Page 82 of The Bartender Special

Benny straightened his back, rolled his shoulders, and ignored his rising adrenaline.

Who cared if he was the only one who really knew himself?

It wasn’t like he had been beside them every step of his life?

Wouldn’t it be weirder if they had known him that well?

Benny was tired of his internal questions.

So, he played the game while forcing some courage into his veins.

“One, I once catered a wedding where I caught the groom cheating with the bride's sister and they still got married. Two, Ethan and I have matching Beetlejuice tattoos hidden very well on our bodies.”

Benny finally looked at Jack.

The bartender’s eyebrow quirked up.

One day, they’d all be dust.

Screw feeling awkward on a boat.

“And three, I'm about to jump in the water because hot damn it's humid out here.”

Jack, in all of his attractive glory, finally showed that smirk of his.

He was quick.

“Well, I know which one of those I hope is true,” he said.

But Benny was quicker.

He stood, stripped off his tank top, and walked past everyone to the edge of the boat. He gave his audience a sweeping look, but the only person he managed to focus on was already taking his shirt off.

They might not have known the weird details or the old stories but, in that moment, Benny knew exactly what the bartender was about to do.

He laughed as he jumped out into the dark blue water.

Before he could surface, Jack made a splash right behind him.

FIFTEEN

“You could belly dance and I could swing flaming swords around you?”

Benny ran a hand over his slicked-back hair and let Jack know straight up that there weren't going to be any flaming swords anywhere near him at the Arbor Bay pageant. Or just in life in general.

“How about you belly dance and I just pull up a chair and watch with the crowd?” Benny offered.

Jack laughed into the water.

“I’m good for a show when I need to be, but I don't know about that act, sweet cheeks.”

Since Benny had jumped into the bay, the group had somewhat gone on to do their own things. Marcus had beached the boat and then spent time lounging in the shallow water with Felicity. Carol and Ruby had taken their lounging to the small strip of sand that curved against Floater's Cove, taking several selfies while tanning on matching designer towels. While Benny and Jack, on the other hand, had opted to lounge by switching between standing in and treading water out of earshot of the group.

There they finally addressed the Arbor Bay-sized elephant in their shared room.

The talent portion of the Sailors and Mermaids pageant.

“We should keep it nautical-themed,” Benny tried. “Something we can do while wearing mermaid and sailor costumes. Really on the nose stuff that's all flashy so they don't notice right away that we have no talent.”