Page 13 of Shark 2

The bachelorette party entered and squeezed their way up to the bar at the other end from where I was. One raised her hand at Silver, but he simply held up a single finger to tell her to wait.

“He seemed shocked,” I admitted, “but he agreed.”

He nodded. “Good.” He released my drink and shooed me. “Theo’s upstairs.”

I took my drink and squeezed through the packed place, up the stairs, and stood a moment trying to spot her.

The bar was unusually packed tonight, so it took me longer than usual to see her in the back corner in one of the high-backed plus chairs that sat around a thin circular table just big enough for a few drink glasses.

She raised her hand when she saw me and stood out of the chair. Tonight, she wore a flowy tie dye skirt with slits up each thigh and a matching tie dye halter top. Her wig was long, curly, and bright pink, and she’d matched her eyeshadow and lipstick to the wig.

I hugged her before I sat and then we both clinked our glasses against each other.

“You look lovely,” I said.

She put her hand against her cheek and batted her eyelashes. “Why, thank you. You look good, too.”

“Thanks, Grant picked out the shirt.”

“Definitely a good choice.”

Never one for swimming around the coral, I blurted out, “I’m going with the guys to a poker tournament in the desert.”

Her eyes widened and she blinked slowly a few times as she absorbed what I’d just said. “For how long?”

“A week.”

“You’re abandoning me here for a full week? Wait, you’re going to a desert? Are you going to be able to handle that? Have you ever been away from the ocean? No, of course you haven’t.”

I shrugged. “It might be my last chance to convince Reed to stay with me.”

“Is it really that bad?” she asked softly.

“Let’s focus on something else equally important,” I said and narrowed my eyes at her. “You and the cor … dolphin shifter.” If they really were dating, I couldn’t keep calling him insulting names or that would just drive a wedge between us. It was better to talk to her logically.

Maybe Reed was right and I was too biased from being bullied by them, but it wasn’t as if Tristan hadn’t done anything wrong. He had been in on the bullying, participating in it, not just standing off to the side.

“I know he did some awful things before, but he’s changed a lot recently,” she said. “He said he really regrets what he did to you and that he’s wanted to apologize, but on land you’re stronger than him and he didn’t want his arm bitten off.”

That would have been a likely outcome.

“We’ve all done some messed up things and I know you hate dolphin shifters, but he’s really nice, treats me well, and makes me happy.”

It was really difficult for people to change for good. Many times the change was temporary. For my friend, though, to keep our friendship good and allow her to enjoy the happiness, I would hold my tongue on the matter.

“If he makes you happy, I’ll hold my judgment,” I said. “However, I’m going to continue watching for red flags and you better listen when I point them out.”

Her eyes brightened and she smiled.

“But! If he hurts you, I’m going to bite his arm off,” I threatened.

She leaned over the table and hugged me. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Hey! Shark bitch!” a deep voice yelled.

Theo and I turned around and looked at the person with a death wish.

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