The Siren by KATHERINE JOHN (general ebook reader .txt) 📕

Cole slid one of the drinks to Stella. “Tonic for you.” He winked.

She eyed him, suspicious. “Thanks.” She sipped the drink, her green eyes going wide as what was surely gin hit her tongue. “That’s some tonic,” she spluttered.

“Bottoms up.” He chuckled.

“You have a nice morning off?” Tawny asked.

“Bought a boat,” Cole replied.

“Fun!” Tawny looked out toward the harbor. “Is it out there?”

He shook his head. “Rick has to pick it up for me.” His gaze landed on me. “Have you seen him?”

“Me? No.” I shook my head. “Is he coming?”

“You tell me. You’re the one who was eye-fucking him the entire time we were on the boat last weekend.”

My jaw dropped. “We were just talking,” I said.

“Sure.” He smirked.

“Everyone else was occupied. What was I supposed to do?”

He held up his hands, snickering. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, sensitive, are we?” He leered at Stella as she tentatively sipped her drink. “Nothing wrong with a little action, right?”

I stood. “I need another drink.”

Stella rose next to me. “I’ll come with you.”

“Nice pants, half-pint.” Cole shot a mocking glance at my favorite cargo pants, which I’d cut into shorts only this morning.

“Pockets,” I snapped.

“Careful,” he called as we walked away. “You don’t want to end up blackout drunk again.”

I clenched my jaw as I threaded my way through the crowd to the bar, blind with anger. Fuck him, taunting me like that. Commenting on my personal life and calling me out in public for something that…I was more than unsettled I remained in the dark about what had happened that first night. “Are you okay?” Stella whispered when we were out of earshot.

“No,” I managed. “I want to kill him.”

“He’s such a Scorpio,” she hissed. “He always has something up his sleeve. And what was that about blacking out? He’s the one that gave me this drink.”

I glanced at her. “I don’t think that was about you.”

“Hey.” I turned to see Tawny, her eyes full of compassion. “I told him that was unacceptable,” she offered.

“Lemme guess—he said it was a joke,” Stella said.

Tawny pointed at her. “You know him well.”

“I wish I didn’t, believe me.”

The bartender approached, and Tawny promptly ordered three shots of tequila. “One more!” Felicity called, elbowing her way past the darts game to slide in next to Stella. “What’s going on?”

Stella explained while I attempted in vain to free myself from the claws of rage with deep breaths. “Maybe you should quit,” Felicity suggested. “See how long he can make it without you.”

“Please don’t quit,” Stella said. “You’re the only thing holding this film together.”

“I can’t anyway.” I placed my fingers in the inside corners of my eyes to stop the tears, too upset to pretend anymore. “I need the money, and I have no other opportunities. I have to finish this fucking movie or sell my condo and change careers—which right now honestly doesn’t sound too bad.”

The bartender set the shots in front of us, and we all downed them without ceremony. The alcohol burned my throat, warming my chest and blunting the ire in my brain.

“I mean, but seriously…are you sleeping with Rick, though?” Felicity asked playfully. “Because he’s really hot.”

I laughed. “No! Are you sleeping with Jackson?”

She gaped at me. “No! We’re just friends.”

Stella snorted. “You keep saying that.”

“Really!” Felicity insisted, looking over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening.

“I’ll tell you who is screwing,” Tawny said conspiratorially, shooting her eyes in the direction of Cole and Madison.

I got a strong whiff of what smelled like rubbing alcohol as Stella took a slurp of the “tonic” Cole had given her. “She can have him,” she said. “He’s not even good in bed.”

“The best-looking ones never are,” Tawny chimed in. “They’ve never had to work for it.”

Stella snorted. “Exactly. It’s all about him. He couldn’t find your clit if you gave him a map.”

We all roared with laughter.

“I tell you what,” Tawny confided. “I knew I was gonna marry my husband the first time he went down on me. And thirteen years later I’m still glad!”

“You’ve been married thirteen years?” Felicity balked. “Don’t you ever want to be with somebody else?”

Tawny shook her head. “Sure, I recognize an attractive man when I see one, but I know what I’ve got. He’s my best friend. And our kids are pretty cute too.”

An unconscionable yearning squeezed my heart. I didn’t need anyone; I was totally fine alone—but a best friend who knew where my clit was? Man, that sounded nice.

“Well, you certainly have better taste in men than I do, so cheers to that.” Stella raised her glass. By this point, she’d obviously forgotten she was supposed to be sober in front of me, but I didn’t care. I knew I should care, but we weren’t working, and I didn’t have it in me today to fight another battle.

Tawny turned her attention to Felicity. “I know you’re just friends, but look—” She cut her eyes in the direction of Jackson, who was indeed gazing at Felicity from across the bar. Stella waved, and he saluted us. “I mean, I don’t know him well, but I can tell he’s talented and he seems like a good guy.”

“Also hot,” Stella pointed out.

“Aaaand he’s head over heels for you. Everybody knows it,” I added.

“You like him too. I can tell you do!” Stella sang gleefully.

Felicity stared at her, a deer caught in the headlights. “I don’t know,” she said, all of a sudden uncharacteristically shy. “He’s great. I’m not gonna lie…But I’m not looking for a relationship.”

“That’s when they find you,” Tawny chimed in.

“It’s more complicated than that,” Felicity said. “I can’t—”

“Oh,” I said, suddenly realizing. “Is there someone at home?”

“Something like that,” she said softly, looking into her drink. I sensed a sadness in her and felt perhaps I’d been too quick to judge her before.

“Okay, fine, we’ll stop bothering you about it.” Tawny squeezed her shoulder. The band started into an upbeat number. “Wanna dance?”

I wasn’t normally much of a dancer,