Page 77 of Pretend Girlfriend

“This,” Landon said, holding up a round tablet that hadn’t fully dissolved yet. “He put this in your drink.”

Joanna’s eyes were the size of ping pong balls. “Oh my God. He hit on me a few minutes ago.”

I was a relatively calm guy. Even back in my crazy college days, I never got into fights. I was a lover, not a fighter, and I usually did everything I could to avoid confrontation. That’s why everyone liked me; I was good at defusing situations and making sure everyone was happy.

But now I saw red. The entire world narrowed until the only thing I cared about was Joanna and the asshole who slipped something in her drink.

A security guard had rushed over and was taking over from Austin. I calmly strode over to them, knelt down, and twisted the man’s face around until he could see me.

“Did you drug my friend? Huh?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he replied. “That bitch is lying.”

I reached my fist back, but Austin pulled me away before I could give this guy what he deserved. I tried fighting through his grasp, but Landon was also there, helping keep me away.

“Let go of me!” I shouted. “This piece of shit needs to be taught a lesson.”

“Easy, buddy,” Landon told me. “We got him. He’s in custody and the cops are on their way.”

“I don’t give a fuck!” I tried fighting, but the two of them combined were stronger than I was.

“Relax, friend,” Austin whispered to me. “You’re causing a scene, if you catch my drift.”

All the girls were watching this from their poolside table. I took a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. Landon let go of me and was leaning close to Joanna, asking her what happened.

I realized what Austin was trying to say: I was more outraged by what happened than Landon was, and he was supposed to be Joanna’s actual boyfriend. Danicka and the girls were walking over, so I quickly thought of something to say.

“I’ve never seen you like this, Teddy,” Danicka said.

I pointed at the guy pinned to the ground by the security guard. “Fuckers like that make me sick. It’s bullshit that a woman can’t have a fucking beer by the pool without worrying about men like him.”

Austin gave me a private little nod.

Landon was comforting Joanna. I made myself stay a few feet away. Apparently she had drank half her beer before Landon knocked it to the ground, and half the tablet was dissolved.

The police arrived surprisingly quickly; it seemed like they took these matters seriously since the country relied so heavily on tourism. Joanna told them what happened while the rest of us stood around.

“Dude, you’re bleeding,” Landon suddenly told Austin. “Did you step on the glass?”

Austin grimaced but raised one of his feet. “Nah. Blisters from the hike broke open when I ran across the pool area. I’ve had worse.”

After the police were gone, Landon took Joanna up to the room. She was really shaken up, and claimed she felt queasy. Bradyn and Marisa left too, and then Danicka and the others did the same. Nobody was in a partying mood, it seemed.

I ordered a daiquiri from the bartender and walked down to the beach. It was calm at night, with the peaceful sound of the waves and trees rustling in the wind. After a few minutes, Austin joined me with two beers. One of his feet was wrapped in a bandage.

“Got my own,” I said, showing him my drink.

“More for me, then.” He gulped down half a beer. “I switched to beer because I think they water down their liquor drinks. I haven’t even gotten buzzed since we got here.”

“Weird,” I replied. If anything, the drinks I’d had all seemed stronger than usual. “Thanks for what you did.”

“Aw, hell,” he said while stretching out in the chair next to me. “I would’ve done that for any girl. And if we were down at my uncle’s ranch outside of Fort Worth, we’d find our own justice without getting the police involved, if you catch my drift.”

“I meant how you told me to calm down,” I replied.

Austin shrugged. “I didn’t want to see you overplay your hand.”

“Awfully nice of you, considering you were threatening to reveal our affair a few days ago,” I pointed out.

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