The Mermaid and her King (23 page)

Nixie,

Fat chance of that happening. You’re my cousin, but I still have eye balls, so I know you’re gorgeous. I’m proud to call you my cousin, Nixie. You have your head on straight, and I don’t. I’m never going to find a good woman unless you move here and make me get my act together.

I’m counting down the days! I know King is, too. He won’t a
dmit it, but I know he’s interested. Shooter thinks he’s getting to you first, but he doesn’t need you the way King does.

Love,

Bud

Damn Bud, how desperate were you trying to make me sound? I did need that much help. I did need her. I just didn’t know it yet.

Bud,

OK, Mr. Matchmaker, you’re making me nervous. King sounds mysterious. You know I’m the least mysterious person there is. I might be too bubbly for him. I’m young, too. That’s another strike against me. Look how stressed you’re getting me! Five months. I’m counting down the days, and you better be ready for me to smoke your ass on the water.

Love you,

Nixie

Nixie,

King says he’s smoking your ass on the water, and he hopes it’s a fine ass, so I hit him. You two are getting out of hand. I might have to throw some ice on the fire.

Seriously, I got him doing some bad shit after I met him. It’s been wei
ghing heavy on me lately. He’s out of control. I don’t want to scare you off from him because he’s a good person, but we both need to do better. I’m going to put a stop to our bad behavior.

Love,

Bud

Shit,
Bud, I remember all these days. I did say that I hoped her ass was fine, but I can’t believe you told her, and I can’t believe you admitted you got me doing all that bad shit. I could’ve said no just like you could’ve stayed out of the fucking ocean that night. We both screwed up.

Daniel,

Y
es, I said Daniel because this is a serious matter, young man. You’re worrying me. Please get help. Please get help for King, too. He can’t scare me off that easily, so I’ll be dragging both your asses to rehab if you don’t cut that shit out before I get there.

Please … Bud … get some help
. Do it for yourself, not for me.

I love you from the
heavenly sky to the bottom of the ocean. Do you remember what I told you about the bottom? It’s that murky place where you face your fears and find all that’s magnificent. Yes, I know, it’s cheesy but true. I hate to say it, but I think you’re in the murky bottom. Please face your fears. I already know the magnificent person behind them, and you deserve to see him, too.

I love you,

Nixie

I begin to cry. I cry like a damn baby. She cared about me like she did Bud, and she didn’t even know me. Nixie tried to help him from across the ocean. She tried to help me, too. It was so true when she said I couldn’t scare her off that easily.

If Bud
had lived, and she moved here and met me, I know without a doubt she would’ve been in my house telling me I was going to rehab. She would’ve cared that much.

Thank God she didn’t have to see me like that. I need her. I can’t believe I pushed her away again. I told her I wouldn’t, and I did.
Bud wanted us together. He really did.

Dear King,

Bud was right. Y
ou’re a great person and friend. You turned out to be more wonderful than I could’ve imagined. You did all the things he wanted you to do. You got your act together, you watched over me and kept me safe. You even fell in love with me like he hoped you would.

I’d wait for Bud’s emails, exc
ited to see if he mentioned you … if you mentioned me. I had a crush on you before I ever met you. I’d planned to have Rock introduce me to Bud’s friends when he came back from deployment, but after falling in love with you and meeting Eric and Andy, I decided I didn’t need to meet them. I’d already found guys that great.

Don’t you see? A
ll of you are even better than he described. You, Eric and Andy gave me all the things that Bud wanted for me … all the things I needed.

T
hen I made the discovery and loved you even more, but I knew it was too soon. I needed you to heal more … to love me enough not to be able to let me go. Please forgive me for not telling you. Please love me enough not to let me go.

I
found the ‘King’ Bud always wanted for his Nixie. You already embraced the bottom of the ocean and showed me the magnificent you, so please don’t hide behind your fears. The only thing I need you to let go of is the guilt. Let me love you the way Bud knew you deserved to be loved.

Come back to me and love me … please.

Love,             

Your Nixie

Chase

What have I done? I’m
an idiot. I have to be with her. I have to go to her and apologize! I get in and out of the shower as fast as I can.

Bud wants me wi
th Nixie, and I can take better care of her than anyone. I’m going to show her that she can trust me. I’m going to show her every day how much I love her. I grab my keys and run to the car.

Skyla

Brooke
came to the room earlier to get her stuff. I can’t believe she agreed to stay with Eric. I knew she’d like him, but now I’m all alone. It’s been a couple of hours since the guys got back here, and I’m going out of my mind.

Wouldn’t he ha
ve come by now if he wanted me? There’s a knock at the door, so I dive off the bed and run to answer it.

“Skyla
, I love you. I’m so sorry,” Chase says as he grabs me and pulls me into his arms.

He’s really h
ere. He really came back to me. I wrap my arms around his waist, melting into him. He lets me go and grabs my face, kissing almost every inch of it, his lips landing lastly on mine. His magical touch brings all the broken pieces of me back together.

Letting
go of one side of my face, he strokes my hair. He’s so gentle and loving with his kiss, and I feel what he’s saying. I feel his apology, the safety he’s trying to give back to me, the trust he wants me to believe in. It’s all in his touch.

We go to the
bed, and without a word, we caress and kiss each other. We do what we do best when we want to show each other our love. I’m encased in his powerful arms, and he smells delicious.

“Angel, I’m
sorry I yelled and left you. I can’t apologize enough. I should’ve stayed and fought for you and believed in myself enough to tell Rock that I wasn’t the man he thought I was, that I’m better.”

“You came back. That’s all that matters.”

“I didn’t think I was good enough for Bud’s Nixie. I see now that he wanted us together. Eric and Rock made me see, Bud made me see in those emails, but most importantly, you made me see. You didn’t give up on me.”

I run my fingers through his lovely hair that I’ve missed so much.

“You deserve someone who won’t give up, and I’m going to prove to you that I’m that man. I love you, Skyla. Thank you for having faith in me, for seeing the good in me before I could see it in myself.”

“I invaded your house. If you came back
and tried to make me leave, I was going to protest from your bed, and the cops would’ve had to drag me out,” I say, giggling.

“
God, I’ve missed that laugh. I believe you, and I felt crushed when I heard you’ve been sleeping in my bed, waiting for me. I’ll be in it every night with you from here on out, and it’s not mine, it’s ours. I’m going to make the holidays up to you, too.”

He captures my lips
once again and shows me his love. I’m ready to go back to our home tomorrow, but right now I’m at peace in King’s arms. Right where Bud wanted Nixie to be.

Chase

I get u
p early and leave a note right next to Skyla as she sleeps. I hate leaving her in bed, but I have to go to my house. I ran out so fast and left all my stuff. I call the front desk and find out what room Eric’s in. Skyla and I didn’t do much talking last night, so I have no clue what’s going on today.

I knock on the door
, and a woman answers in a small pair of shorts and a tank top. I think I woke her up. “Oh, I’m sorry, I must have the wrong room.”

I turn to walk away.

“Wait, are you King by chance?”

I stop and turn around.
“Yes.”

“I guess you’re looking for
Eric. Come in.”

I grin. I can’t help it. I c
an’t believe he has a girl in his bed. She’s ahead of me as I walk in.

“
Eric, wake up. King’s here.”

She’s standi
ng next to the bed that’s furthest away. He rolls over and looks at me.

“H
ave you seen Skyla yet?” He sits up in the bed.

“Yes. I got here
a couple of hours after you left my house. When does our flight leave? Skyla’s sleeping, and I have no clue what’s going on.”

He glances to the clock.
“Um, two hours.”

“There’s no way
we can make it. I still have to go to my house. Let me call and move us to another flight. If I can’t, then I’ll charter a private plane.”

Eric
holds his arm out. He has no shirt on and is covered waist down with a sheet.

“
Brooke, Chase. Chase, Brooke.”

I smile at her. “Hi.”

“Hi, um, I’m going to take a shower and let you two talk,” she says, looking nervous as hell. She grabs a bag of stuff and goes into the bathroom.

I turn to
Eric and grin. “You dog. I can’t believe you picked up a chick here.” I look at the other bed. “You even used both beds, damn.”

“You idiot. S
hut up! I didn’t pick her up. If you had a fucking clue as to what’s going on, you’d know that’s Skyla’s best friend, Brooke.”

“Oh, shit. Well, what the hell is she doing sleeping in your room?”

“It’s because of a whole chain of events that you started, so she had to stay in here and torture me. You owe me big time.”

“I’m sorry, bro
, about everything. I didn’t mean what I said on the phone that day. I know the last two months had to be hard on you.”

“It’s cool
as long as you stay with Skyla and treat her the way you were before you found out she’s Nixie.”

“I
’m not letting her go. I swear. So, why are you being tortured in this room?”

“Did you not see her?
” Eric asks, pointing toward the bathroom.

I can’t deny that she’s attractive.
“Yeah, I saw.” I start laughing.

“You’re a dick,” he says, chuckling. “She has a boyfriend, and he’s an asshole. I’m going to have to get Skyla to put some pressure on her to get her away from him.”

“You already like her.”

“Yeah, I do,” he says quietly
, running his hands through his hair. “Now get the hell out, so I get a little more time with her before reality hits.”

“I’m going to my house. I’ll be back
, and we’ll get home. Thanks, man. You’ve saved my ass for almost a year. I’ll make it up to you.”

Skyla

“That was the last box, angel,” Chase says, kissing my neck. His sweat sticks to me, but I welcome it. He looks mouth-watering with sweat all over his fit body.

“
Thank you, sweetie.”

“You sure didn’t have much,” he says with a frown.

“That’s all I own.”

“You’re mine now, so you’re going to let me buy you all sorts of things. You’re going to have closets of clothes that I get to see you wear, including some new bikinis and
lingerie. We’ll throw some high heels in there and a car, and you’ll be set,” he says, winking at me.

I hug him.
He’s cute, and he’s mine. “I’ll compromise. You can get me everything but the car.”

“Awesome. I’ll
get the car later.” He grins and swats my butt.

All of us went
to my house this morning and packed. I don’t have a lot, so with everyone there working, it didn’t take long. Chase is determined we’re starting the New Year in our house together. Rock’s even here with us. It’s surreal seeing him getting along with Bud’s friends that he used to hate.

“
Are we sitting out back and eating or not? I need to cool down,” Eric says, wiping away the sweat on his face with the front of his t-shirt. I glance to Brooke and see that she’s staring at his abs.

“Sure, let’s go,
” I say.

*
**

“
Eric’s so handsome, sweet, funny and hot. Dang, his body was made to drool over,” Brooke says quietly as we lounge in the chairs on the patio.

“
I’ve seen you drooling over it.”

Her wide eyes flash to mine
. “You have?”

“Yes. You need to leave
Rob, move here, and be with Eric.”

“I love
Rob,” she says in a sad tone.

“You don’t sound very convincing.”

“I do love him, and I can’t just leave my life in California.”

“You have feelings for
Eric, Honey. I can tell. That should say something about your relationship with Rob.”

“I’m sure that’ll fade away
when I get home. I’m going to talk to Rob about treating me better. Eric and I talked for a long time last night, and he made me see I need to ask for that, but he’s nice to look at while I’m here.”

I roll my eyes under my sunglasses. She likes
Eric, but she’s under Rob’s evil spell, so it’ll take a miracle for her to leave him.

We eat pizza
, and besides Chase, the rest of us drink beer. He agrees to let the guys read Buds emails. I even have more that I printed. We sit on the patio and pass around the papers. Eric’s reading one and looks up at me.

“Skyla, who’s Honey?”

I glance to her. I don’t think she was aware that she’s in them until now.

“That’s me!”
Brooke yells exuberantly. “He wrote about me?”

I
see Eric swallow hard. “Yes, he did.”

She jumps from her chair and goes over to him before she reaches out her hand.
“Can I read it?”

Eric
looks up at her from his chair and reluctantly hands it to her.

When you move here, you need to bring Honey with you. She’s legal now, so I might stand a chance. I’ll have to keep her away from Shooter. His charm (bullshit) and Ken doll looks might win her over. He’s a great friend though, so I think I could survive it if he did.

I see her glance down at Eric. “You’re Shooter, right?”

“Yeah, that’d be me. I’m supposedly a straight shooter. You know, I tell it like it is.
”

“Your charm
’s not bullshit, and you’re way hotter than Ken,” she says, giving him an alluring smile.

He beams up at her.
“Well, you’re sweeter than honey, Brooke.”

She blushes, and I see
that I’m going to be nursing Eric’s wounds when she leaves. We pass around the rest of the emails and tell Bud’s dirty secrets, but I imagine due to guy code there are a few left out. OK, there are probably many left out, but the guys share about Bud’s life on the North Shore of Oahu with Brooke and me, and it warms me inside out.

I imagine
most people have a Bud in their lives. That hilarious friend or relative who’d save your life but can’t seem to put themselves first to save their own. We need to tell that person what they mean to us.

T
hat comical, reckless behavior might be the front for their fears and lack of self-worth that’s lurking below. Our words could be the only ones they hear that tell them just how magnificent they are.

I’m
now lying in Chase’s lap. We all spend most of our New Year’s Eve laughing, but we also cry, and for once, no one tries to make the tears stop. No one’s trying to fix this because it can’t be fixed. This is our healing. We can only take Bud’s memory with us and strive to be our best selves in his honor. Chase squeezes me tight and nuzzles his face into my hair. “Baby.”

“Yes,
” I say.

Chase points to my chest.
“I only get a small part of Nixie to tuck away in my heart. She belongs to someone else who loved her beyond words. I fell in love with a beautiful, strong woman named Skyla. She made me whole. I got my sexy mermaid from the ocean and my angel from the skies. I feel like the King in between. I love you, and you’ll always be my Skyla.”