I knew the day I walked into Annette's Catch and laid eyes on the new girl, that she was different. When Carina came to my table, her eyes stayed on the floor while she spoke. It was strange that she wouldn't look directly at me. I didn't know why not making eye contact with her bothered me, but it did. Suddenly every detail about her became important. Her legs were long and slender, so it made the shorts she worked in seem extra short. Her red hair was pulled into a bun that looked loose enough to fall apart after a hard shake, and I spent the entire time wishing it would. She also never smiled. Ever. Nothing would have pleased me more than to see her look at me and smile.
But I should have known better. She was a Risto.
It was impossible to be involved in the street racing game and not know the name Ritchie Risto. The founder of the Carolina Crew. I wasn't a racer and never wanted to be. I had a hard enough time just being the younger brother of Mack King. Expectations were too high. I chose a different path and became a tattoo artist. I didn't know the first thing about carburetors and Mack couldn't draw for shit. It was just safer that way.
I wanted to get off the island, maybe spend a couple of days in Key City at my brother's, but it was well after midnight, and the ferry back to the mainland was no longer running. I made a call to Todd and was relieved when he picked up.
"Hey, man. Please tell me I'm not going to find a house full of people when I get there?"
"Oh, I thought for sure you'd be with what's her face." Todd knew her name, and for some reason, it bothered me that he pretended to forget.
"No," I said through clenched teeth.
"Struck out, huh?" Todd chuckled, and I wanted to smash his face in.
"Steph is here, but she's going to be leaving soon...Ouch, I'm just sayin', babe...shit, will you quit it?" His voice grew muffled as he spoke to someone in the background, presumably Steph. "Bring some beer, bro," he said before he hung up.
Fifteen minutes later, I was pulling into the condo parking lot. Among those who had warned me against getting involved with a Risto, Todd had been the first. I wasn't from the island, but Todd had been born and raised there, so he knew everything about everyone. The last thing I wanted to hear was I told you so.
Slowly, I got out of my car and trudged up the sidewalk that led to the front porch. The ocean crashed behind the building, and a bell clanged its familiar tune in the distance. Just as I reached for the handle, the door swung open, and a woman came rushing out, her shoulder slamming into mine as she passed.
"Sorry—" I started an apology, but she cut me off.
"Fuck off," she yelled over her shoulder without stopping, striding down the walkway barefoot, high heels dangling in her hands. Confused, I went inside to look for Todd. The place was trashed, as usual, and the lights were dim. I made my way down the foyer and nearly tripped over a Frisbee that was lying in the middle of the floor. I rounded the corner to the living room and found Todd sitting on the couch with his head tilted back and snoring.
"Todd," I shouted, then tossed the Frisbee at his chest. "What's wrong with Stephanie?"
"Huh?" He sat up, rubbed his face, and looked around.
"What's wrong with Stephanie?" I repeated.
"What do you mean?" His eyes were bloodshot red as he blinked at me.
"She just left, and she looked pretty pissed."
"Fuck." Todd sat back against the cushion. That's when I noticed his jeans were pushed down around his ankles, but thankfully his T-shirt was long enough to hide...whatever. He became aware of his predicament the same time I did. "Shit." He reached for his pants and quickly tugged them up. I hid my smile but decided to keep my mouth shut. It was tempting to give him a hard time, but I resisted. Todd could be a hot head, and I wasn't in the mood for a fight. Drunk Todd equaled a belligerent and reckless Todd. There was no reasoning with him in that state. Once, he'd almost thrown someone off a third-floor balcony for being a fan of a rival football team. Obviously, he and Stephanie had been in the middle of something and he'd passed out on her.
"What?" Todd asked as if he was waiting for me to comment.
"Nothing." I smirked.
"Where's the beer?"
"Where the hell am I going to buy beer at this hour?"
After dark, Sea Whisper Island closed down tighter than a frog's ass underwater. The quaintness of the town was one of the things I loved about it when my brother, Mack, and I moved here from Charleston. The downside was not being able to escape anytime you wanted. A ferry ran from the island to Key City every day, and on the hour between 5:00 a.m. until midnight. For the first time, I understood the term 'trapped in paradise.' Todd stumbled from the couch and made his way into the kitchen, then a few seconds later he was talking to someone. His tone was low, but he spoke quickly. Gradually his voice grew louder and louder.
"Fine," he yelled, the edge on that word so sharp, I knew nothing good had been said and certainly not anything he thought was "fine." Todd came out of the kitchen holding a bottle of bourbon. "Fuckin' crazy women," he grumbled, took a swig from the bottle, then offered it to me.
"No, I'm good." I waved him off. "Are you going to be all right?"
Todd nodded quickly as he scrolled through his phone.
"Yeah. I'm cool. What was that chick's name? The one with the pink hair and big tits? Was it Mindy or Misty?"
"I don't know, man," I answered with a shrug. It wasn't that I couldn't recall anyone with pink hair and large breasts, because there were plenty. Outrageous hair color was popular. In fact, one side of Stephanie's hair looked like she'd been smacked upside the head with a rainbow. I never cared for all that. Natural beauty was more my style. Carina's hair was the perfect shade of red, not too dark, not too light. Kiss by fire, I once heard someone say. It described her in so many ways. Suddenly I was reminded of the torture she had been putting me through. Yeah, fuckin' crazy women was right. "Look, I'm going to turn in. I'll catch you in the morning."
Todd either didn't seem to hear me or care that I wasn't sticking around. He took another drink of bourbon then put his phone to his ear. As I made my way down to the hall to my room, I caught the opening lines of Todd trying to explain who he was to Mindy or Misty.