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I corrected, “It’s Billionaire.” Turning to the bartender, I ordered, “Can we have two shots of your best tequila?”
He grinned, “I like your style.” He added addressing him, “Two beers as well.”
The bartender walked away, and it didn’t take long before Brody took away the tension. “My brother is typically pretty good with the ladies, but you are the first to hit him with an apple.”
Laughing at his joke, we quickly downed the tequila before he held up his hand, ordering another round. “I hope I left enough for Stephanie to get her to turn at you.”
He rolled his eyes, “Oh! She prefers knives.”
Not laughing this time because I didn’t know her well, I couldn’t contemplate if I should have taken it as a joke or not. “Does Australia have a helpline for abused partners?”
He chuckled again. “Yeah, it’s called the outback.” We both burst out into a laugh. After hours of learning about how not serious but tolerable his relationship was with her, it was nice to hear about another person’s problems. Feeling slightly drunk after singing and talking I blurted out, “Well, I’m officially a cheater.”
His face hardened. “I’m pretty good at keeping secrets and an even better listener.” His words made it clear that he wanted to know what was going on. “Hey Jack,” he yelled towards the bartender who we knew on a first name basis now. “You don’t happen to serve anything with apples do you?”
I punched his arm softly so he didn’t make fun of me. Without hesitation, I told him about Miles, the business rumors, and that I was attracted to Cole, but he didn’t give me the time of day until the trip. How big of an asshole he was to me and the situation at the airport. He laughed several times during the story and truly was invested in our situation. It felt really good to open up. I didn’t expect that I would do that with Brody. But it made me feel lighter or maybe we had an understanding, a growing bond of friendship between us that I finally was honest in front of him.
“That’s not cheating. It’s just horrible timing.” He laced up his words in sincerity.
“Yeah, that’s not really the case, but thanks for trying to make me feel better.”
He leaned in and put his hand on my chest over my heart. His touch felt like what I would have expected my brother’s touch to be, the brother which I never had. “What does this tell you?” His voice was deeper this time.
Sitting back, not really knowing how to answer, I reached for another shot and downed it. “Do you happen to know a doctor?”
“What?”
“You know to check to see if I have one of those.”
His head rolled back as he let out a laugh. “We have universal health care, so you can get that checked for free here.”
“Oh, so you’re a democrat.”
“A what?”
“You know, like how you vote.”
“Who cares how I vote?”
Taking in the truest statement made to me this weekend, I switched the topic. “So, when will I get to meet your dad?”
“Oh, now that will take about three more bars and thousands of Tequila shots to explain.”
Looking at my watch, I found that it was already 11 p.m. “Oh shit, we really don’t have the time.”
“Now that’s why I’m a surfer. We don’t look at watches.”
My eyes met the bartenders as I held up two fingers. “No, you just make judgments off how much Tequila is left.”
We grabbed the shots from the bartender. Brody smiled, “you catch on fast.”
Standing up, I wobbled, realizing just how drunk I was. I yelled out, “We should dance.”
He stood beside me. “I have some early waves to catch, but we can dance tomorrow.”
I sat back down. “Deal, but I don’t have my phone to call a cab.”
He laughed again, “We couldn’t get a cab here no matter how much we tried. I called for a ride 20 minutes ago.”
Asa appeared from behind me just as I flipped back and started spinning. “Okay, let’s get you home,” Asa said, helping me up as he headed towards the jeep outside.
I looked up at Brody’s face “You feel like sunshine.”
Both of them chuckled as they put me in the back of the jeep. “That’s a new one,” Brody yelled out as he helped him in the passenger side. The wind started blowing, and everything was moving around me. Within seconds the world faded away as I slipped into something surreal.
