Page 23 of Love is Grand
“What?” Now fully invested in yet another fiasco of mine, Adam swung his gaze to me. “Your date force you to drink too much on the flight?”
Not meeting his eyes, I shrugged. “No. It was nothing.”
The redhead shook her head. “It was the talk of the break room. I was glad Ry was off today dealing with her dress or lack thereof. The girl is anti-wedding, but that’s a conversation for another day. I heard you jumped in to save a kid.”
Waving her off, I said, “The kid was fine. I made a bad call.”
“What kid? You and a kid?” Adam leaned closer, now on a deep-sea fishing trip when it came to the details.
“Shell’s kid,” the redhead said. “Weez.”
It was then I was reminded how Shell had called her Louise at the pool, denying me any familiarity. Seeing Sophia with me must have been a gut punch, and Shell had every right to be mad. I had no idea she’d be by the pool today.
Adam’s gaze slid to me, and he raised an eyebrow but didn’t say a word.
I turned to look at the bartender. “I’m Cal, by the way.”
“I know. I’m Teddi. I’ve seen you coming and going lately. A lot,” she said, sporting a smirk.
Was it my imagination, or did she know more than she was letting on?
“The kid was fine,” I said, “but I thought she couldn’t swim.”
“And you jumped in to save her?” Adam asked. “Weezie?” he said incredulously, eyeing me like I was an alien life form.
“Yeah.”
“Is she okay? Sam’s going to be upset if anything happened to her. He babies her.”
I drew in a breath through my nose. “Look, I already said she was fine.” Teddi stood within earshot, so I added, “And I apologized to her mom for doubting the kid’s swimming ability. I’m not a bad guy.”
Adam nodded at me with his brow scrunched before he took another sip of his drink, then leaned in again. “It’s my wedding week, Cal,” he said, dead serious now. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he added, “Don’t fuck this up.”
I knew he meant it. If I messed anything up with Rylan or this wedding, he would kill me. Slowly.
“Hey,” a voice with an uppity New York accent said, interrupting the moment.
I looked up and found Sophia standing there, her hair unusually poker straight and with a full face of makeup. She was wearing a black minidress that was way too tight.
“We’re eating outside,” I said, taking in her look, which screamed New York VIP club, rather than casual Caribbean outdoor dinner.
Staring at me, she said, “I just spent an hour straightening my hair, Caleb. Outside isn’t good for it.”
It took everything I had not to roll my eyes.
Adam stood and smiled. “Hey, Sophia. Good to see you. I have to meet Rylan over at Camila’s, so I’ll catch you later.”
He put special emphasis on Camila’s, and I swore Teddi looked up.
“Oh, okay. What’s Camila’s? Are we going there?” Sophia asked both Adam and me.
“It’s a local place. More beach shack than Michelin,” Adam said with a knowing smirk.
“Never mind. Like I mentioned, my hair,” she said, flicking aforementioned hair over her shoulder. “Maybe we can eat somewhere else? Here, maybe?”
Adam sneaked off, leaving us alone. He was probably afraid he’d say more than he should.
“We’re in the Caribbean,” I said. “We’re not doing Camila’s, but Rylan recommended a place over by them in the West Bay. It has outdoor seating and is on the water.”