‘You sitting down?’
He shook his head. ‘It rocks. The way I’m feeling, I might puke on you.’
‘You charmer.’
He sat down on the edge of the pool, a shimmering sheet of turquoise neon in the darkness, and dangled his feet into the water. Still thinking about the letter, and feeling quite intimate in this dark, romantic space, he wondered how long he could leave it before he went back to the beach.
‘What are you two doing up here being all antisocial?’ asked a self-assured, slightly tipsy voice from the gate down to the shore. ‘Come on. We need everyone we can get down on the beach.’
Alex looked up to see Freya standing in front of them, holding an elaborate cocktail.
‘We’re just hanging out here for a few minutes,’ replied Grace, sitting more upright in the tiki swing.
‘Is he serenading you?’ Freya smiled, nodding her head towards the guitar. She walked over to Alex and picked up the instrument, strumming the strings with her long painted fingernails and making an ugly noise.
Alex winced. ‘Careful with that, eh?’
She looked at him and gave a playful half-smile. ‘Music’s not my strong point. Why don’t you show me how to play? Then I can tell everyone the new John Lennon taught me the guitar.’
Feeling flattered, Alex glanced nervously up at Grace, but she just raised her eyebrows.
Sighing, he took the guitar and put his arm round Freya. ‘OK, put your first finger here on the G string,’ he said.
‘Saucy,’ she purred.
Alex flushed as he felt his cock go hard. Behind him Grace’s sandals clattered on the decking as she stood up.
‘I’ve just got to go somewhere for a minute.’
Alex put the guitar down and frowned. ‘Where are you going?’
‘Back to the dessert trolley probably,’ sniggered Freya under her breath.
He watched Grace disappear through the gate, and by the time he had turned round, Freya had lain down along the side of the pool, her top riding so high up her torso he could see the curve of her tanned breasts. Unable to help himself, he pictured her naked and wondered, not for the first time that holiday, what sex would be like with her. Part of him definitely wouldn’t mind finding out.
‘Where’s home again when we leave Angel?’ she asked languidly.
‘Cheshire,’ said Alex, hoping it sounded posher than Macclesfield.
‘Are you ever in London?’
‘I will be in September. My college is in Marylebone.’
‘My boyfriend has a flat not too far from there.’
‘I might bump into you then,’ said Alex, wishing he could think of something more funny or interesting to say.
She leant up on one elbow, looking at Alex searchingly. ‘He wants me to move in with him.’
‘And you don’t?’ he replied, wondering if they were about to have a deep and meaningful conversation.
Freya sighed. ‘I should, he’s every girl’s dream really. A banker, got a Ferrari and a huge penis,’ she whispered conspiratorially. ‘But I think I’m too young to be tied down, don’t you?’
She sat up, swept her hair off the back of her neck and tied it on top of her head. The long, tanned nape of her neck was beautiful, just like the skin of an apricot.
‘I’m going inside,’ she said. ‘Are you coming?’
Something in the way she was looking at him suggested she wanted to have sex with him, which prompted a sudden, inexplicable flurry of nerves. She looked experienced in bed. Too experienced.