“Tea?” She looked offended for a second, before laughing. “Do you think this is a luxury resort? They haven’t even got proper milk here. It’s all that long-life powdered stuff. It’s awful. But lucky for you, I have travelled before. I’m prepared. I know I am flaunting all kinds of agricultural customs rules here, but I always have fresh milk in my bag. I wrap it in tin foil and put it straight in the fridge. It’s still good.”
I wasn’t quite following her, but hey. She was offering, and that travel kettle on the side was bubbling away as she popped out onto the patio and left me to my own devices. I wondered where Noah had gone. Left me here with his mum?
I’d no doubt scared him off with my stupid offer of sordid sex and a bit of…fun.
I wondered if I was having fun. My foot was throbbing, my head hurt, and I was seriously dehydrated. Bewildered from drugs and napping, and the woman who leant down and stroked a hair out of my face, then gave me a look that was clear as mud. I think it meant,Sit yourself up, you useless piece of shit, you have a cup of tea right here.
“So, Fox,” she said, with a little smile as she placed herself back on the edge of the bed. “You and my Noah have had a little encounter. I am most pleased.”
“Encounter.”I placed all the strength my voice could muster on that word. “I wouldn’t exactly call it that.”
“Perhaps not,” she mused. “Yet, here you are.”
Perhaps I was. Perhaps this was just one big recurring nightmare brought on by sunstroke or whatever. I was shaking my head, then trying to sip the tea. Why was I behaving like an old man? Perhaps because I was. Yet I was still acting like the young twink I’d once been and trying to pick up men and get myself laid when in all honesty? I should have got myself on the first flight back. Cancelled this trip in the first place. Grown up and stayed at home and signed up for some matchmaking service where I could have met a decent bloke with a matching income and a nice car and lived happily ever after.
“Are you alright, Fox?” She looked concerned. Had I drifted off in my head again? Probably.
“This is weird. I know that, Mrs Fairweather.” I was good with names. I was decent and polite. Even when I was stark naked… Well, wearing borrowed pants.
“No, it’s not. It’s only weird if we let it be.” She was still stroking my face. Too close. Too personal. I wasn’t sure if I should tell her off or lean into it. In a way, I just wanted reassurance. Peace. Not all this anxiety that I constantly carried. I’d never used to, but I’d lost my footing in life and now I was just…weird. Like this. “It’s a holiday, Fox. We’re all stuck on a blot of sand in the middle of the ocean. In the end, we all go home, and next week life is back to normal. We might as well enjoy our time here, and let things go a little off the rails, don’t you think?”
“I feel like I’ve gone a bit further than off the rails. I’ve derailed. Completely.”
“No, you haven’t. Me and Derek had lunch with a few of your friends. It was most entertaining. I told them you were in safe hands.”
“Oh God.” I must have looked distraught, and still she just laughed.
“You’re a sweet boy. Now let me go get Noah, and he’ll look after you.”
“Where is he?” I asked, hearing the panic in my voice. How embarrassing.
“Having a moment.” She smiled and cocked her head at the same time. “I think both of you need to just relax and enjoy the small fact that you have found some company. The two of you can just be friends and keep each other entertained. Nobody is expecting wedding bells, darling. I think perhaps the two of you just need company. Sound good?”
I had no idea. I didn’t even know who I was anymore.
Chapter 5
Noah
If things had been strained earlier? They were definitely dialled up to downright strange now. I had a tray on the side with food, things that I’d picked at random hoping he would enjoy, and now I looked at my pathetic offerings wondering if I had lost all my marbles.
I thought I had. Not only had I plonked this guy into my shower, but I had also forced him into my bed, drugged him up on painkillers and repeatedly offered to return him to his room, then chickened out.
And to top off this marvellous disaster of a holiday? Now my mother was sat on my bed, chit-chatting with my potential hook-up. I couldn’t believe I even acknowledged that in my head, and now I wanted to slap myself.
I should just go drown myself in the ocean because nothing good would ever come from this.
Hence I was walking back inside, picking up the pathetic tray and then just standing there, willing my mother to read the room.
My mother? She’d never read a room in her life.
“Mum?” I said sternly.
“Darling,” she responded, giving me a stern look. “Dad and I are doing Zumba at three. We will be out of your hair for a few hours. Will the two of you be joining us for dinner?”
“I can’t speak for Riley here,” I tried.
“You’d have to carry me.” He grinned.
