Bringing Home the Bad Boy (Second Chance #1)(50)

The thought made Evan grin. Lyon was in good hands. Patricia would give him too much sugar, and Cliff would let him sit up too late and watch TV when he shouldn’t, and he figured that was okay, too. They were Lyon’s Nonna and Poppa, and Evan was looking forward to having a beer with his buddies, and Charlie, and taking his first deep breath since he’d moved here.

Music at Salty Dog was a far cry from the band on stage. Jimmy Buffett faded into a Bob Marley song and that faded into raucous laughter and the chatter of many drunken townsfolk. And it was still early.

He weaved around picnic tables and waitresses and then spotted the back of Gloria’s sleek, black head and angled toward them. Glo, Ash, and Charlie sat at one of four high-top tables under the tiki-style roof, having garnered one of the best seats in the house—hell, at the entire festival.

He figured Ash had used his smile and celeb status to get both the table, and permission to smoke, which he wasn’t doing at the moment but likely had been. Ash always smoked when he drank.

Ash leaned over the table, pressed an index finger into it, and said something that made Charlie throw her head back and laugh. Evan stopped advancing and, for he didn’t know how long, simply watched her. Watched her toss her honey-blond hair, bat those huge hazel eyes, and part bee-stung lips into a soft smile he wanted to taste.

Damn. She was gorgeous.

Conversely, Glo sat ramrod straight, watching the exchange between the other two—and Ash’s attention locked on Charlie—with visible disdain. Glo’s red lips were twisted, her hand encircling a shot glass filled with golden liquor.

Glo didn’t know Ash like he did. She didn’t realize that for Ash, Charlie was nothing more than a new set of attentive eyes and ears, eager to hear his stories for the first time, and ready to laugh loudly and generously when he told them. Glo didn’t have to worry about Ash moving in on Charlie any more than she had to worry about Evan moving in on her.

It was clear she didn’t understand that.

He put a hand on her back and stroked, greeting everyone with a collective, “Hey, guys.”

“I was hearing more tales of the Penis Bandits,” Charlie said with great effort, and a slur. Ho, boy. What’d Asher do to his good girl?

“Charlie Harris, are you drunk?” Evan teased.

She laughed again, and he could see now from close up that yes, she was. Didn’t make her any less attractive. In fact, it made her more attractive. She wasn’t holding herself in check, instead lazily leaning on the tabletop, one hand propping up her chin, her eyes glazed, while Asher took advantage of her attention and told another tale of teenage debauchery from his and Evan’s “Penis Bandit” days.

Evan used the lack of attention on him to lean in and speak to Gloria. “Just Ash being Ash, babe.”

She turned and blinked at him, then lifted her drink. “Tequila?”

“I’m driving. Better stick to beer.” He waved to a waitress, ordered a Bud, and slid onto the stool next to Gloria. He faced her, keeping his side to Charlie and Ash, though neither of them seemed to notice.

Ash was animatedly telling the tale of how he’d stolen a boat from the marina, and Charlie’s big eyes got bigger than usual as she listened to the completely embellished tale. He claimed there was a joyride, but Evan knew the truth—he’d never made it farther than starting the boat before he was caught, and anyway, it’d been tied to the dock, so he wouldn’t have ridden anywhere except straight to juvie in the back of a cop car.

The waitress handed off the bottle and Evan paid, tipped the beer to his lips, and downed several long drinks. “Ahhhh.”

“You needed that?” Glo asked, her smile faint but present.

“More than air.”

“Kids. Exhausting.” She said this with a wrinkled nose, but she forgot he’d seen her with Landon’s and Kimber’s son—his nephew—and what he’d seen shocked him to no end. Despite her grumbling openly about children, Gloria was good with Caleb, and talked in a gushy, motherly, sweet tone he hadn’t known until that point she was capable of emitting.

He took another drink of his beer and leaned in. “Hear you kissed.”

She snapped her head to Ash, then Evan. Then her lips curved. “What’s it to you?”

He shrugged with his shoulders and mouth. “Good?”

The glance she sent Ash this time was so full of longing, it made Evan want to punch him in the throat. His friend was clueless. So clueless.

“Really good.” She lifted her tequila and downed it.

“And now?” He pretended to look around the bar, hoping Ash and Charlie wouldn’t notice this exchange happening a foot away from them. So far they hadn’t.

“I’m waiting.”

“Not like you, Glo.”

She craned an eyebrow and it disappeared into her black bangs. “Right?”

“Another Mad Cow Tini,” Charlie ordered.

“Ace.”

She blinked at him like she forgot he was there, which he didn’t like. “What?”

She’d had too much already. He could see it. And there was an empty martini glass in front of her. Had she only had one? Rather than lecture her, he asked, “What’s a ‘Mad Cow Tini’?”

She gestured sloppily at Asher. “Ash made it up. It’s blue cura?ao, pineapple juice, tequila…” She ticked off each ingredient on her fingers.