” Sean handed him a Glencairn glass half full of the shimmering liquid. Jake stared into the whirlpool that formed as he swirled the whiskey around. Already, the sweet aroma was calming his nerves. The tension in his neck faded as Sean gave him a quick neck massage. “I know, buddy. It hurts. But it is better you found out now than after you had rug rats running around.”
Jake half-smiled. “I guess. I just never saw it coming. Am I that naïve? Am I that boring sexually that she didn’t think she could ask me to kink it up?”
Sean chuckled. “C’mon Jake, you and I both know your idea of kink is to let her ride on top.” Sean ducked as Jake hurled one of the lounge pillows at him.
“You don’t know that Sean. I have fantasies.”
“Yeah, but have you ever acted on them?”
“I will, after the ‘honeymoon’, I’m going to be a new man.”
“About that, Jake. I may have taken the liberty of changing the destination.”
Angrily, Jake yelled, “You did what?”
“Calm down Jakey Wakey,” Sean used the nickname he had called Jake since elementary school. “You didn’t want to go to the FlipFlops resort and hang out with all the newlyweds anyway. You would have stuck out like a sore thumb. I called your travel agent and had them switch the booking to the neighboring property, Temptations in Paradise, you know, the one where anything goes?”
“How dare you!” Jake tried to be angry, but truth was, he was dreading going to FlipFlops for exactly the reason Sean had just described.
Sean smiled and sipped his whiskey. “Come on, you’ll love it. And if you were ever going to show your kinky side, this is the place. Besides, I’ll be there to be your wingman. By the time I am done with you, every girl in the Bahamas will be dripping when they hear your name.”
Sean’s words broke through Jake’s despondence, earning a crack of a smile. Where Jake was a strong and silent type, Sean was the life of the party. If anyone could create a party out of a wedding disaster, it was him.
“Fine, but I’m not sharing a bed with you!”
Sean feigned insult. “Oh, you wound me, are you afraid something might pop up?”
Jake threw another pillow. “Never happening Sean, never happening.”
“I know, Jake. That’s why I got us the VIP villa. 2 bedrooms, separated by a living area that will make this hotel suite look small. I even sprang for the butler and concierge service.”
“You mean, I sprang!”
“Tomato, tomahto. Besides, the honeymoon trip was a gift from Charlotte’s parents. This way you get to screw her AND her family on your honeymoon in addition to the hot women at the resort.”
“Sean, you really do have a talent for finding the diamond in a pile of manure, don’t you?” Jake chuckled halfheartedly.
Jake finished the second glass, finally taken over by calmness. “I’m going to hit the bed. What time is our flight?”
Sean checked his smart watch. “10:00 a.m. We will need to leave here by 8 to make sure we make it through security.”
Jake set his phone for a wake-up alarm and walked toward the sliding door. As he passed, Sean touched his arm, stopping him. “Jake. You know I’m here for you, right?” Jake nodded then continued over the threshold, unbuttoning his shirt and removing his pants before carefully folding them; placing them neatly on the top of his suitcase. He put on a pair of plaid pajama pants and fell backward onto the bed, not even bothering to get under the comforter. The stress, coupled with the alcohol led to a quick entry into dreamland. He did not even notice Sean watching from the patio, a tortured look of unrequited longing on his face.