Drunk in Love

Chapter Twelve

When Erika called and invited him to spend the four-day weekend with her in Santa Cruz, he quickly agreed. He took the day off work and hopped in his car to make the two hour drive to the beach. Erika's parents had a timeshare on the water that they let her use every year so by the time Ryan arrived at noon, the beachfront condo was already full of people and the grill on the back patio was loaded with burgers and hot dogs.

"You made it!" Erika jumped into Ryan's arms and kissed him right on the lips. It was sloppy but friendly. Her breath smelled like coconut and he knew she'd already started on the pina coladas. He loved that girl.

"I wouldn't miss it." Ryan pasted on a smile and promised himself to let go of the pain for a few days and just enjoy the mini vacation.

"I want you to meet everyone." She turned to the two guys and four women in the room. "Everyone, this is Ryan. Ryan, this is everyone."

He laughed as he placed her back on her feet and waved to the crowd as a whole. He'd figure out names soon enough.

"Where should I put my stuff?" He picked up the duffle with his right hand and the grocery bag of booze and snacks he brought with his left.

"You can stay with me in the master bedroom. I know you don't like my parts anymore so I'm okay with sharing a bed if you are." She tried to look sexy but was mostly being silly.

"I'm sure your parts are wonderful but I promise to be a gentleman. I can't even think about touching my own parts much less someone else's." It was true. Ryan was back to zero sex drive but he preferred it that way. It was pretty easy to be asexual when you were single and depressed.

"Oh, you poor baby!" She stuck her lower lip out in a pout. "My friend Luke is coming down and he's excited to meet you."

"Er, you didn't—"

She quickly cut him off. "I didn't. I promise." Walking him back to the master bedroom, she directed him to a dresser so he could unpack. "He's also nursing a wounded heart and I think you guys could have fun together. You're only here for a few days. You can have fun. Besides, he's staying in town so it's not like he'll be with us the entire time."

Ryan took a deep breath then turned on his friend. "I appreciate the thought but I'm not ready for a fling or whatever. I'll be polite to the guy but I'm not gonna hookup."

Her wicked smile made him reconsider unpacking. His gut was telling him to get back in his car and drive his ass home. But he promised to have a fun weekend and he'd try his damnedest to do it.

"Don't make any promises until after you see Luke." She skipped out of the room and rejoined her friend's on the patio.

Once Erika was gone, Ryan unpacked his clothes into one drawer then changed into a pair of board shorts. They hung off his hips a little too low after the weight he'd lost but he looked pretty good.

He took the bag of groceries to the kitchen then slipped outside to actually get names of the people he'd be spending the weekend with.

Shannon and Mike were the only couple. Dan was Mike's best friend and seemed to have his eye on Erika. Brittney and Sierra seemed more interested in each other but he couldn't tell if they were just close friends or more than that.

Ryan accepted the beer that was handed to him then went to the grill. Mike flipped a juicy burger onto a bun and gave the plate to Ryan. "Hope you like medium rare," he said.

"That's perfect." Ryan added the fixings and poured some chips on his plate before settling around the patio table with the others. The only available chair was at the end of the table with Erika on one side and Sierra on the other.