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The next day, Thane asked to speak to Coby alone. When the two men walked away together down the beach, Sylvia used the time to visit Penny again. She needed to tell her how happy she felt and how she finally understood all the emotions Penny had tried pouring out to her. She found her best friend sitting on her front porch with her shirt pulled up, so she could rub her belly.
“So, this is what you do all day now?” Sylvia asked.
“This is about it,” Penny said. “Can you believe this? Last year, around this time, I was lying in an MRI machine or having the back of my hand poked with an IV. Now, I’m sitting in front of beachfront property, a baby brewing in my belly, my man a god of the ocean, and my best friend here by my side. Syl, I’m glad you came out here. You were the only thing missing.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you before,” Sylvia replied as she took a seat in a wooden rocking chair beside her friend’s. “I guess I didn’t believe in fairytales.”
“What are your thoughts now?” Penny asked.
Penny looked so full of life, so rejuvenated, so different from the frail friend she’d originally brought to Queensland on vacation. Her friend was stunning, had always been a knockout, but now she owned it. Sylvia wanted to feel that way, but she didn’t. She used to. Now, it seemed they’d traded places and Sylvia was the broken one.
“Honestly?” Sylvia said. “This place is amazing…but I’m not sure it’s for me. You have your man and you’ve made such great friends. I feel like an outsider.”
“So did I when I first got here,” Penny said, her smile beaming. “It’ll change. I promise. Besides, you seem to have snagged yourself a fish.”
“He’s hot,” Sylvia said, covering her face with her hand like a shy little girl. “Good Lord that man is scorching. But he’s got issues.”
“We all have issues,” Penny said.
“His are pretty deep though,” Sylvia said. “I don’t think he’s going to let me in. This is all…it’s all temporary for him. He’s not going to put a ring on my finger and settle down in this little village y’all got going on. It’s not his style. Hell, I can barely get him to talk. He says a few words about his brother, tells me how wrong he is for me, and then…”
“…and then?” Penny coaxed her on.
Sylvia covered her face with her hands again and giggled. She dropped them and looked at her friend, mustering a bit of the old DJ Sylvia Foxx from back in the day. She needed that edge she’d always had before.
Where the hell did that side of me go?
“…and then he fucks the living shit out of me,” Sylvia said.
Both girls cracked up laughing.
“Ain’t nothing like some shark nookie,” Penny said.
“There damn sure ain’t,” Sylvia agreed.
“And what if he wants to make you one of us?” Penny asked.
The question caught Sylvia off guard. Of course, she’d considered it. She’d wondered what it would be like to turn into a great white like her man. Would he consider it? Would she? And what would that mean? What kind of life would that lead to? The thought of it made her heart race. It wasn’t like asking if she’d marry him. Walking down the aisle and saying “I do” allowed her to stay in human form. A life with Coby would mean changing into a fucking man-eating shark. Before she had the chance to answer her friend, the sexy blonde Sylvia had seen at the bonfire party back at the hotel emerged holding hands with the guy she’d had her eyes on at that same party.
Well I’ll be damned.
“Good morning, ladies,” the blonde called out.
Her voice was so whimsical. She was quite possibly the happiest sounding person Sylvia had ever met.
“Kalina!” Penny said. “And Rafe. Good morning. Have you two met Sylvia?”
Penny introduced her to the other two and they all sat down for a chat.
“How are you adjusting to the island?” Penny asked Rafe.
“It feels like home,” Rafe said as he held Kalina from behind, putting his hands around her waist and interlocking his fingers.
“Planning to stick around?” Penny asked.
Kalina looked back over her shoulder and locked eyes with Rafe, waiting on his answer.
“What?” Rafe asked. “I mean…I have a job and an apartment, but you know, I can come visit.”
