“Carina, I must know. Who was the better cousin?”
Carina scoffs. “Jaylah, please. I’m not answering that.”
The girls laugh, Carina included. I take a longer sip of my drink.
“We’re sorry,” Danielle says to me. “We fuck with her a lot about her dating her future husband's cousin.”
“Yeah, I suppose I will never hear the end of it,” sighs Carina.
“I kept it in the family once,” Camila admits. “I dated two brothers. It was like having sex with the same dude.”
“Ew,” Lety cringes and shakes her head in disgust. “I could never.”
“That’s because you’ve only ever slept withoneguy,” Jaylah points out, rolling her eyes.
“Hey, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!” Lety exclaims.
“How would you know, though?! You have no one to compare him with.” Danielle bursts out, and everyone laughs.
“Quality over quantity, my dears,” Lety says with a smug shrug. “Sex with him is amazing and I don’t need to look any further.”
“Statistically speaking, the average person sleeps with about eight people in their lifetime,” Carina admits matter-of-factly.
Camila scoffs loudly. “Shit, just eight?! That was about a week back in college.”
I push to my feet. “Is there a bathroom nearby?”
Danielle points toward the glass house.
“Downstairs, but I'd use the one upstairs. First door on your left.”
“Perfect. Thanks.”
I don't wait another second. With the girls' laughter trailing behind me, I make a swift retreat toward the house.
I whip out my phone and text Othello, never so grateful to finally have his number.
MARLEY: Can you meet me by the stairs?
The bubbles dance under my message within seconds.
OTHELLO: otw
We walk through the house,Othello’s hand resting on the small of my back. Mine still holding the sweet bubbly drink Carina got for me. We say no words, just taking in the house as we leave the chaos of the party behind.
Despite my hasty exit from the Satin Mafia, I don’t think they were all bad. They are hilarious in all their glam and designer wear and remind me a lot of my own friend group.
As Othello guides me through the house, manly and protective, I see now how Carina could fall in love with him. Othello is the calm. Gavin is the noise. Like if she were a normal girl in a normal world, he would be the chosen one.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I ask him.
“I think there’s a side door that leads to another part of the beach.”
We pass through a narrow hallway lined with soft lighting, the bass from the party now a distant pulse. There is a door there, the same door we arrived at when we landed in the helicopter this morning. Othello pushes it open, and then offers me his hand. I take it in mine as we walk off down the stone path together.
“There was a path we walked to get to the golf course, but I noticed another path that I think leads to the beach,” Othello assures me.
“I like that you’re stealing me away,” I say softly.
