Our pace apparently involves coffee, then the bookstore, then a high-end clothing boutique. How do I know it’s high-end? Because there are only twenty things in the entire shop. Each item is spaced out so you can see the front and back of the garment.
I make the mistake of glancing at the price tag on a skirt hand-sewn by artists from Avignon, France, and have a heart attack.
“I’ll be outside,” I say, as Dante and Stephanie gush over a dress.
Sitting out on the curb, I look down at my phone, but I don’t have any signal, so there’s no use in trying to warn Aiden that I won’t be at the museum any time soon.
I feel horrible for abandoning him. He’s only here as a favor to me. What if he’s really annoyed with me?!“I’m a little drunk.”
“So you’ve said.”
“Sorry. I won’t say it again.” I lock my lips and toss away the key. Then a second later, I forget my promise: “They just kept buying me drinks and I didn’t want to be rude.”
I’m lying on the bed in our room after dinner. At least, I think it’s after dinner. I’m not sure Stephanie, Dante, and I ever ate dinner. After leaving the boutique, we found this little bar in a hotel, and their drinks were so good and so cheap and Dante and Stephanie are fun! And wow, can they hold their alcohol. I…cannot.
“I told Stephanie about the mirror, and she thought it was hilarious. Telling her while we were tipsy was probably a good idea. Did you like the museum?” I ask, angling my head so I can look at him upside down. He’s sitting on one of the lounge chairs in our room, typing on his laptop. I wonder what he’s writing about.
Me, probably.
Roses are red, violets are blue. I love Maddie, just like I always knew.
“Truthfully, not really.”
Oh no, I knew he was going to have a bad day. I feel worse for leaving him. I snap my fingers, having come up with a brilliant idea.
“Let’s go swimming!” I say, sitting up.
My head spins with the sudden movement.
“Now?”
“Yes! C’mon, wouldn’t it be so fun?”
“What about everyone else?” he asks, glancing at the door.
“We’ll be quiet. Come on, live a little, Aiden Smith!”
He doesn’t get a choice in the matter because I’m already fluttering around the room collecting things I think we’ll need: towels, sunscreen, shoes. I hold it all up to prove to him how serious I am about swimming.
He takes the sunscreen out of my hands. “It’s nighttime—no sun.”
“Right-o.”
“And that’s one of your shoes and one of mine.”
“Oh.”
I drop it all back onto the bed.
He laughs and shakes his head before heading for the door. “We don’t need all that. Let’s go.”
Now he’s the one in charge, walking ahead, out of our room and down the concrete path toward the pool. I’m worried everyone will be able to see us, but it’s later than I thought and I think most of the group is sleeping. I look around at the bungalows and notice drapes drawn shut. The main house’s lights are off, and there’s nothing but the sound of crickets and cicadas to keep us company. It’s not as hot as I thought it’d be, and when I dip my toe in the pool, I find it’s been temperature regulated.
Aiden wastes no time tugging off his shirt. I look over and watch him do it. The moon emphasizes the contours of his body, casting some in light and others in shadow. He tosses the shirt back onto a lounger then starts to push down his shorts. Black boxer briefs are the last thing left, and he leaves them on.
He stops and looks over at me. “Undress, Maddie.”
My body responds right away as if Aiden is in control of my brain now. I start to lift my shirt up over my head. It gets caught on my ponytail for a second and I make a sound of distress—like an animal caught in a snare—before Aiden’s hands deftly lift it up and over my head. He tosses it over onto the lounger with his shirt.
We’ve never undressed like this, in front of each other. Alone.
Sure, we’ve gone swimming with friends in Barton Springs or lounged at our building’s pool, but this feels markedly different.
“Your shorts,” he says, keeping his green eyes on me.
I unbutton and push them far enough that they can slip down the rest of the way on their own. I kick them aside and glance at my panties. They don’t match my bra. They’re black, and my bra is a pale pink. I wonder what Aiden thinks. I wonder if he even cares. When I glance back up, he’s looking at me in the soft moonlight.
Something burns behind his gaze. There’s fire in the green depths.