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“Fuck off.” Dean drops his head back down to concentrate on pulling colorful pieces of yarn with some sort of tool through the holes of the canvas he’s holding. “It’s for Nora’s bedroom. It’s the only room in Tess and Bodhi’s house that’s allowed to have color, so I’m making it extra colorful.”
“Much obliged!” Bodhi shouts from the bar. “Sometimes I go in Nora’s room and take a nap on the floor, just so I can remember what joy feels like.”
“So, pick your craft…” Shepherd pauses when Dean growls at him, amending his statement. “Pick youractivity, grab a drink from the bar, and let’s have some fun!”
All I can do is stand here, blinking as I look around the room as Shepherd disappears into his very large craft room. I’ve wanted to see the inside of Shepherd and Wren’s huge mansion ever since the retired professional baseball player bought this home on the island for her. It’s every bit as amazing as I thought it would be, with an indoor batting cage, full gym, movie theater, and this awesome man cave and bar down in the basement. Although, with all the glitter and a room filled with floor-to-ceiling white shelves containing every color of every type of craft necessity one would need foranyproject, I use the term “man cave” loosely.
Ever since Emily’s friend group got twice as large once everyone found the loves of their lives, I admit I’ve been a little jealous not being a part of the “cool kid’s club,” with all the cool, professional athletes and tough guys the women have fallen in love with. But they seem to be just as nerdy as I am, and it warms my freaking soul to learn this information. I mean, I kind of knew Shepherd was a bit of a crafting nerd when we ran into each other at the craft store last year while I was designing my Christmas newsletter, and he talked my ear off for ten minutes about glitter. I just had no idea how deep his nerdiness ran, or that all these strong, cool men participate in his obsession.
“Yo, Ryan! Come in here for a second,” Shepherd shouts from the craft room, sticking his head out of the doorway and waving me over.
I’m even more impressed with his crafting supplies once I’m inside the room than I was looking at it from out in the main area. He even has one of those rolling library ladders attached to the shelves, so he can reach items up by the ceiling.
“This is really amaz—Oh my God!”
I have to do a double-take when Shepherd walks over to a long white table pushed up against one wall in between the shelves and points to it. A table filled with all of my bowling trophies that are no longer in a box in my garage in a bunch of pieces.
“I just finished them. Danny dropped them off a few days ago and asked if I could fix them and wanted it to be a surprise. She said I could show them to you when you got here,” Shepherd explains. I can’t wipe the smile off my face when I move up to the table and look at the long line of fifteen bowling trophies, dating back to when I was in high school, standing tall and freshly polished, looking like they weren’t swept off a table so I could beveryungentlemanly with Danny. “She said there was a little accident in your entryway when you got home from a date one night.”
I look over at Shepherd, and he gives me a knowing smile, and for the first time, I don’t feel embarrassed that he probably knows exactly what happened. I feel freaking cool as hell. I did that. Me. Ryan Hutton, the biggest nerd on Summersweet Island, broke fifteen trophies having sex, and put a dent in the wall behind the table.
Damn right I did!
Getting to the end of the trophy line, I laugh when I see an additional, sixteenth trophy standing tall with all the rest. Except this one was put together with glitter, glue, and paint.
“I’ve never been asked to craft a trophy before, but that was fun as hell. I might have a new product to add to my website.” Shepherd laughs, and I bend over to get a better look at it.
It looks like a flower pot that’s been flipped over and painted silver. Attached on top is a very large, purple eggplant made out of paper mâché and sprinkled with purple glitter. An actual trophy plate is attached to the center of the silver flower pot, and it’s been metal stamped.
Ryan Hutton
Monster Cock Award
You’re #1!
“This might be the best trophy I’ve ever won.” I laugh again, standing back up to follow Shepherd back out to the main seating area.
“All the guys want me to make them a cock trophy too,” he informs me as we take a seat at the table, and Bodhi joins us, setting a beer down in front of me. “I’ll box them up for you before you leave.”
“Speaking of monster cocks, heard you had a little trouble at the Crab Fest Parade the other night.” Palmer snorts, leaning back in his chair across from me with a smile.
The most embarrassing part about that night wasn’t the fact that freaking Sal—with a smug look on his face—felt the need to take me to jail. It was the fact that I completely forgot the annual Crab Festival that lasts for a few days started that night, and it always kicks off with a night parade through town that ends down on the beach with fireworks.
“Please tell me you didn’t hear it from so-and-so at the grocery store, who heard it from so-and-so at the salon, until it trickled all over the island and got to you,” I groan, taking a huge sip of my beer.
Sal promised that if I paid my fine without any fuss, the news would never leave the Sheriff’s station, but this is Summersweet Island. Nothing stays secret for long, but I’d really, really like my father to never catch wind of this information. I’m not ashamed of doing something completely crazy, and fun, even if it didn’t exactly end well. I just know him, and I know he’ll find a way to blame Danny for my choices. It’s why I’ve been avoiding his calls and texts over the last two weeks, telling him I’m busy and that we’ll talk soon. I’ve cancelled on him for two Sunday dinners in a row. He’s not going to be held off much longer before he tracks me down.
“Don’t worry, man.” Bodhi nods at me. “The only reason I know about it is because I was at the station that night, paying one of Tess’s fire code violation tickets, when you got booked. I only told these guys, and I swear on my favorite bong it will never leave this room. Blowjob in public. Nice.” He leans across the table and holds his fist out to me, and I just shrug, bumping mine against his.
Itwasnice. Until freaking Sal came along.
“I can’t believe I got arrested for getting a blowjob in public.” I shake my head, but I can’t exactly wipe the grin off my face, and I take another drink of my beer.
“No, you got arrested for still having your dick out, in a parade,afterthe blowjob.” Shepherd laughs, holding his own fist out for me to bump.
“It’s so stupid.” Bodhi scoffs. “Sal is the only one who even saw anything. He definitely has BDE.”
“Why would Sal have big-dick energy?” Palmer scoffs.
