Double Dose (Part 9)

Veronica

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mother's out there! I hope your day was blessed!
Now on to the story😘

Guilt gnawed at my insides as I shut the door on Cole to go meet Daniel. He looked so pitiful as I left that my heart was melting. However I kept placing one foot in front of the other. Cole would do the same to me. In fact he has been. Never once did he try to hide his relationship with Veronica from me. Thinking about that gave me the oomph I needed to move forward.

Deciding to take my little sporty convertible that Cole had given me as a birthday gift, I tossed my bag in and steered toward the beach. Instead of riding with Daniel I thought meeting him was the best option. Traffic was relentless which I welcomed. Meeting up with a new man had me nervous. I hadn't been with anyone besides Cole in nearly twenty year's. I don't even know how to go about dating anymore for that matter. Many say it's like riding a bike, you never forget. I guess I will see soon.

During my lengthy ride my mind was in overdrive bouncing from one thought to the next.  Then out of nowhere something off struck me. The girl I searched the other night wasn't the same girl I saw Cole with at the club a few month's back. What was up with that? What type of insane game is Cole running? My thoughts became distracted as the ocean came into view. I

After finding a spot to park amongst the busy streets, I took a deep breath to calm those first date jitters, grabbed my bag and exited the car. Glancing through the throng of beach goers, I spotted the bike rental shop where we had agreed to meet. As I approached, I saw Daniel leaning against the bike shop's stucco wall. "Hey there".

" hello Miri. ". He said as he took my bag in respectful manner.

Thing's seemed a bit awkward so not knowing what else to do, I clapped my hands together and said cheerfully. "So, you ready to hit the beach?"

Daniel grinned. "Absolutely" .

As my feet touched the warm sand a entire new feeling overcame me. The salty ocean breeze swept through my hair taking my stress along with it. Suddenly I felt lite and playful. It had been a long time since I've been to the shore that I had forgotten this feeling. After selecting a perfect spot to sit up our belongings, I turned to watch the waves crash and damn it if I didn't think of Cole. I recalled our time at the beach when we were young. After all the beach was where I first slept with him even though that memory still left me with a bitter taste. I found myself fingering the charm hanging from my necklace. The necklace Cole gave to me many Christmases ago. Our baby pictures were inside and Destiny was engraved on the back. A tear threatened my eye as I vividly remembered Cole repeating that word back to me. We were destined to be together.

"You want to eat first?" Daniel's voice interrupted my thoughts .

Turning toward him I placed a huge smile upon my face. "Why don't we take a dip in the water first?"

" You go ahead. I'll catch up after I finish putting the sun shelter up".

Nodding, I stripped from my clothes to reveal my bikini clad body. Instantly Daniel stopped what he was doing and basically was gawking. Oddly I felt somewhat uncomfortable having his blue eye's devouring my body. It definitely didn't give me the same feelings as having green eye's roaming over me. Fuck, what am I doing here? Cole was right, Destiny.

"What's the story with that tattoo?" Daniel asked.

Inked on my hip sat a small tattoo of an eight ball with the word's "crazy eight" encircling it. Of course it was Cole's symbol. He was crazy and he was part of the eighth. "You're about to find out".

My blood froze as that all too familiar voice blasted cold air into this sunny atmosphere. "Excuse me?" Daniel asked staring at this stranger to him.