Page 66 of Places I've Never Been

Chapter Sixteen

Adam grinned at the waiting faces in his living room.

“Well?” Brandon asked.

“That’s a yes,” Flynn said. He pointed a drumstick at Adam. “That’s the face of a man about to get laid.”

“Shut it,” Adam told him.

“It’s about time.” LT held up a beer in salute. “Well done, man.”

Brandon high-fived Flynn. “Just call us the love doctors.”

“Okay.” Adam gestured toward the deck. “All of you get out. We’re leaving in thirty minutes and I don’t want you crowding around making her nervous.”

Brandon stood up and set his empty beer bottle on the counter. “See ya. Come on, Flynn, they said there’d be a dance tonight.”

Flynn waved a lazy salute at Adam, then stage-whispered, “Let’s hide out in the bushes and watch.”

“Out.” Adam gave them his best I’m-going-to-kill you look.

“No fun at all,” Flynn muttered as he and Brandon stepped out of the living room onto the deck.

“Later.” LT grinned and joined the other two.

Adam sighed in relief.

Cooper stared after the rest of the crew. “One of these days we need to get Flynn laid.”

Adam snorted a laugh. For all his bluster, Flynn had only had one serious relationship and very few casual flings. He had a girl who was a friend, but it hadn’t gone any further than that, as far as he knew. “Yeah. Hey, man, I’m sorry about Tina.”

Cooper shrugged. “I’m not. It’s been coming for a while. I should have known, right? Vacation is my relationship kryptonite.”

Adam drained the last of his beer. “Maybe next time you should try hooking up with someone who’s never heard of the band.”

Cooper snorted. “Where am I going to find that? Man, in case you haven’t heard, Delusions of Glory is an international sensation. Sen-sa-tion.”

Adam laughed. “True, but I bet you anything there’s a woman out there who would care more about you than she does herself.”

“Maybe.” Cooper set his bottle down. “Enjoy the picnic.”

Cooper walked out onto the deck.

Adam couldn’t see any of the others lingering out there, but it didn’t mean Flynn and Brandon weren’t planning some sort of prank to “help” the budding relationship along.

“Hey, Coop?” Adam called.

Cooper looked back.

“Don’t tell them where the picnic is.”

Cooper laughed. “I’m your wingman, not your cockblocker. I got you. Relax and enjoy each other. You two have a real connection. Don’t waste it.”

Cooper faded into the tree line and disappeared from view.

Adam spun around and headed for the bedroom. If he was having a romantic picnic with Mattie, he needed to wear something better than the T-shirt and shorts he’d thrown on after his two showers.

It took him a lot longer to change clothes than he thought it should. He usually didn’t spend a lot of time second-guessing his appearance, but tonight he wanted to get it right. Problem was, they were in the tropics and his usual go-to date outfit of rocker leather and denim not only wouldn’t work, he hadn’t even brought it with him.

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