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Zoey: It is not juicy. And no pics.
Anna: Fine. Any word from Grant?
Zoey: Not since last night. I denied him the full body shot he wanted.
Anna: Take a sexy bikini pic for my Instagram! It’ll freak Mike out and Grant will probably see it too.
Zoey: Lol. Maybe.
Anna: Do it!
Zoey: You’re the pushiest sister ever, you know that?
I don’t know how to take a sexy photo. When I was eighteen, Anna and I were walking down Melrose and we both got recruited by a modeling agency. We went in for test shots, and they only took about five of me before saying no thanks. The quote was, “You have the body, but not the gravitas.” Clearly, I’m lacking in Blue Steel. Anna, on the other hand, smolders on camera. I sigh. Maybe Jamie can help me with a sexy photo. He’s better at this kind of thing than I am.
Zoey: Hey, would it bug you if I gave your couple’s massage tomorrow to Jamie and his crush?
Anna: Don’t you want a massage?
Zoey: With my ankle, I’m not sure I should… anyway, I can always tag along to a sensual cooking class with the gay guys we met.
Anna: Or you can let me book you a sport massage. It’ll help, I swear.
Zoey: OMG, you don’t have to!
Anna: What if I want to?
Zoey: If it makes you happy… ;)
Anna: Good girl.
Zoey: I wish you could go with me.
Anna: I wish I didn’t have to be doing what I’m doing.
My heart hurts for Anna. Here she is trying to make this cruise fun for me, when I should be the one to make her LA mission less terrible. For half a second I start a text to Mom, to tell her to go check on Anna, who’s staying at my place in LA. But then I remember Mom would bring Jeremy, her gross younger boyfriend, and that’s the last person Anna needs to see right now.
I shove my phone in my bag and rest my head on the lounger, willing myself to relax into the chair and to forget that I have seven more days of idleness ahead of me. Seven days without distractions. Seven days knowing my sister is all alone in LA, and so vulnerable.
CHAPTERSEVEN
SEBASTIAN
The next morningI’m rushing down the hallway to the upscale Mexican restaurant where Colin has suggested I meet the group for a sensual cooking class, when I come face to face with Anna, Jamie, and Oscar in plush white robes. They do not look like they’re going to a cooking workshop. There are only a couple other venues on this floor: Razzle Dazzle, the Sailor Services desk, and Redemption Spa. It’s easy to guess their destination.
“Fancy seeing you here,” I quip. “Clearly, I don’t know how to dress for a spa-day!” My laugh sounds hollow, but Jamie and Oscar give each other delighted grins. Anna’s face sours.
“You’replanning a spa-day?” She crosses her fluffy arms.
“Oh yeah, love a good steam room.” I hope I’m planning a spa day. You can’t get in without an appointment, and who knows if they’ll have any last-minute availability.
“This issuchfun news,” Jamie says, touching my arm. His Man-Bun is gone, and the hair flowing over his shoulders is even longer than Anna’s. A flash of heat rushes up my chest and over my face. Is this a naked spa? What are they planning?
After getting my photo of Anna’s guys and doing some research on them, I know they’re a mixed bag of sexual preferences and relationship status. Aniston, from Seattle, recently broke up his throuple with a woman and another man. Oscar lives in LA, and Colin lives in Dallas, and both seem single too. But it’s unclear if they’re into men, women, or both. None of them have accepted my friend requests on social media yet, so I can’t tell. Still, that they’re all here with Jamie and Anna suggests they’re into everything under the sun.
I’m not ready to bend that line. Even for Mike and the job at Ulla Beauty. I hope my day at Redemption Spa will offer deliverance from things I don’t want to do and some hard evidence on Anna’s affairs that might atone for my lack of intel this far into the trip.
I staked out Anna’s room while the group went to the acrobatics show last night. I figured if she was getting hot and heavy with anyone, they’d split off from the group and go back to her room. But she came back alone around ten. Maybe the spa will be my big break.
