I look at him oddly.
“You know what I mean,” he says. “She just isn’t the kind of girl you usually go for.”
Confused by his judgment of Sienna, it takes a second to realize why.
“I’m not talking about the one who walked up to me,” I say and swallow down another bite. “Sienna’s the one she was talking to after she stomped off. Long, dark reddish-brown hair. Rockin’ body. Carrying a camera.”
“Oh.” Seth nods. “That makes sense, then. I was startin’ to wonder about you, bro.” He laughs. “But you’d probably be better off hookin’ up with the stuck-up one anyway, considering your predicament.”
I take a water bottle from the fridge and move past Seth through the kitchen. He follows as I make my way outside onto the lanai. I sit down at the little round table and set my water on top of it.
“I don’t have a predicament.”
“The hell you don’t.” He laughs again and sits down in the empty chair. “I’d say denying yourself the simple pleasures in life because of your conscience is a predicament. Have some fun once in a while. That’s the one way we’re different, Luke—you care. I don’t.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “There are a lot of ways we’re different, Seth,” I correct him, sporting a grin. “Don’t make me crack the list open again.”
Stretching my legs out before me, I slouch my back against the wicker, my arms resting along the length of the chair arms with my hands dangling over the ends.
Seth shakes his head, a big close-lipped smile stretching his features. I don’t elaborate. He knows as well as I do that we are as different as night and day when it comes to women. And life in general. But I used to be just like him. I don’t regret it, but I don’t miss it, either. Most of it, anyway.
“So what are you gonna do?” he asks.
“Nothing,” I say. “I shouldn’t have even talked to her at all, to be honest. It opened a door I probably shouldn’t have opened.”
Seth looks at me from the side. “Then why did you?”
“I don’t know,” I say, thinking on it. “Maybe I was just looking for something to be wrong with her—makes it easier.”
“Yeah, that’s healthy,” he quips. “And did you find anything? I bet you didn’t—there wasn’t anything wrong with her from where I was standing.”
Absently I shake my head no, chewing on the inside of my mouth, thinking about my brief one-on-one with Sienna. “Not a thing,” I answer. “Which is what worries me.”
“You are messed up, Luke.” Seth scratches his head where his scar has been healing. He had an accident on our last trip to El Capitan, which was a close call. Got staples in his head from the top of his right ear and stretching around the back of his scalp. Now he just keeps his head shaved because he says he likes the look.
“Hey, I agree with you to some extent,” he says, “but if you can’t get close to a girl you like, then at least allow yourself a piece of ass every now and then.” He puts up his hands briefly, palms forward. “Not tryin’ to be in your business, bro, but if I was in your shoes, I’d have carpal tunnel in my right hand by now.”
I laugh lightly and put the water bottle to my lips again.
He slumps forward and then props his elbows on his thighs. “Maybe you should check out this girl from the resort,” he says.
“Who knows. You might be disgusted by her and then everything’ll be all right.” He chuckles.
I shake my head, smiling.
“Well, if you change your mind, let me know.” Seth stands up and raises both arms high above his head, stretching. “I’ll find someplace to go if you want the house to yourself for a while. Anything to get my best friend laid.”
“You’d even move out?” I jest, just before swigging down the last of my water.