Inseverable: A Carolina Beach Novel Read Online Free

laughing, because clearly this woman isn’t loud enough. Her face reddens further. Maybe she’s embarrassed and maybe she does feel bad. But something in the way that she blushes . . .
    “I’m really sorry, Callahan,” she says. “That’s never happened before. I think it went down the wrong way.”
    “It’s fine,” I say, tearing my eyes off her. I reach for a clean rag beneath the bar to wipe my face only to have her lift it from my hand.
    “Here, allow me,” she says, dabbing my nose.
    She passes the towel along my skin, using care that I’m not used to. I step away from her reach, wondering why the hell she touched me, and why the hell I let her.
    “Look, Trixie―”
    “It’s Trinity,” she answers quietly, her bright smile returning like I invited her to Disney to meet Mickey Mouse or whatever the fuck. This woman can’t possibly be real. No one is this . . . her .
    “I really am sorry,” she says yet again. Her eyes, despite their dark color, sparkle beneath a veil of thick lashes, and the way she looks at me, it’s like she’s known me forever.
    But she doesn’t know me. No, not at all. I slap the rag on the bar and wipe it clean in angry circles.
    “So . . .” she says, resting her chin on her hand as she leans against the bar. “If it’s not too much trouble, would you mind pouring me another shot?”
    I’m ready to tell her that I do mind—that something’s wrong with her, and that maybe she should skip back to her friends and far away from me. But those words lodge in my throat when I catch sight of her face, and notice something beyond that smile she’s pegging me with.
    Before I can figure out what exactly that is, I pour her another shot, focusing on my task and once more wrenching my eyes off her.
     

Chapter Three
     
    Trinity
     
    I wave to my new best friend on our way out and throw in a big grin since that’s how I roll. “Thanks, Callahan. It’s been real!” I call to him. He pauses in the middle of shoving a chair beneath a table just to narrow his eyes. But I’ll admit, it’s my, “See you next week” comment that causes his upper lip to curl.
    That man is all sorts of crazy about me.
    I hop down Your Mother’s worn wooden steps and join the rest of my crew gathered at the bottom. “Trin!” they yell when I reach them.
    Since I’m the last one to exit the premises save for Jed and that Yummy Callahan, my presence is everyone’s cue to disperse. The designated drivers do their best to shove their drunk passengers into their cars, most of them swearing and cranky since they’re the ones scheduled to work in the morning and not the ones who got to slam back shots.
    Mason, and a young co-ed visiting for the week are talking softly by the Brewsters’ Jaguar. He bends and kisses her slowly—very unlike the way Sean had made out with her friend on the dance floor right before closing. Goodness, Sean and his lady friend were like a pair of horny dolphins during mating season, except not as graceful and certainly not as chipper.
    The Brewsters simply shrug and use it as an excuse to take a walk along the beach. The Brewsters have always been cool like that. So have Jimmy and Millie Rossen who are getting pretty friendly all over the hood of Mr. Rossen’s latest muscle car. Hopefully, the cops won’t catch them naked with Mrs. Rossen bent over the hood like last Christmas. And Easter. And yeah, Arbor Day, too. Lovely couple, the Rossens.
    Hale hurries to my side, but I suspect it’s because Becca’s next to me. “Can I crash at your place, too, Trin?”
    He asks me, but is looking at my very sloppy yet gorgeous friend. “Of course,” I say.
    “Cool,” he answers, although yup, still giving Becks the eyes.
    As per our usual Friday night festivities that come with every start of the season, we leave Becca’s jeep at Your Mother’s and head toward my place which is only a mile up the road. With Momma, Daddy, and Landon gone, I don’t mind the company. And