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And Edier, I think with a jolt, setting off that pulse between my legs again.
Edier lives in New York, too.
* * *
I don’t seehim for the rest of the night, but I feel his dark gaze on me constantly. It’s prickling my bare skin and making me whip my head round expectantly, only to find empty chairs and spaces.
I swore I caught a glimpse of him when I was attempting the Macarena with Thalia on the dance floor and falling about laughing as we messed-up all the steps. Then again, I’m also a liquor rookie who’s drunk two and a half glasses of champagne, which is still two and a half more than I’ve ever drunk before, so I stopped trusting my eyesight hours ago.
It’s half eleven when I make my way over to the bar to grab a glass of water. Sam’s already there with Thalia. Their heads are bowed, and I can tell they’re plotting something.
“Do Iwantto know what’s going on, or will you have to kill me afterward?” I slide my arms around Thalia’s waist and give Sam a shy smile over her shoulder. He’s older than me and already at college, but he has that cool, lethal vibe that Edier exudes so naturally. It’s only a matter of time before he ends up working for our father, as well.
“Here you go.” The bartender hands me my water, but his eyes are all over Sam.
Sam doesn’t notice, or if he does, he’s not interested. He’s sworn off both sexes this year. Thalia’s convinced he has a girlfriend at Rutgers, but he hasn’t admitted anything to us.
“We’re sneaking off to the beach,” Thalia confides, her face bursting with the devilish thrill of it. “Sam knows a secret path that avoids allPapá’ssecurity.”
“Thals…” I warn.
“The tide is in. The ocean is dead calm. We’re only going for a swim, and it’s going to beheaven. We’ll be back before you know it, I swear.”
“Hey, don’t I get to come?”
They both stare at me like I just admitted to a murder. I never do anything spontaneous. That’s usually Thalia’s department.She’s careless. I’m careful. It’s just the way things are.
But then I think about that box of unspoken things that Edier and I created for tonight, and I figure I can shove that stereotype of me in there as well.
“Do you think you should?” Thalia looks worried. “It’s a hot night, but the water might be freezing. I’d hate for you to get really sick….”
“It’s only for a couple of minutes, right?” I’m craving the ocean suddenly. I want to feel weightless and stare up at the stars. I want to feel small because then my problems won’t feel so big. “The second I get cold I’ll go back to the house.”
“Are we doing this, or not?” Sam folds a tab of gum into his mouth and chews impatiently.
“Doing it,” I say, reaching over the bar counter to grab an unopened bottle of champagne and handing it to him. “If we’re going to break the rules, let’s break them all.”
He takes the bottle and grins. “I’m liking this new batshit crazy Ella.”
I’m liking her too.
His dad’s private beach is curved like a crescent, and it’s being mirrored by the shape of the moon shining down on it. The tips of the black waves are dipped in silver, and the sand is a paler shade of dark. There are no other lights out here, except for the string of bulbs above the steps we just climbed down.
I bury my toes in the wet sand as Thalia pulls off her dress and runs headfirst into the water with a squeal.
“Holy shit, it’s so cold! Your balls are going to shrink to raisins, Sam!”
“Tha-lia!” I chide, but Sam just laughs. Tossing the champagne bottle down by my feet, I see a flash of white teeth as he drags his shirt over his head, drops his pants, and follows her in, diving headfirst into the waves in an elegant arc of muscles and tattoos.
I wait until they’re at least ten meters from the shoreline before my own dress is a pool of gold silk next to the bottle. Unlike Thalia, I’m not wearing a bra, so I cover my small breasts with one hand as I jog to the water’s edge.
The first kiss of cold is painful. The second and third are needle-pricks of ice. The fourth tempts me enough to wade in even deeper, the water caressing up my knees. To my left, Sam is scooping Thalia up and chucking her back into the ocean, and the balmy night air is alive with her screams, splutters, and laughter.
Once there’s a little more distance between us, I drop my hand from chest and skim the surface with my palms, smiling each time the undulating water rises to submerge them. I continue walking like this until it’s up to my breasts, hardening my nipples to aching points for the second time tonight.
“Hey, Ella? You still alive out there?”
“Hush, Sam, you’re ruining my zen!”
