String Beans (The Girls of Beachmont #2) (20 page)

“Are you okay?”

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

“Good for you,” she said as she turned back to her
machine. “So back to the kiss.”

“Will you drop it already?” I laughed.

“Just tell me that Will isn’t the only guy who
made you feel something when he kissed you. Please,” she begged dramatically. “It
might actually ruin my night to know he’s the best kiss you’ve had.”

“He’s not,” I finally answered, but didn’t look at
her. I could feel Dani’s eyes on me, questioning without actually voicing it,
so I said the one name I wanted to forget for the weekend. “Wyatt.”

“Oh shit,” she muttered and went back to focusing
on the button in front of her. “That sucks.”

“You’re telling me,” I groaned.

I had one more spin on my machine, but hers was
still loaded because she had won some and lost more as she played.

I pushed the button and spun to face her while the
reels spun. “You were right. I did this, and I’ll be fine. Wyatt won’t be the last
guy to make me feel all weird and giddy and make me think that maybe there’s
more out there.”

Dani was about to respond when her eyes went wide
and she pointed at my machine. At the same time the last reel was falling into
place, the machine started ringing and chiming.

“You won!” she shouted. “How much did you win?”

I looked at the key and matched my reels with the
win amounts and did some quick math.

“A thousand maybe?”

“Damn! Drinks are on you,” she laughed and then
cashed out of her machine. “Let’s go find Callie and Jo and get out of here
before this place takes your money back.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m ready to go to the hotel
and get ready for tonight.”

“What’s tonight?”

“We’re celebrating my best friend being engaged!”

“I can’t believe you won,” Jolie said. “And on a
slot machine of all things. You never play slots.”

I looked at Jolie and giggled as I held my martini
glass in the air. “And I never will again.”

It was my second
cosmo
and I knew there were more to be had before our night was over. After my nice
win at the slot machine, which ended up being more like twelve hundred dollars,
we changed into our evening outfits and decided we needed to eat before doing
anything else.

We let Callie decide what she wanted to eat, since
she’d never been before. I was the only one not surprised when she chose a
steak. The girl grew up in Oklahoma; Jolie and Dani couldn’t really be that
surprised.

As it turned out, earlier that night I’d met a
couple while I was playing roulette who introduced themselves as Dimples and
Gorgeous. I hoped those were nicknames and not their given names, but then
again, I wouldn’t be surprised. The two were in Vegas celebrating his birthday
and started raving about a place where the food was as amazing as the ambiance.
They talked about it so much that I told the girls we had to try it. Gorgeous had
said that we’d have fun and make sure we didn’t have any plans that limited our
time.

We waited forever to get a table at The Cave, but
considering we didn’t make reservations and had nothing else going on, it was
fine. While we waited for a table, I ordered a round of drinks for the four of
us so we could people-watch.

The restaurant was so loud that we were shouting
to carry on a conversation, but the music more than made up for it. I couldn’t
tell if we were in a nightclub or a restaurant—more like two in one.
Everyone was dressed up as if they were in a club, and I could tell from the
pleased looks on their faces that my friends were happy to be there.

We sat down at our table and Callie was downing
another drink, telling Dani the story of how she ended up in L.A.

Turned out, Las Vegas and being with my friends
was the distraction I didn’t know I needed. We spent so much time walking,
drinking, and talking that I forgot about my problems. For the most part.

It wasn’t until the three went to the restroom,
leaving me at our table alone, that my thoughts caught up with me. Seeing Wyatt
with Emma the night before had been tough, but I figured it would get easier
with time. Getting away from one loud city and visiting another afforded me at
least a different view.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Jolie asked as she
climbed into our booth.

“Where is everyone?”

“Callie’s at the bar and Dani felt the need to
babysit her,” she laughed.

“Good. Because I have a feeling we need to look
after that one.”

“So, you were saying?”

“Nothing. I was just people-watching,” I said as I
looked around.

“That face was not people-watching. That was your
thinking face, and I have a feeling it has to do with a certain relationship.”

“I don’t want to talk about Wyatt,” I said. “I
want to have fun and not think about missed opportunities.”

“Well I’m glad to hear that…except I was talking
about Will and your divorce.”

Jolie was watching me carefully and there was
nothing I could come up with to cover my gaffe.

“I figured the divorce would be hard for you, and
I’m not saying it’s not, but I’m glad to see you’re moving on.”

“Do I have any other choice?”

“Not as long as I’m around. But…what are you going
to do about Wyatt?”

I smiled and shook my head before meeting her eyes
again. “Nothing, Jo. I want him to be happy, and Emma really cares about him.”

“And he really cares about you.”

“A guy can only take so much. I made sure he
understood that nothing was going to happen anytime soon.”

“That’s fine, but did you really have to do the
whole martyr thing and set him up with someone else?” she scoffed.

I didn’t have an answer for her. I could have said
no; I’d wanted to tell Emma no, but I didn’t.

“That night, when I told him we were just
friends…he said that he wasn’t in a rush. He would have waited for me to be
ready.”

“Jeez, woman,” she said loudly, causing a few
heads to turn our direction. “And you didn’t run and throw yourself into his
arms?”

When I didn’t answer, Jolie waved the waitress
down and ordered us both a shot. I knew, as well as she, that things would have
been different had I said what I wanted or even been honest with myself.

“Drink up, baby!” she said as she raised her glass
in the air. “It’s gonna be a long night.”

***

“Let’s ride the big wheel-thingy,” Callie said as
she pointed to the massive Ferris wheel.

“I might puke on everyone down here,” Jolie said.

“I’ll go with you,” Dani said and walked to the
ticket counter. “C’mon, you two!”

I shook my head and laughed. “I’m staying here
with Jo. Where the only reason my head is woozy is the liquor.”

“Losers!” She turned to Callie and waved her over
while Jolie and I found a table nearby.

“I’ve never known you to back down from a
challenge,” I said to Jolie.

“Don’t start with me. You’re a bigger
wuss
than me.”

“Did you see that guy who looked like Johnny Depp
over there? I love me some Captain Jack,” I said.

“Where?” Jolie asked, looking around.

“Over…” I turned around, trying to spot him. “I
don’t know.”

She stood up and grabbed my hand. “Let’s go find
him.”

I started to follow but stopped and looked back
for Dani and Callie who were waiting in line.

“They’ll be there a while. Let’s go find this
guy.”

We walked toward The Strip and saw so many people
in costumes posing for pictures. Admittedly, some looked better than others,
but it didn’t seem to stop the tourists.

“Is that him?” Jolie asked, pointing to a man who was
talking to several ladies.

“Are we supposed to pay the guy?” I whispered to
Jolie.

“I guess.”

I pulled out a ten and handed my phone to Jolie so
I could get a picture. The man smelled of booze and cigarettes…and bad body
odor. Still, in my inebriated haze, I dismissed it and smiled as I stood next
to him.

“’
Scuse
me,” I slurred,
talking to the man who looked like a pirate. “Did you know you look like Johnny
Depp?”

“You don’t say?” he asked, his speech sounding as
slurred as mine. “I’ll be whoever you want me to be, love.”

I started laughing so hard, while trying to
compose myself, but it wasn’t working.

“You even sound like him,” I gushed and waved
Jolie over. “Listen to him talk.”

“What are you two doing tonight? Want some
company?” he asked.

I started to nod, but Jolie grabbed my hand and
pulled me away. “We’re good. Thanks, man. Have a good night.”

She continued pulling me down the street despite
my efforts to go back.

“What the hell, Jo?”

“I think you’ve had too much to drink,” she
laughed.

“Hey, what if it was really Johnny Depp dressed up
like a pirate and he just offered to hang out with us?” I argued.

Jolie stopped walking and put her hands on my
shoulders, looking directly into my eyes. “Honey, I’m pretty sure that was a
creepy dude and that wig was hiding a pet rat in it.”

“It was not,” I scoffed.

Jolie opened my phone and scrolled to one of the
pictures she took, revealing two red eyes on his shoulder peeking out of the
wig.

“Gross!” I shouted as I shivered in place. “I need
to be fumigated and I need a shower. That’s so nasty!”

Jolie linked her arm through mine and insisted I
needed another drink to help me forget the nightmare that had happened.

We walked up one side of The Strip, stopping by a
table at each casino along the way. I’d managed to lose a hundred dollars,
though I wasn’t sure I ever actually gambled.

It was an hour later when we finally met up with
Dani and Callie again.

“How was it?” I asked.

“It was awesome. You two missed out,” Callie
answered.

“What did you two do while we were gone?” Dani
asked.

“We—” Jolie started.

“Nothing,” I interrupted. “We did nothing but
gamble a little. That’s all. Nothing weird or gross happened.”

“What she said,” Jolie said. “Let’s go next door.
Maybe they opened up another table.”

Dani and Jolie exchanged a look and I knew they’d
discuss the pirate and the rat later…and I’d never live it down. Callie and I
followed them into the casino and stood behind the chairs they were occupying.
I was too impaired to be a good blackjack player, so I decided to watch.

As I stood there, boredom began to sink in and I opened
up my phone to look at the pictures that Jolie had taken earlier. I smiled at
the one we took in front of the fountain and the selfie we tried to take with
the lights behind us. I refused to look at the imposter pictures, and even
tried to delete them, but Jolie had already texted them to herself anyway.

“Ma’am,” a man in a suit called out behind me, but
I kept looking at my phone. “Ma’am.”

I turned around and saw he was talking to me.

“I’m not a ma’am,” I balked. “I’m a Viola. Vi-
ooo
-la.”

I squinted and looked at his nametag. I hoped it
would be still so I could make out what to call him, but it kept moving.

“Bob. Is that your name? I can’t tell.”

“I’m sorry, but you can’t be on your phone at the
tables.”

I looked behind me to see Jolie and Dani still playing
a hand of blackjack and I remembered his words. My eyes went wide and I stepped
away.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s fine, ma’am. If you’re going to be on your
phone, I need you to move away from the table.”

I nodded and stepped away, calling after Jolie and
Dani. “I’ll be over there with Callie and Jake.”

Callie had met the black-haired, tatted guy
earlier at our hotel, and as luck would have it, he was staying there too.
Well, lucky for her anyway.

They spent a lot of time flirting and hanging out
together. Our girls’ weekend had been infiltrated by a dick and there was
nothing we could do to change that…not that we wanted to. In the time I had spent
with Callie, she got a lot of attention from guys, but it was as if her head
was somewhere else.

Dani and Jolie waved me off without another thought,
and I carefully walked toward Callie while she flirted shamelessly with the
cutie in front of her.

“Hey,” I whispered loudly to get her attention.

Callie looked at me and then lifted a finger dismissively.

“Callie Jane Hooker, get over here,” I said
sternly.

She whispered something to Jake and walked over to
join me.

“Callie Jane Hooker?” she repeated. “Hanes, Vi. My
last name is Hanes. And my middle name is
not
Jane.”

“I know,” I lied. “But you look like a hooker. And
I had to call you three names so you knew I meant business.”

“Whatever,” she laughed. “What’s so important that
you’re dragging me away from that gorgeous guy over there?” She waved at him,
only giving me part of her attention again.

“Should I call him?”

“Who?”

“Wyatt.”

“Yeah,” she answered. “Sure. Whatever.”

I glanced down at the phone in my hand and back to
Callie. “What if he doesn’t answer? Or what if he does…? What do I say? Do I
tell him that I was wrong, that I lied? Maybe I’ll just call like nothing
happened and say hi.”

“Sure,” Callie said as she started walking away.
“Is that all?”

I looked up to answer her and Callie was already
back fawning all over Jake. The others were still at the blackjack table, and I
momentarily considered waiting to get their opinion but decided against it.

I found his contact information in my phone and
called it before I could change my mind.

“Hello?” he answered on the first ring.

“Hey, Earp. Are you busy?”