I Do (Hate You) by Sienna Blake
James
Shell spoke first. My lips were still puckered, frozen in mid-air.
“Go away, Logan.”
“I’m not talking to you, little sister. I need to speak to James,” he insisted, tapping me on the shoulder.
“Uh-uh. James is busy right now. Don’t make me sic Talia on you,” Shell said, raising back up on her tiptoes to complete the kiss.
By then, Logan was practically leaning on top of us. “I believe if you look up the beach, you will find my wife is doing tequila shots and teaching Lane to dirty dance. Well, she’s attempting to. He keeps trying to turn it into a waltz.”
When we looked, we saw Talia swiveling her hips and giggling hysterically at Lane’s horrified expression.
The string quartet had picked their instruments back up and were putting funky spins on classic songs. I thought they actually were playing a waltz but double time and with an extra half beat.
Vina and Rhys were right next to them, slow dancing and definitely not to the beat. I couldn’t believe Vina told Shell to give me a chance. If she could think I was good enough for Shell, then surely, I could convince my best mate that I was.
“You should go save Lane and dance with your wife, big brother.”
I had noticed over the years that when Shell and Logan were about to get really shitty, they called each other “little sister” and “big brother” instead of their actual names.
Logan crossed his arms and moved even closer. “You can do what you want, little sister, but I’m going to stand here and wait until I get a chance to talk to James alone. Keep on doing what you’re doing. I’ll wait. I hope I don’t ruin the mood.”
“How about I just go chat with Logan a bit?” I asked, trying to ease out of Shell’s embrace. Instead she tightened her grip on me like a boa constrictor.
“Don’t you dare, James. I am a grown woman and I make my own life choices. Logan is not my father, my boss or even my favorite family member. He is just used to getting his way because no one ever tells him ‘no.’ Didn’t he tell you to stay away from me in the first place? Without Logan’s meddling, maybe I wouldn’t have entered into this disastrous engagement with Rupert. You stay exactly where you are.”
Shell puckered her lips.
I straightened up and dropped a kiss on the top of her forehead. “After everything we’ve been through this weekend, I think we can wait another few minutes. If you head up to the tiki bar, I promise I’ll be there as fast as I can. While you’re up there, you can dance with Lane or maybe tell Rhys and Vina that they think they’re being subtle hiding behind that palm tree, but everyone can see them making out.”
Her pucker turned into a pout, but she agreed after giving her brother a murderous look and something that sounded like a growl. She kept looking over her shoulder as she joined her friends at the bar. This was sibling rivalry on overdrive, but I knew what I was getting into. I had known the Skye family for so long, I felt like I knew their every move.
“James?” Logan asked.
I turned to him with a smile, knowing that we could work this out, that if I just explained my intentions, then he would welcome me into the fold. I just had to…
Crack!
That was the sound that my jaw made when Logan smashed his fist into it.
Apparently, I did not know their every move.
“Sonofabitch!”
I couldn’t focus my eyes, but I recognized that voice. It was Shell, yelling from up the beach. When I got my eyesight back, I looked over and saw that she was once again sprinting my way, but this time she was glaring at Logan.
She wasn’t the only one who had noticed the punch. The violinist had stopped playing, Aunt Tillie looked like she might pull Logan over her knee and paddle him, and Rhys had unlocked his lips from Vina’s and was peering around the palm tree.
“I’m okay!” I yelled, rubbing my jaw with one hand and waving at them with the other. “Just go back to the party while we sort things out down here.”
Shell didn’t look convinced, but Miguel and Lane each took one of her arms and ushered her back up to where Claire was trying to start a dance off. The violinist gave up and the beer tub girl turned on the radio while Claire showed off her surprisingly good moves and shouted, “Watch this! I’m double-jointed!”
I turned back to my best friend. “I’m sure I deserved that, but what exactly was it for?”
“For lying to me.”
“Lie is a strong word,” I said, falling back into our old pattern of teasing.
“You were literally hiding my sister behind a door while she was handcuffed to you and you didn’t think to mention it.”
“That’s more of a lie of omission,” I said, putting my hand on his shoulder, but then I took a step back when I saw him ball his fist up again.
“I asked you if you had ever hooked up with my sister and you said no.”
“Sounds like ‘fib’ would describe that better.”
He wasn’t smiling.
“The only thing I asked you to do was to stay away from my sister and you didn’t. You are my oldest friend and you lied to me, James. You flat-out lied.”
I finally realized that there was no joking my way out of this.
“You’re right. Of course you’re right.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear,” Logan said and turned on his heel to walk back to the bar. The fifty people who had been pretending not to stare at us quickly turned around and busied themselves with clapping for Claire and her breakdancing, although I noticed they had turned down the music so it would be easier to eavesdrop.
“Wait, Logan. Just wait. I did lie to you, which is terrible, but I had a good reason,” I said, stepping in front of him and bracing for another potential punch. “I am really and truly in love with Shell. I fought it for the longest time because I wanted to obey your wishes, and honestly when we’ve hooked up in the past…”
“I really don’t need the details,” Logan said, cringing.
“I was going to say I wasn’t ready to commit in the past, but I am now. Shell makes me want to be a better person. I want to be with her and only her.”
He looked skeptical and I added, “I know it’s hard for you to believe because you’ve watched me be a bastard to women for years and years, but this time it’s different. This time, I’m in love.”
Logan stared at me for the longest moment. He took a quick step toward me. I tightened my abs, waiting for a punch to the gut this time and I heard the crowd at the tiki bar gasp. But instead of the assault we were all waiting for, Logan wrapped me in a bro hug so tight that I could hardly breathe.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Logan said in his booming voice. “But you have my blessing!”
The crowd erupted in applause and Logan gave me an even bigger hug, picking me up off the ground until Talia shouted, “Get a room already!”
Logan released me. We walked up the beach together, him making sexy eyes at Talia and me smiling shyly at Shell.
“I’m glad you gave James your blessing,” Talia said, coming up and wrapping her arms around her husband’s neck while Lane tiptoed the other way so he wouldn’t have to dirty dance with her anymore.
“Yes,” Logan said, giving Talia a kiss on the forehead then turning to his sister, “but he should know that if he ever hurts Shell, I will get my shotgun out.”
“You don’t own a shotgun,” Talia pointed out.
“I’ll buy one.”
“You’d make Lane buy one,” Talia muttered.
“Go away, Logan,” Shell said for the second time in ten minutes. But this time he listened. Or at least Talia listened and dragged him away.
“What?” Shell asked me when they’d stepped a few feet away.
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she said, peeping at me from under her lashes.
I took a step closer, putting my hands on her hips. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. I thought I knew all your looks. There’s the lusty look, the exasperated one, the naughty one, and the…‘let’s go have sex in the coat room’ one. But I don’t know this look.”
“Maybe you could call it my ‘I’m ready’ look. Ready for love and commitment and whatever else you’ve got, Shell Skye. I’m ready for you. So, what’s next?”
“This,” she said and pulled my head down to hers with a kiss so intense that I almost thought I heard fireworks.
Strike that.
I actually had heard fireworks. When I looked up from the kiss, the sun was just dropping below the horizon and a team of staff members was setting off fireworks from the shore. They sizzled and popped and sparkled over the ocean in a spray of white and blue as the guests “oohed” and “awwed” at the display.
“Surprise,” Logan said, shrugging and making a face. “I ordered those for when the wedding was supposed to be wrapping up and we were doing the champagne toast on the beach. I guess I should have canceled them since there’s no wedding, but I was too busy punching James in the jaw.”
“Haha,” I said, turning to Shell. “There’s still a party, just no wedding party. What do you call this?”
“I’m not sure,” she said, taking the champagne flute that an approaching waiter offered her.
I took my own flute from another member of the dozen or so staffers who were handing them out and coming around with trays of appetizers. “How about a ‘not getting married’ party?”
“To Shell and her ‘not getting married’ party!” Logan shouted, holding up his glass in a toast, followed by the cheers and whoops of her family and friends.
We kissed again, only breaking apart when Vina and Rhys came up beside us. Vina said, “I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but I do believe James Kane is in love.”
“Believe it,” I said as Shell snuggled in under my arm.
“Well, if you can find love, then I guess anyone can,” Vina said but still gave me a high five.
A tipsy, dancing Claire shimmied over to us, double-fisting champagne. She slurred, “I do believe you’re right. Shell, I met your hot coushin Shawn, and he shays his wife sherved him divorsh papers in their hotel room, and he is already lookin’ for love again!”
Shell and Logan shared a look. “That doesn’t sound like Shawn. Did he actually say he’s looking for ‘love?’” Logan asked.
“Well…he actually shaid he’s lookin’ for ‘a hot piece of ass,’ but I think I might have exactly what he needs,” she slurred, handing one champagne flute to Rhys so she could stick out her bum and smack it, sending us into another fit of laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Miguel asked as he came up behind us.
“Claire was just telling us that she may have found someone looking for love,” Rhys said, holding out both flutes as another waiter topped them off with champagne.
Miguel rolled his eyes. “Love? So lame. I think we’ve seen enough of that this weekend.” Then he made a pretend noise of disgust as Logan, Rhys and I all gave our women exaggerated kisses.
“Love’s not so bad,” Talia murmured as she stared at Logan.
“Well, I found something even better,” Miguel announced, holding his glass of vodka up with a flourish. “I found someone who says he just wants a hot piece of ass!”
Claire did a double take. “Shay huwut now?”
We all turned to where Miguel was pointing and waving to someone by the tiki bar. Of course, it turned out to be my cousin Shawn, who was waving his fingertips and making a kissy face at Miguel.
“Gawdflammit,” Claire slurred and looked like she might cry until Lane came to the rescue.
“Miss Claire, has anyone ever shown you the waltz?” he asked, bowing and holding out his elegant hand.
“Yesh, I took three years of lesshons. Hash anyone (hiccup) ever showed you how to breakdansh?”
“Oh dear,” was all Lane said before she dragged him away. He looked at us over his shoulder with an expression of genuine terror.
The rest of our crowd drifted off to watch the dancing spectacle. Shell and I stayed behind to kiss and nuzzle and whisper sweet things to each other as we watched the last of the fireworks.
Another waiter came by and filled our flutes to the brim with champagne. “We need to be careful,” I said, looping my arm through hers.
“What do you mean?” she asked, looking deep into my eyes, and taking a sip of her champagne.
“The last time we were together on a beautiful night like this we blacked out and couldn’t recall a thing. I want to remember every single detail of this night.”
“How could we forget it?”