“Hi Staci, I’m Captain Kyle. Nice to officially meet you.”
She giggled again, trying to make her smile even bigger. She reached out and ran her hand up and down Kyle’s arm in a flirty little gesture, and he took a slight step back, trying to give himself some distance. It’s not that she wasn’t hot. In fact, she was the exact definition of “hot” according to most red-blooded males—tall, blonde, and blue-eyed, with long legs, a sizable rack, and an itty-bitty waist, highlighted by the strappy little heels she wore, matching her bikini top and denim skirt. But Kyle wasn’t sure that, other than that sizable rack, there was much more to her. Maybe he was wrong—he shouldn’t judge her based on her vacation attire.
“Look, Captain Kyle,” she said, closing the couple of inches he’d put between them, giggling again. “I’m gonna be real up-front with you. You seem very sweet, and I’m sure there is someone out there who just adores you for that. But that's not gonna be me. What I want is Dalton.”
Kyle barked out a laugh, not sure if it was from relief or the knowledge that he’d been right about her. He took a moment to wipe the grin off his face, looking her directly in the eye. “Um, thanks? I think there was a compliment in there. So, then, um…what exactly is it you think I’m gonna do?”
“Oh, I just hoped that if you were around, he’d be close by. Or you could lead me to him.”
“Oh,” Kyle said, relieved she didn’t expect much more. “Well, he should be around here somewhere.”
“But where somewhere?” she giggled again.
“Not quite sure, but if I see him, I’ll send him your way,” Kyle answered.
He went to take a step around her, finally seeing an escape from her clutches, when the music picked up tempo a bit. She grabbed his hands and pulled him over to an area where the crowd had thinned. “Let’s dance! Spin me around and show me off!” she squealed.
Kyle did as he was told, lifting his right arm and spinning her as if they were ballroom dancing or something. She tripped over her own feet a bit and Kyle couldn’t help but laugh. She pulled him in close so their bodies were touching and slipped her arms around his neck, swaying her hips in time with the music, forcing his body to follow along.
“You don’t have to look so excited to be with me,” she said, once again giggling.
Kyle wasn't sure how to respond. She was a guest, so he couldn’t tell her that all he could really think about was how he hoped he didn’t get VD from her. On the other hand, she was on a pretty singular track here, and only using Kyle to further her agenda, so maybe a lighter version of the truth wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
“It’s not you. Well, I mean, it is on some level, since you’re the one kinda holding me hostage. But, it’s tradition, you could say, for me to spend the bonfire with someone else.”
“Let me guess, that cute little brunette from the boat? The one you hopped into the water after?”
Kyle couldn’t help but smile. A real, true, genuine full smile. Staci might not be scoring off the charts on an IQ test, but she saw straight through him. He thought he’d kept all those feelings masked when they were out on the water, but maybe his actions toward the Hulk Hogan wannabe weren’t as well disguised as he thought. He hadn’t realized anyone even paid him and Drea that close attention, other than maybe Brig. So maybe he wasn’t as stealthy as he thought. Had her uncles noticed too? There was no way. If any of them had suspected anything, they would have said something. They were all too close to not.
“I see that smile,” Staci cooed. “I’m on to something, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, she’s um, Drea. Drea is special.”
“I knew it!” she squealed again. “I just knew it! I saw the way you held her today while we were snorkeling. So, is it true love?”
Kyle laughed again, this time nervously, but never letting that smile leave his face. Did he love her? Like actual real love? There was no way—she was his best friend. So what if he wondered what was under that swimsuit and how exactly she would feel underneath him. That wasn’t love, that was lust. And all that really meant was that maybe he needed to find another outlet other than his right hand. Some “inspiration” that wasn’t based around Drea might not hurt the cause either.
“She’s my best friend, we’ll just leave it at that.” As soon as he said the words, he knew that he was lying. It didn’t matter though—her uncles would have his head, he’d lose his job, and he wasn’t even convinced she saw him that way in return.
Staci opened her mouth to respond, but as she did, Kyle noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, over in the direction of the bar. The exact bar where he should have been standing with Drea right about now. He saw a flurry of her bright tank top as she dropped from her barstool and quickly spun around, right into Dalton. He tried to step away, but Staci grabbed hold of him again and kept them moving to the beat. He tried to focus on what was happening between Drea and Dalton—he was holding her awfully close for Kyle’s taste—while not stepping on Staci’s feet. Staci followed his gaze over to his friends and then turned back to him, looking concerned.
“Something wrong?”
“I’m…I’m not sure.”
He stopped moving and turned fully to watch Drea and Dalton. He wasn’t sure if they had seen him with Staci and he was silently praying that they’d blended in with the crowd enough. They were whispering to each other, and Drea was holding her head down like she was upset. It was a punch to Kyle’s gut to see her like this and turning to Dalton of all people. Was there something going on there that he didn’t know about? She couldn't be interested in him, could she? She’d never be interested in a playboy like him, at least he didn’t think she would. But she never actually talked about being interested in anyone, and she did spend all day with him, just like she did Kyle, smiling and play flirting. Or Kyle assumed it was play flirting. He saw her start to walk away and pause to turn back to Dalton. She smiled as she said something to him, and he saw Dalton smile in return.
“Staci, if you’ll excuse me,” Kyle said, not waiting for her answer. He pried her off of him, and walked quickly toward where Drea was walking away.
“Whoa there, cowboy, where you headed off to?” Dalton asked, grabbing his arm and pulling him back from following her into the lobby.
“What’s wrong with Drea? She looked upset. What happened?”
“She’ll be fine, just leave her be.”
“Why? What upset her? I need to go see what’s wrong.”
“Not sure you’re the right person for the job.”
