Page 20 of See You Next Tuesday

“And then Jill dropped all those pans in the kitchen and I woke up,” Anya said matter-of-factly.

Anya and Simone were lying on big towels on Caracas Beach—a crescent-shaped cove on the island’s southern coast protected by tall trees on every side, which made it feel completely private. The rest of the group was there, but most were swimming in the ocean or off looking for shells, so Simone and Anya had taken the opportunity to “relax in the sun” (i.e., gossip about their respective nights). After a solid forty minutes of Simone extolling Kira’s virtues in and out of bed, she’d asked for a recap of Anya’s night, which was considerably shorter.

“You like Gabe so much.” Simone made goo-goo eyes at Anya. “You’re in love with him, I knew it.”

“Please.” Anya rolled her eyes dramatically. “You and Kira threw me out of my room. I knew exactly what you two were doing in there—”

“What we were doing was considerably more X-rated than your dream, but go on.”

“—and I was really annoyed about sharing a room with Gabe—”

“Wait, you’re not mad-mad, are you?” Simone looked at Anya with concern.

“Of course not!” Anya reassured her. “I’d do anything for you, sharing a weirdly decorated children’s room with a man I dislike is not a big deal. I just mean, I was already having emotions about sharing a space with him, and then he was making dumb jokes about the toy gorillas, and all those noises while he slept, and I knew you and Kira were having sex, so obviously my subconscious whipped that all together into whatever that dream was.”

Simone peered at Anya. “Babe, it’s a good thing you’re pretty because you are so, so stupid.”

Anya laughed and threaded her fingers through Simone’s. “You think I’m pretty.”

“The prettiest. But you blush real easy, so maybe don’t look over there because Gabe just took his shirt off.” Simone nodded toward the ocean, where Gabe and Kira were tossing a Frisbee as the waves lapped at their feet, looking like J.Crew models in the surf.

“Fuck off,” Anya sighed.

“Shan’t.” Simone grinned.

Kira noticed Simone and Anya looking over and turned to wave hello, which made her miss the Frisbee Gabe had thrown. The Frisbee sailed toward Anya and Simone, and Kira jogged over to retrieve it. Gabe trailed behind, looking considerably grumpier.

Kira gave Simone a goofy smile. “You guys having fun?”

“Definitely.” Simone beamed. “Anya was telling me about this very interesting dream she had last night.”

“Oh yeah?” Kira perked up. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Anya gritted, shooting Simone a death look. “It was about these toy gorillas in our room coming to life.”

“Seriously?” Gabe laughed dismissively. Anya was inclined to glare at him, but he looked so ridiculously good towering over her in the glittering sunshine that she pointedly turned her back on him instead. As if he even cares whether I’m looking at him, she thought grimly.

“I was thinking about walking to that cliff to check out the view.” Kira pointed out a jutting rock formation at the far end of the beach. “You guys want to come?”

“Sure!” Simone agreed immediately.

“I’m okay, but thank you,” Anya said politely, wanting to give Simone and Kira some alone time. “Might take a nap after all my gorilla night terrors.”

“Gabe?” Kira asked.

“Nah, you guys go ahead, I’m gonna get something to eat,” he said. Anya respected that even if Gabe was a jerk to her, at least he was considerate of Kira.

“Cool,” Kira said. “See you guys in a bit.”

Kira leaned down to help Simone stand, reaching out her hand like Gabe had in Anya’s dream. It made Anya’s stomach churn to think about the dream with Gabe standing so near, especially with them both in bathing suits. As Kira and Simone started walking down the beach, Gabe settled onto the sand beside Anya. His swim trunks today were chocolate brown with a bright white drawstring, and Anya hated that her mind automatically went to imagining untying it.

“So you really didn’t sleep well?” he asked. “Because of the gorillas?”

“We don’t have to do this,” Anya said tightly.

“Do what?”

“Small talk, whatever.” Anya waved her hand dismissively. “Just because our friends are hooking up doesn’t mean we have to pretend to like each other. You have your vacation, I’ll have mine. It’s fine.”