Sitting up, I self-consciously rearrange my sarong so it covers my legs. My damp bikini is clinging to my nipples, but there’s not much I can do about that.
It’s only when he’s right in front of me that I notice he’s holding two bottles of Coke.
My discomfort gives way to delight.
‘Oh, God, you read my mind!’
‘I didn’t have to. I know how much you like this stuff.’
I’ve been drinking Coke since we got here, he must have seen me, so why does it feel like he’s thinking of the night he gave me the can that’s stashed away in my parents loft?
‘Everyone likes Coke, don’t they?’ I say, trying to deflect.
‘Personally, I find it tastes like fizzy cack.’
‘We all have our vices.’
He hands me a bottle. We’re at different heights because I’m sitting and he’s standing, and it’s awkward for me to reach up.
He taps my Coke with his own. ‘To our vices.’
He holds my eye for a fraction too long before he takes a sip. It’s unsettling because nowI’mthinking about that vice-filled night. About how he kissed with his whole body. And wondering whatnewvices he’s mastered.
I’m thirsty and hot, and I’d love to sink half the bottle in one go, but I force myself to take ladylike sips because the last thing I want to do is wrap my lips around the bottle like a schoolyard impression of fellatio.
He’s sort ofexactlyat the right height.
My eyes dart to his swimming trunks without any input from my brain.
‘Did you want something?’ I ask, then regret it because for a mad second, I hear him answering, ‘A quick blowie?’ like we’re in an episode ofThe Inbetweeners.
‘Why are you out here by yourself?’
‘I like it here with the cypresses and olive trees. Besides, I thought everyone had either gone out or was sleeping.’
‘Pen’s by the pool.’
‘I know, but like I said, I wanted to spend time in nature.’
‘Earlier, at the beach, you went white as a sheet when I fell in the water. And then you lost it with that kid.’ He pauses. ‘That wasn’t like you, and I should have realised; I should have made more of an effort to ask you how you were.’
‘I’m fine.’
He shakes his head. ‘Theo could have picked me up. You needed to stay here, resting with your family.’
‘He offered, but I insisted.’
‘Why?’
‘Maybe I wanted to see Doctor Moron.’
He looks serious. ‘From the moment you stepped into my room, you didn’t look at him once.’
‘What do you want from me, Mark?’
‘Yan said you were angry with me.’
I blow out a breath. ‘Firstly, I’m going to kill Yan, and secondly, even if that’s true, you don’t deserve it.’
