Page 10 of Wilde About You

"Yep, that's mine, wanna come up?" Ace called as he paddled toward us. He sat up on his board and shrugged at me. "Decided to join you."

"So that's your beach house?" the third girl asked. She had a rose vine tattoo that started somewhere down below the water's surface and ended just beneath her right ear.

"Sure is," Ace said.

I shook my head slightly, so only Ace could see. I supposed he wasn't that far off since someday he and his siblings would inherit the place and the rest of his family's fortune, too.

"It's beautiful," the third woman said. Her lips were starting to have a bluish tint.

"It's been nice talking to you," the girl with the nose stud said. Her chin had started to vibrate with the cold. "Hey, there's a party tonight at the big gray beach house on the cliff if you guys are interested."

"Yeah, you should come," the girl with the tattoo said. She was already heading back to shore and the warmth of the dry sand.

"We'll be there," Ace called to them. He wasn't wasting any time. We both watched as they emerged from the water and strolled soaking wet back to their chairs.

"I like the one with the tattoo," Ace said as if making sure to stake his claim first. He turned to me. "I'm just stating that because it gets kind of frustrating always ending up with the Wilde leftovers."

"What the fuck are you babbling about? Just how much whiskey did you drink?"

"C'mon, you know that the three of them are arguing right now about who gets the big hunk on the green board. You're always first choice, and it's pretty fucking annoying. So, I'm stating my pick now, and since you're a good friend and since I invited you out here with no strings attached, you're going to sit back and smile when your old pal Ace walks off with the pink rose tattoo."

"Yeah, whatever. Hey, I didn't tell you about this crazy thing that happened at the UFC fight."

Ace paddled closer. "That's right. I forgot you went to that with Zander. I heard it was a good fight, but Buck couldn't keep up with Gregor. Good match?"

"Uh yeah, but that's not the crazy thing. After the fight, Zander and I were standing around bullshitting with some people, and this chick raced past and swiped my sweatshirt off the back of my chair. My phone and wallet were inside."

Ace laughed. "Classic. Did you get it back?"

"Yeah, but she was quick and wily. Tiny little thing. Hot, too, I noticed after I caught up to her. The weirdest part—I wasn't the only guy chasing after her. Gregor stormed through the crowd trying to catch her. He looked pissed, too. She was wearing a pink shirt. I think that's why she wrapped herself in my black sweatshirt. So, we're outside, and she spots Gregor blasting out of the venue. She hides behind me, and I lie to Gregor, I lie right to the heavyweight champ's face and tell him that she took off in some car."

"What the hell? Was it his girlfriend or something?" Ace was watching the sand. A few more women had joined our three earlier friends. He whistled to himself. "Nice." He was never a great listener, which was funny since I was the one with the attention problem.

"I don't know if she was his girlfriend, but I sure as hell wasn't going to hand her over to him. She was pretty freaked out. Held onto the back of my shirt as she scrunched behind me. It wasn't easy for her to hide because she was holding onto a big camera, like a pro camera with a long lens."

Ace's face snapped my direction. "A camera?" he asked.

"Really? I tell you Gregor was shooting fire from his nostrils looking for this chick, and the camera is the part that got your attention? Anyway, that woman we were just talking to reminded me of the sweatshirt thief because she had a diamond stud in her nose, too."

Ace stared at me. "A diamond stud?"

"Boy, the things that get your attention. By the way, do you remember the names of our three new acquaintances? I think they told us."

Ace shot his attention back to the women on the beach. "Nah, I was too busy checking out tits that were bobbing on the surface to hear what they said."

I shook my head. "Same old Ace."

He laughed. "Right. I forgot I was surfing with a saint, Saint Colin."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right."

We both looked toward shore. There were six women now, and they were watching us too.

Ace waved at them, and they waved enthusiastically back. "Gonna be a good month. Hey, guess I didn't tell you. Got that new Lightning Power Drink contract. It's a good one."

It was hard to be happy for him when I'd been so close to landing that lucrative contract myself. And Lightning was a great sponsor, giving you all kinds of free stuff, expense account and access to the best parties. "That's great, man," I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster, which wasn't much.

"Oh wow, I forgot you were talking about that contract, too. Sorry. Shouldn't have been blowing off my big head about it. It won't be that big a deal anyhow."