Shaken Not Stirred (Mixology #1)(7)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

I didn’t need to open my eyes to know that Brody had walked out.

“I didn’t know you were home.”

“I was at the gym.”

I forced my eyes open. “Oh, cool. You’re working tonight, right?”

“Why? You want a ride?”

“Nope, I just wondered.”

“So how was your big date?” He slumped down on the chair next to me, stretching out his long, lean frame.

“It was nice.”

“Nice? Does that mean boring?”

“No, it was great. I agreed to another.”

“But something happened. What made it just nice?”

I adjusted my chair so I was sitting up. “He kissed me on the cheek.”

“Was that moving too fast for you?” He tossed me a bottle of water.

I took a long sip. “Very funny.”

“He asked you out again. Don’t read into it.”

“Why wouldn’t he have kissed me for real?”

“Maybe he’s trying to be a gentleman, to let you know he doesn’t just want to sleep with you. He is really Southern.”

“Just because a guy has a Southern accent doesn’t mean he’s a gentleman.”

“Do you not want to date a gentleman? You want to date a guy who just wants sex?”

“No…”

“Is that why you like Lyle? You think he’s a bad boy?” Brody grinned, and I knew his ribbing was going to get worse.

“Not all musicians are bad boys.”

“If today’s theme is prove all stereotypes wrong, I want to see how you break the ‘smart girls don’t have fun’ saying.”

“Smart girls have fun.”

“Too bad you’re not smart.” He grabbed the water back from me.

“Hey, I wasn’t done with that.”

“Tough. I finished mine.” He gulped down the rest. I guess he wasn’t worried about germs.

“So you want me to prove I can have fun?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. When we get off tonight let’s do something fun.”

“You really up for it, Maddy?”

“Absolutely.”

“All right, we’ll see about that.”

Chapter Three

“Hey, sexy.” Macon waited for me while I finished up at work and grabbed my stuff. I’d worked the outdoor bar again, and it had been even more crowded than usual. All I really wanted to do was sleep, but I knew better than to back out on a challenge with my roommates. A few hours of being tired far outweighed a month worth of taunting. I wondered if Brody would have naturally teased me, or if he picked it up from Macon.

“Sexy?” I didn’t bother to hide my annoyance. Macon knew what tree he was barking up.

“Yes? Is there a problem with me calling you that?”

“A big one. Use my name.” I walked out from behind the bar. “I’m going to go change.”

“Changing? Oh, this is going to be good.”

“Do you have to have an annoying response to everything I say?”

“Wow. Grouchy much?”

“I’m not grouchy.” I put a hand on my hip. “Just tired.”

“I thought you told Brody you wanted to have fun.”

“I do.”

“Then snap out of it. See you in five.” Macon started toward the front of the restaurant.

The only info I got about our plans was to wear a swimsuit. You know you trust your roommates when you put on a bikini with no idea where you’ll be swimming. I adjusted the triangles on my blue floral bikini top. I didn’t have tons to cover, but that didn’t mean I wanted to take a chance of flashing Macon or Brody—or anyone else we’d be swimming with. I put my black work shirt and skirt over it.

I pulled my hair down, but quickly changed my mind. The humidity at the beach made my already somewhat frizzy hair out of control. Thankfully, some good products and a hair tie solved most of the problem. Macon and Brody were waiting for me out front when I finished

Macon whistled. “Okay, now I really have to call you sexy.”

“I’m wearing exactly what I was wearing two minutes ago.”

“It’s different when I know you’re wearing a bikini underneath.”

“How do you know that? It could be a full piece. Besides, you’ve seen me in a bikini a million and one times.”

“First, do you even own a full piece? Second, a million and one? A million isn’t sufficient?” He held open the passenger door of his Accord for me. Brody was in the back.

“No, but I could have one.”

“Stop arguing.”

“Hey, Brody. You didn’t have to give up the front.”

“Yeah, I did.”

I laughed. “If this is more of the gentleman argument, I get your point.”

“I’m just being polite.”

I let it go. “Where are we going?” I buckled my seatbelt as Macon pulled out of the lot.

“You’ll see.” Macon smiled at Brody in the rearview mirror.

We didn’t get far. We got stuck in a line of traffic trying to turn into a parking lot. The whole group must have been together or lost. There wasn’t much to do in that shopping center late at night. I didn’t dare voice my question out loud. Macon would nag me about whether I wanted to join their orgy.

Macon honked the horn, and I slunk down in my seat slightly. Tourists didn’t usually take well to his “I’m always in a rush” attitude.

Thankfully, the cars finished turning and we sped back up to forty-five.

We pulled into the marina, and I got suspicious. “We aren’t taking out the boat, are we?”

“You make it sound like that would be a bad thing.”

“It is if you lose your job. I doubt you’re supposed to touch it at night if you don’t have a scheduled dive.” Macon was a dive master. There weren’t too many scuba stores out as far as Corolla, but Macon managed to find one to work at. The job was temporary, just a break before he went back to school for his MBA. On the outside, Macon didn’t appear driven, but he’d planned to take over his uncle’s business for as long as I could remember.

“It’s fine. It’s a whole different experience to go out at night.”

“Go out at night? You don’t mean dive at night, do you?”

Brody opened my door for me since I hadn’t moved from my seat. “Yeah. We figured it was time you tried one.”

“I only got scuba certified last month. It’s not like I’ve been putting it off for years. Besides, shouldn’t we do it when you already have a night dive scheduled?”