AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He was a good-looking guy.
He was smart and funny and a thousand other things.
I sat back and watched this Dominique push her chair to the side to be even closer to Lucas to show him all the options, the way she laughed and touched his arm accidentally when she reached for the one brochure to highlight the sea turtles excursion.
The way she was leaning in just a little way too close...
All things I probably wouldn’t have paid way too much attention to forty-eight hours ago. I would have been distracted by the warm air, the sunshine, the ocean so close. I would have been distracted enough about the view, checking the sights, the sounds.
But the thing was…
Argh...Lucas...I’d been harboring a stupid crush on him forever.
A stupid crush, so stupid, that I hadn’t ever thought about doing something about it.
And now, now this perfect woman had seemingly fallen into his lap.
I finished my drink with a last gulp and leaned forward, needing a break from the thoughts tormenting me. I picked up one of the glossy brochures in front of us, this one focusing on Playa Piskado, trying to keep myself in the moment. I looked at the photos of some cave excursion, hoping to work up some sort of enthusiasm about the prospect of touring the beautiful island…but…I looked beside me, at Lucas’ smile and the model-perfect woman beside him…and sighed to myself. That was what Lucas deserved. That was what Lucas had always seemed drawn to. So it wouldn’t take long for best friend Abbie to fade into the background.
He was busy flipping through another brochure, that little line between his eyebrows meaning he was taking this oh so seriously. I’d seen that little line a thousand times before, usually when he’d been busy studying for exams.
Dominique caught my eye.
I smiled sweetly, noticing her hand still resting on Lucas’ arm.
And that was enough of that.
“Lucas...”
He turned his head to smile at me. “What, Abs?”
“What are we planning?” I leaned closer to look at the brochure.
He pushed the paper closer to me, moving his arm away from Dominique’s hand in the process. I had a startled feeling he hadn’t even really been aware it was there.
He tapped the page with his index finger.
“The snorkeling looks amazing. There’s submerged boats and stuff we can check out. And it doesn’t have to be in a big group, it can be just the two of us, right?” He glanced back at her for confirmation.
She nodded.
“Three of us.” She smiled. “And of course, there’s a crew on the boat…”
“There’s an afternoon right there...”
“I have it tentatively scheduled...the earliest I could get us a boat is a few days from now,” she chimed in. “Snorkeling was something you’d mentioned in our first conversation, so I thought I’d pencil it in.” She smiled at him. “I know we talked a bit of an itinerary on the phone, but now that I’ve met you...”
Meaning, now that she’s seen Lucas...
“We could do some surfing. Paddle boarding?”
All wonderful activities that would most likely require him to be shirtless. Not that I could exactly blame her.
Lucas looked at me. “Surfing?”
He looked hopeful.
“I think I’d rather stick to snorkeling.” I didn’t fancy face-planting into the water. I shrugged a shoulder. “Don’t want to hurt myself too bad on vacation.”
