1
Tawney
“Tawney, try this!” my best friend, Amber, shouted from near the bar. I was already pretty tipsy, but she was borderline drunk, if she wasn’t already.
I pushed my way past the sweaty bodies in front of me and stepped up to the bar, eyeing the line of shots she had in front of her. Jell-O shots were a weakness for me. They tasted so good, but they got me drunk way too fast. I’d been hoping to avoid them tonight, especially since I had to open the bookstore early in the morning.
But if Amber wanted to do Jell-O shots, then we were doing Jell-O shots. The girl always somehow got her way. I never understood it.
“Are you prepared to carry my drunk ass home?” I asked her in all seriousness.
She laughed and shoved me in the shoulder, making me stumble. Amber worked out—a lot. Didn’t help that she got a free membership to a gym because she worked there as a trainer. The girl was ripped, but not in a manly way. It was more in an “I can rock your shit” kind of way.
“I’m probably going to be too drunk to carry you home, but I can try,” she laughed.
I rolled my eyes at her and grabbed a Jell-O shot. “Here’s to not barely remembering anything in the morning!” I cheered.
She laughed, pressed her plastic cup to mine, and we threw back our first shot.
Amber and I met when I moved here from Savannah after I lost my husband. Things hadn’t been easy after Eric passed away. I had a one-year-old baby boy when I lost him, a large sum of money from his death, and depression that, most days, felt like it was killing me.
So, I packed up my things with my dad’s help and moved to Sizzle Beach. I always found comfort in the sand and the ocean, and I was so happy when I saw that hadn’t changed when I moved here that I just sat on the sand, held my baby, and I cried.
I cried for everything we lost, everything we could have had. Eric had been the love of my life. We met in elementary school, passed notes, and dated all through middle school and high school. And we got married before he left for basic when we graduated.
He was all I had ever known.
And trying to find my footing and who I was without him had been crippling.
At twenty-three, I’d been too young to be a widow. I hadn’t known how to move past it. But then Amber found me crying one day in the back of the bookstore when she came in to see the new store, and we’d been best friends ever since. She helped me find my footing when I felt like I had nowhere left to stand.
I giggled and stumbled against her side, leaning my head on her shoulder as I swiped the last Jell-O shot. “You’re an amazing friend,” I told her.
She laughed. “I know,” she teased, already drunk herself.
I downed the last shot, and the DJ began playing upbeat music. I grabbed her hand and tugged her to the dance floor. I was drunk, and I wanted to dance. It didn’t take long for warm, calloused hands to grip my waist where my shirt had ridden up. I was pulled flush against a hard, muscular body, and when I turned my head to see who the person I was dancing with was, my breath caught in my throat.
Holy hell, it was like looking into a younger Tom Cruise’s face.They still made them like this these days?
He leaned his head down, his breath fanning my ear. “You look amazing,” he told me.
A shiver slithered down my spine at the sound of his deep voice. And when he leaned up again, I was struck all over again by his looks. His hair was so dark, it was almost black. And his inviting, dark eyes had warmth spilling through my veins—a warmth I hadn’t felt since Eric. Muscles bunched in his arms and pulled his shirt tight over his broad chest.
I wanted to lick him.
Jesus Christ, Tawney. Get ahold of yourself.
I turned my head back around and began dancing with him, my mind temporarily out of order, so I couldn’t figure out what to say to him. And I was afraid if I opened my mouth, I’d just blurt out something insanely stupid that would make me embarrass myself.
Apparently, I was thankfully not too drunk yet.
The song changed, and I spun around to face him, my arms twining around his neck. He yanked me tighter against him, his eyes intent on mine as we moved together. His cock was hard against my belly, but I didn’t even care. I wanted him, and it pleased me to know he wanted me just as badly.
We had to have danced for a while, but time seemed to fall away when I was in his arms. But soon, I was parched, and I needed another drink. Not to mention, the alcohol was definitely flowing through my system now, making me feel hot and sweaty.
I leaned up on my tiptoes, putting my mouth as close to his ear as I could, though I was still a bit too short to do so. Thankfully, he leaned down a bit so I didn’t have to stretch so far.
“I need a drink.”