He burst out laughing. ‘Lizzy, you gave me, not to mention half ofthe Seychelles, a strip show the other day. Honestly, I almost thought of throwing some change at you.’
I folded my arms across my chest and gave him my best if-looks-could-kill glare. ‘That iswildlyoffensive. And for the record, I wasn’t stripping. I was just trying to—’
‘Get back at me,’ he interjected with an irritating and knowing smile plastered across his face.
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, Cam, just turn around!’ I huffed. I didn’t want to admit that he was right. He knew exactly what I’d been trying to do, he always knew, and he would have done it back again too if he could have. That was the thing about the two of us. Neither would ever let the other win. It was this unspoken rule that had locked us into a war that had raged on for years. Zero end in sight, it seemed, even after all this time apart.
But finally he turned around, and when he did, I yanked the dress off and dropped it to the sand, then rushed into the water as quickly as I could. I waded in knee-deep, then waist-deep – and then I sank fully into the water.
‘Can I turn around yet?’ Cam asked, his tone far too calm and casual to be trusted.
‘If you must.’ I’d made sure to keep a good space between us. But as he turned, I realised with horror that the crystal-clear water was completely see-through and now also acting like a giant magnification device, which it really, really didn’t need to! Cam glanced down into the water, first at me, then at himself.
‘At least we tried.’ He was smiling again. Always with the stupid smiles.
‘Well, it’s the first and the last time we try anything like this,’ I said. ‘After this job, we’ll never have to see each other again, thank God.’
‘Never?’
‘I’m sure you can’t wait to get rid of me either.’
‘Believe it or not, I’m actually quite enjoying this,’ he said, then he turned and started swimming deeper into the water. ‘And I think you are too.’
‘I am not enjoying this, Cam!’ I yelled after him.
‘Whatever.’ He tossed the word out lazily as he swam out further.
‘I can assure you,’ I started swimming after him, ‘I am not in any way, shape or form enjoying it.’
‘I think you are, Lizzy. Secretly I think you’re loving it. I think you’ve missed me.’
‘Oh my God,’ I half shouted. ‘Firstly, I havenotmissed you. And secondly, I’m not enjoying this. At all. I hate it. Why on earth would I miss you when you and I are just—’
‘Just what?’ He turned around quickly, sending droplets flying through the air.
‘Sworn enemies,’ I snapped. ‘Competitors.’
‘We’re not in college any more. We’re not competing with each other.’
I stood up and folded my arms, and the water sloshed around me. ‘We kind of are. Otherwise we wouldn’t have landed up trapped in a cupboard together, you in a chokehold and me—’
‘Dangling upside down from my body.’
‘Yes. That,’ I said flatly. I did not need reminding.
‘Former competitors turned teammates – my, how things have changed,’ Cam said.
‘Teammates? I would hardly call us a team. In fact, I would call this a very temporary alliance at best.’
He chuckled, and it pissed me off.
‘Stop laughing. That’s your problem – you’re always laughing. You never take anything seriously, you turn everything into a joke.’
‘I tookusseriously,’ he said.
‘There was nous. How many times do I have to say it?’
‘Therewasan us, Lizzy. For years – whether we admitted it out loud or not – there was an us. And then for six hours there wasdefinitelyan us. Because what happened that night was very, very real. Maybe the most real thing that’s ever happened to me.’
