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“Does Mantis know I’m out of the hospital?”
“He does.”
She nodded.
“I’ll be back later.”
He left the room and closed the door behind him. Had she hurt his feelings by asking about Mantis? Why had she, anyway?
—:—
The flight had been quick and easy. The plane was now parked in the hangar at the San Luis Obispo airfield, and soon he’d be in a rental car on his way to Cambria. Any temptation he had to see Alegria would be thwarted by distance.
The drive was as easy as the flight had been; there was virtually no traffic. Mantis guessed that later in the week he wouldn’t have been so lucky.
He pulled into the inn’s parking lot and walked over to the office to check in.
“Are you here for the holiday?” asked the woman behind the front desk.
“I am.”
“We have an unusually high number of guests this year who are. In fact, we’re fully booked like the rest of the inns on Moonstone Beach.”
Mantis nodded. “I got lucky.”
“You did. A man just called, wanting a room, and we had to turn him away.”
Not interested in further small talk, he didn’t respond until she handed him his room key and he thanked her.
“I didn’t know you’d be here too,” said Striker, walking past the office with a woman who looked familiar. “Happy Thanksgiving. Mantis, you know Aine McNamara, don’t you?”
“Yes,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand. “Happy Thanksgiving to you both.”
“I guess we’ll catch up with you later,” said Striker, walking toward one of the rooms, holding Aine’s hand in his.
“Sure thing,” he murmured, but they were already too far away to hear him.
Striker and the McNamara twin? When had that begun? Mantis shook his head. It really wasn’t any of his business. If his chest didn’t hurt with loneliness, he probably wouldn’t have given the two of them a second thought.
Maybe coming to Cambria for the holiday hadn’t been such a good idea. He couldn’t have stomached being the third wheel between Alegria and Dutch, but this might be just as bad. What if he was the only single guy here?
—:—
Dutch scrubbed his face with his hand, lamenting his relationship with Alegria for the thousandth time. If he hadn’t walked into the bar that night and found her drunk enough that he knew he had to take her home, maybe the thing that should never have started between them, wouldn’t have.
If he were a better man, he never would’ve slept with her in the first place. Instead, he was the shithead who had lusted after and longed for his best friend’s girlfriend for years. When the opportunity presented itself, he’d swept in like some kind of goddamn vulture.
Having her in his bed had been like a dream come true. No matter how many times his conscience told him he should end it, he hadn’t been able to.
“Hey, you,” Dutch said, surprised to see Alegria walking into the kitchen.
“Hi. I thought maybe I should eat something.”
“Of course. Have a seat, and I’ll heat up some soup. Sound good?”
She nodded and looked out the window.
“Thanksgiving is in three days. We’ve been invited up to Cambria to have dinner with Razor, Gunner, and the rest of the crew.”
