“Eh, it’s our hero!” A loud voice exclaimed.
“Oh no.” I groaned, dropping my head back.
Nigel, Mark, and Will joined us at the hotel entrance, all carrying large backpacks.
Lila gasped when she saw the huge bruise under Nigel’s eyes, his swollen nose, and the large gash that had since been stitched up.
“Looks worse than it is,” Nigel said, his voice a hell of a lot more casual than yesterday, when he’d practically been weeping.
“You’ll have a sick scar after this, mate.” Mark grinned.
“The girls will love it,” Will added.
“Thanks for your help getting us to the clinic. Even if you did ditch us.” Nigel clapped me on the shoulder.
“Glad it all worked out,” I said, my voice flat. I narrowed my eyes at him, hoping they would get the hint that we wouldn’t be having some long, drawn-out goodbye.
“Anyway, we’re on our way out of here. Lovely meeting the two of you.” Nigel said as he adjusted his backpack straps.
“It was great meeting you, too,” Lila said, her voice just as warm as it always was. Why did she have to be so nice all the freaking time?
“Bye, Lily.” Nigel smiled and held open his arms.
“Oh, uh, bye.” Lila awkwardly gave him a short hug. I had to forcibly restrain myself from not stepping between the two of them.
“Harrison.” Nigel turned toward me and I glared at him.
“Bye,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.
“Perhaps we should exchange numbers or something?” Nigel asked holding up his phone and shaking it in an invitation.
I shrugged. “Nah, I’m good.”
Lila coughed to disguise a laugh. She cleared her throat and then took his phone.
“Do you have social media?” He nodded as she typed something before handing his phone back. “Here’s my account. Why don’t we follow each other? I’d love to keep up with your future travels.”
“Perfect.” Nigel grinned. He, Mark, and Will waved their goodbyes, but this time when Nigel tried to give Lila another hug, I slung an arm around her shoulder. Fuck it. She could call me overprotective all she wanted; I wasn’t giving this guy any more opportunities to touch her.
“Good going,” I said when they’d finally retreated. “He’s definitely going to stalk all of your pictures.”
She snorted. “I followed him from the ConnectHer account. He’s just going to see a lot of pictures from networking events.”
My lip tugged up. “Nice.”
We strolled into town, keeping a hurried pace so we’d arrive at the port in time for our boat tour. The weather was perfect for our final day in Greece. The sun bathed everything in warmth, while a cool, fresh breeze kept the air perfectly balanced. The water appeared calm too, thankfully.
“At the bottom of all these steps?” Lila asked through a smile.
“Yep.” I said, looking down the hundreds of steps built into the cliffside.
“Can you handle it? I know hiking isn’t your thing,” she teased, starting the trek down.
“I’ll be fine. Plus, there’s a gondola to take us back up later.” I pointed above us to the carts rising up the side of the cliff on a thick wire.
“Thank God for that. I couldn’t handle your incessant whining if we had to walk up this.”
I bit back a chuckle, savoring how good it felt that she was comfortable teasing me now. I no longer made her nervous. At least not in the ways I used to.
