Lily is attempting to get Rae into the backseat of our rental. "Did you see Laura?"
I toss my purse into the driver's seat. "Not since I was told she had latched onto a guy's face. I'll go take another look real quick."
I can't go walking into the club barefoot so I take Rae's shoes off of her feet. She's practically passed out and has no idea they're even missing.
Making my way back towards the bar my heartbeat picks up. As much as I tell myself I can't get involved, I'm not forgetting the fact that Chris actually paid attention to me before meeting any of my friends. The closer I get to the door I can see Laura stumbling out, laughing, holding the hand of the guy she was previously making out with.
"Laura!"
She spots me and waves. "Opal!" She and the guy, I think Chris called him Spence, comes towards me. She pulls me into a drunken hug. "That was the best night, ever!"
I'm watching her closely. She's past drunk and there's no way I'm letting her go with whoever this guy is. "All good things come to an end, girlie. Time to go." I look over at the blonde helping hold her upright. "I've got it from here."
"Oh," the guy starts. "I can walk her to your car. Chris came and got us when he saw you leaving. I wasn't going to take advantage of her. I'm not like that."
I raise my brows, small grin and nod my head. "Sure."
As I point him in the direction of the SUV I hear someone yell. I pay it no mind as it doesn't pertain to me.
"Shirley! Shirley Temple!"
It's not until I hear the call a second time that I realize Chris is outside the bar, trying to get my attention. I stand still, roll my eyes and turn in his direction. 'Stand firm, Opal.'
Chris jogs over to where I've planted my feet. "Really? After that performance, I still get a no?"
I'm starting to think his smile only knows how to be smug. But, dang it's attractive. I can't give in.
"Yep. You get a no."
He tucks his hands in his pockets, his stance wide. "How do I get a yes?"
He's persistent, I'll give him that. But I'm stubborn. "You don't." I start walking back towards the car. "Have a good life, Officer Evans!"
"Don't think this is over, Ms. Lucas." He doesn't follow me, just calls out.
"Oh, but it is!"
I slide into the driver's seat and turn the key. The windows are rolled down, radio loud. I wave to the two gentlemen left standing on the sidewalk.
~~~~~
It's Sunday, late afternoon when we land back in Jacksonville. The flight home went much smoother for myself because I wasn't as exhausted. Here's to hoping any issues at the Inn can wait until I go in tomorrow morning.
Jameson and Anthony both meet us at the airport. Lily runs straight for Jameson while Rae is still nursing her hangover from the night before. Anthony's prepared though and has a burrito from Taco Bell waiting for her. She eats the oddest hangover food.
"Back to the land of relationships," I say taking Laura's arm in mine. She bounced back quicker than Rae after their party hard attitude last night, having only vomited once after breakfast.
She rests her head on my shoulder as we wait by baggage claim.
"So, who hooked up?" Anthony asks looking between myself and Laura. I point a finger at Laura while she's also pointing at herself. "But it was just a make out session. He was a gentleman."
I give her some side eye. How much of a 'gentleman' is he if he's sucking your face off within five minutes of meeting him? I guess it could've been worse.
"What? He was! He even text me to check on me this morning," she affirms showing us her phone. "By the way, Lily, I'm gonna need a plus one."
"Like hell you are. Those numbers were locked in a month ago," she shoots back.
"He can have my seat. I'll sit in his lap." Laura always has a solution for everything. I pat her hand, knowing the wrath of Lily is about to explode. She just looks up at me, shrugging her shoulders.
And this began a fifteen minute rant from the bride-to-be. The free feeling, party weekend was officially over.
~~~~~
Chris POV
It's been a rare, quiet night in our district. Cooper and I pull the cruiser into a space at Egg Harbor and wait for Spencer and Janie. We decided to all meet for an early breakfast before going our separate ways for the day before our next shift tonight.
I turn the car off and turn a bit to face my partner. "So."
Cooper looks back at me. "What?"
"One of the women you hit on Saturday? Do you remember the one in a black number? Short, curled, brown hair?"
I watch his face, trying to calculate. Apparently he hit on several. "Not sure I recall."
"You asked what her sign was?"
The light bulb goes off in his thick skull. "Oh yeah! She was the friend of the girl in pink. Now that woman was gorgeous."
"Wait. Which woman was gorgeous?"
"The one in pink." He looks at me like I'm crazy. "Who did you think I was talking about? Her friend? Nah. That was the one I'd have been doing a favor."
I want to punch him. "One, you wouldn't have been able to land her, no matter what line you used. Two, she was freaking amazing."
"Wait a minute. How do you know her?"
"That's who I was talking to before you and Janie dragged me on stage!" I jump out of the car, slamming the door.
Cooper follows me out of the car. He looks back at me confused. "Are you sure? I mean the girl I hit on wouldn't have caught your attention. I've seen the girls you've dated."
"You also see I'm not with any of them, right?"
He just shakes his head and goes into the restaurant. "Hey Whit!"
"Hey fellas. You can take your usual spot," she says motioning over to our table.
As soon as we sit down the bells over the door jingle from the entrance of Janie and Spencer. "Were y'all as busy as us?" Janie asks.
I shake my head. "Surprisingly slow, especially for a Sunday night."
"I wish it had been slow. I'm still trying to recover from Saturday night," Spencer mentions with a yawn.
"Well, let's eat and call it a day," Janie says as Whitney walks over with four large coffee cups.
"The usual?" Whitney asks us, grabbing her pad and pen.
We all nod in agreement as Spencer's phone goes off.
"Who in the world is texting you this early?" Cooper attempts to look over Spencer's shoulder.
Spencer gives us all a small grin. "It's, uh, the girl from Saturday, Laura."
My ears perk up and I'm suddenly very interested in this conversation. "You got her number?"
"Of course. I wanted to check on her yesterday so I needed her number. We talked a bit last night before shift too."
"So they got back alright then?"
Janie looks at me strangely. "Why do you care, Chris?"
"Chris here has a thing for her friend," Cooper says slapping me on the back.
"Then why aren't you checking on them?" Janie takes a sip of her coffee before adding more sugar.
"No number."
"Evans couldn't close the deal!" Cooper exclaimed.
"Maybe if you hadn't been a grade A jackass, hitting on all of her friends, I could have," I tell him pointedly. "But according to her she basically doesn't start things when she knows they won't go anywhere. They don't live around here."
"Aw that's sad," Janie continues, dripping with sarcasm. "Too bad you don't have a job that allows you to find out all the details you need to locate her."
"You know that I'd never do anything like that."
"Doesn't mean the curiosity won't consume you and push you in that direction," Cooper says.
"Anyway. Did they get back okay?" I ask Spencer who has been sitting there typing away.
He glances up from his phone. "Yeah they got back early evening yesterday."
"You think she'd give me Opal's number?" I'm curious if they've spoken about the two of us at all but I'll go with this question instead.
"I can ask." Spencer goes back to typing as Whitney brings out our orders. She sets down a vegetable omelet in front of me but I'm suddenly too nervous to eat.
It takes a good five minutes before his alert goes off again. I sit there expectantly waiting. "She said Opal told her no."
"Ugh! What is with this woman?" I'm pretty sure I meant to say that to myself, but instead it flowed right out of my mouth in front of everyone. I don't realize it until their eyes are heavy on me.
"I'm curious to know now, too. Who could have the Great Evans so flustered after one night?" Spencer asks quizzically.
"It wasn't one night. I met her when we worked the concert Friday night."
"Man, I'm telling ya, she's not worth this energy," Cooper tells me. "Compared to the other women, her friends included, at the bar that night she's maybe...maybe a six."
I feel my ears turning red out of anger, my jaw tightening. I'm still in uniform so I need to keep it together. "She's worth more energy than you've put in to any of your so called relationships. She's definitely more than, what did you say, a six? You and your stupid scale is the reason why you're pushing forty and still single." I push back from the table. I toss some cash on the table before looking back at Spencer. "Give him a ride back, please. I'll see y'all tonight." I push the door harder than I should have on my way out, my annoyance prevalent.
Frustrated and angry are not good combinations in my line of work. I drive back to the station, change and drive my own truck to the gym. My plan of heading straight to bed changes to the need of letting off some steam.
I put work into the punching bag. Every hit keeping count of each frustration this woman has brought me in such a short time.
Time. That's one. Two to three hours at most in the presence of Opal and I'm wishing for more.
Clever. She kept me on my toes at the bar. Giving as much as receiving.
Gorgeous. I found her beautiful Friday night, in her cute t-shirt and tight jeans. And even more so at the bar. The glint in her eyes pulling me in further.
Endearing. Her protectiveness over her friends. Still wanting to enjoy her time after breaking her shoe.
Self deprecating. This one I am conflicted over. She's modest and humble but almost annoyingly so. She can't see that I'm attempting to choose her first. She's lived years, I'm assuming, in the shadow of her friends. I'm not sure if she's put herself there on her own or was pushed there by others.
Honest. How many women open up to men right off the bat only to have their words or feelings twisted or used against them? She didn't have to tell me things she did. I'm sure they weren't easy but she chose to.
Focused. There's got to be a reason why she continues to say 'no.' But why? Is it really because she's not interested? Is there something deeper, rooted within her causing her to not see past the moment in front of her.
I continue my release on the punching bag. The detective part of my brain still trying to figure Opal out, while I also scream at it to stop and let it go.