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I stiffened a little.
Work colleagues?
Jack and Anna were so much more than that. They were the parents of the girl I was in love with. The people who, with one phone call, could change my life forever.
But tonight, I didn’t have to be that person.
Tonight, I could just be...me.
Swallowing my discomfort, I forced a smile. “I suppose one drink couldn’t hurt.”
* * * * *
Neri: How was dinner? Where did you go? Are you on The Fluke?
I gritted my teeth as I waited outside the bar where Rhea and I had shared a drink for the past hour. She’d excused herself to go to the bathroom, and I’d stepped outside to wait for her.
I’d enjoyed the faint buzz I had going on, or I had until Neri’s message pinged.
It pissed me off that she’d asked if I was on The Fluke when she knew damn well that I wasn’t. Just like I knew, thanks to her blinking red dot, that she was still in Port Douglas township.
It took all my self-control not to tell her to get the fuck home. Not to ask what the hell she was doing out so late. But then she’d know I was tracking her. Just like she was tracking me.
Me: Dinner was great. Went to a place called Fins. And no, I’m not on The Fluke.
“As well you fucking know,” I growled under my breath.
Neri: It’s late. I’m surprised Mum and Dad are still awake at this time, let alone out and about.
Me: Your parents decided to get a hotel for the night.
Neri: So...you’re on your own?
“Ready?” Rhea stepped out of the noisy bar, her cheeks pink from the hot night and her skin dewy from perspiration.
I looked up from the death grip on my phone. “Yeah, sorry.”
I deliberated shoving it into my pocket without answering Neri, but...the four beers I’d had and the ocean of frustration in my heart made me do something I definitely shouldn’t do. “Just give me one second.”
Clicking reply, I typed.
Me: No. I’m not alone.
I sent it.
I shoved my phone deep into my pocket.
And the girl who’d happily chatted about herself all night and gave up asking about me when I deflected each question, placed her hand boldly on my chest. My heart pounded beneath my charcoal-coloured t-shirt.
“So...Aslan.” Rhea licked her lips, her green eyes wide and eager. “We’ve shared a drink. Or three.”
“We have.”
“I’ve told you I’m unattached and nursing a broken heart from a bastard who didn’t love me enough in Corinth.”
“You did.”
“I’ve asked you where you’ve come from, why you’re here, and how long you’re planning on being in Australia and all you’ve told me is: your name, your age, and the fact that you’re unattached as well.”
“I did.”
“That leaves me with only one conclusion.”
My lips twitched even as my phone vibrated in my pocket. Neri’s reply. My heart clenched as I forced myself to focus on the girl before me and not the girl I couldn’t have. “And what’s that?”
Standing on tiptoes to reach my ear, she whispered loudly enough for the couple standing beside us vaping to hear, “I rent a studio apartment with another girl not far from here. She’s working until six a.m.”
“Sounds like your friend has a shit job.”
She giggled. Her breath tickled my neck, making me shiver. “She does. But that’s not the point.”
I knew her point.
I’d known it since she’d smiled in the restaurant and Anna had told me to have some fun. This girl I was permitted to touch. Permitted to want. I could have fun with this girl.
Memories of Rita and Molly offering me a threesome last year popped into my head. They’d guessed I was a virgin because I was beyond sensitive when it came to touch.
I fucking hated that they’d guessed right.
I’d had a girlfriend back in Turkey. I’d kissed her. Touched her a little. And thought I was falling for her, until I met Neri and realised I’d never felt anything like it before.
And somehow, four fucking years had passed.
Four excruciating years of self-abuse and mental movies and aching frustration to be with a woman, all while knowing the one woman I wanted more than fucking anything could never be mine.
My phone vibrated again, ripping out my heart all while my temper made me reckless.
I was done torturing myself.
Done wanting what I couldn’t have.
If I spent the night with Rhea, perhaps whatever hold Neri had over me would end, and we could finally be exactly what we ought to be.
Friends.
Confidants.
And nothing more.
“Come home with me?” Rhea asked, swallowing hard as if the invitation had cost her more than she wanted to admit.
For all the titbits she’d shared of her life. For all her confessions of running away from a boyfriend who hadn’t valued her and landing in a country where no one knew her, she was still a total stranger.
