school with one of the investors. When he heard about the new tourist island, he’d jumped at the chance to work there. It was better than working his dead-end trucking job. He hated being cooped up in the rig all day and away from home for weeks at a time.
On Safari Island, he was never more than a few steps from the outdoors. Even when he was working, he was out in the fresh air. It was a dream job. Or at least it had been. Chet had started the job when he was in his early twenties. The endless nights of fun with his co-workers and the revolving door of hot tourists had been great. Now he was looking for something more.
He wanted to find his mate and settle down. He knew that none of the women he worked with were the one for him. The odds of one of the tourists being his mate were pretty slim. He still loved being on Safari Island, but he knew he’d need to leave if he ever wanted to find his mate.
“It isn’t going to be any easier if you leave,” Branch said as if he were reading his mind. Chet parked the bus and they got into his golf cart. It was the easiest way to move around the island and it made accidents almost nonexistent. No cars for tourists meant no drunk driving on the island. It was pretty ingenious of the Safari Corporation.
“At least I’ll be doing something,” Chet said as they drove across the dirt fields. “I can’t wait around here. Even Rapunzel had to leave her tower to get a date.”
“I’m pretty sure the man found her. You need to brush up on your fairy tales, man.”
“Yeah, well, whatever. I don’t think my mate is just going to waltz on through and find me.”
“It’s happened before,” Branch pointed out.
Chet shook his head. “It’s happened twice. It’s not likely to happen again.”
“But where are you gonna go? Back to your hometown, I bet. If your mate was there, you would have already found her. So if you go, you’re just gonna be trying to find a needle in a haystack.”
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
“You aren’t doing nothing. You’re meeting ladies every day. You could meet new ones every night, too, if you’d come with us to the club more.”
“I’m sick of nightclubs,” Chet grumbled.
“You haven’t ever been to a nightclub. The bar in town has nothing on the Club Safari. A lot of the single women come to the island just for the resort and the club now. You’re missing a whole lot of hotties, man.”
Chet hadn’t considered that. The resort had rolled out all-new spa packages aimed at bachelorette parties right before Club Safari opened. It might be worth taking another look at the club. He’d only gone a handful of times and hadn’t really enjoyed himself. It had felt like a meet market instead of a fun night with the boys. The women were practically humping their dance partners on the floor, too. The whole thing was a little too debauched for him. The bar in Safari Town was no better, though. There just weren’t that many places to meet new women on the island.
Branch made it sound simple, but most of the women they met were with groups or their families. Not exactly prime pickings or open to meeting guys for more than vacation fun. Still, it was better than sitting home alone.
“Maybe I’ll go a few more times,” Chet relented.
“That’s my guy. You like it here, don’t you?”
“I love living in Safari Town. I think it would be a great place to raise a family with all the additions they’re doing to the town.”
Branch nodded. “That’s the whole point. They don’t want to lose talent because they all find mates. Plus, having more families around makes the place more family-friendly. Gotta balance out all the hedonism on the other side of the island.”
Chet didn’t know if you could ever balance out the hedonism of Club Safari. But he was willing to give the club another try. He didn’t think he would find his mate, but he wasn’t ready to give up his life Safari Island just yet. It was a one
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