Stealing Phin (8 page)

A waitress came to our table with a tray of drinks we didn’t order. Carlito asked her where the drinks came from.

“From the American at the bar,” she said as she placed a shot of Guaro in front of each of us. The smell of it made me feel sick. “He said to send a gift to the most attractive table in the Lounge.”

The four of us glanced toward the bar. Byron lifted his glass to us and smiled generously.

“Do you know that man?” Carlito asked me. He was drunk, but not so drunk he didn’t notice Byron looking straight at me. I sensed a tinge of jealousy in Carlito’s voice.

“He’s a gay flower hunter.” Dez hiccupped as she reached for her shot glass. “The gays love beautiful women, even if they don’t like fucking them. Cheers to the gays!” She tipped her head back and downed the liquid.

“Cheers to Señor Flower Hunter!” Estevan raised his glass to Byron before taking down his drink as well.

I pushed my shot glass toward Carlito. “You can have mine.”

“You’ve had too much?”

“No. I just don’t accept drinks from jerks.”

Carlito looked confused for a moment, then pleased. He didn’t understand why I thought Byron was a jerk, he only cared that I wasn’t interested in him. He drank both shots in quick succession and yelled across the bar, “Gracias, mi amigo!”

The whole scene had become too uncomfortable. It was one thing to keep Byron’s presence in the background, where it belonged, but now he had directly inserted himself into my evening. How was I supposed to continue pretending he didn’t exist now? The night was ruined.

“I’m not feeling very well.” I frowned. “Can we head back to the Villa?”

Dez gave me a watery grin. “What a coincident. We were just talking about taking this party someplace more private.” Then, she gave a less-than-subtle wink.

The cab ride to the Villa was awkward, to put it lightly. Carlito rode in the front seat. Dez and Estevan made out like two horny teenagers in the backseat, while I shoved myself against the car door, trying not to get elbowed in the eye.

Back in our dorm, Dez would hang one of her bras on the front door knob to give me fair warning if she had brought a guy back to our room. I’d usually go to the commons for a snack or to the library to wait it out. Unfortunately, there obviously weren’t similar options here.

But that was the least of my problems. The more pressing one being how to let Carlito down gently and tell him he wasn’t going to score. Before I knew it, we had arrived at the Villa. I wracked my brain for an excuse to give Carlito. He slung his arm around my shoulder as we walked up to the room. My panic levels rose. Why couldn’t I think of anything to say to get him to go away?

Dez and Estevan headed straight inside and began tearing each other’s clothes off. I stood my ground at the door with a nervous grin on my face.

“Don’t be serious, mi cariño.” He stroked my hair. “Is it okay I call you mi cariño tonight?” His leaned in. “Let Carlito make you forget the man who broke his promises.” He went for a kiss.

I didn’t even feel the vomit come up until it had landed on Carlito’s face.

Ten minutes later, I was sitting at the pool with my feet dunked in the water. Unsurprisingly, Carlito had split pretty quickly after I’d spewed my guts onto his face and his shirt. Apparently, Guaro and I did not get along.

After he’d left, I’d stood at the door for a few moments, listening to the mating cries on the other side that rivaled those coming from the jungle surrounding us, before I decided to kill some time by the pool. I wanted to be alone anyway.

Because it was late, the pool area was empty. The sky seemed extra dark and ominous. Clouds had rolled in, blocking the moon and stars.

The smell of the vomit on my dress made me feel sick again. Glancing around the area to make sure there was no one around, I pulled off my dress and dove into the water.

I wasn’t a good swimmer, having only learned in college. But I’d grown to love that moment when your body cut through the water and, for as long as you could hold your breath, the sights and sounds of the entire world washed away. If only it’d work to wash away all my memories of the past seventy-two hours.

When I came up for air, it began to sprinkle. I floated on my back, gazing up at the dark, cloudy sky, wondering if some empathetic being up there knew how I felt and had sent the clouds and rain as a message:

I
know
what
you’re
going
through.
He’s
scum
for
hurting
you.

As the rain came down harder, the tears also came. And for the first time since Douglas and I ended, I let myself cry freely. Grateful that there was no one else around to see me cry, and at the same time, not giving a shit anymore. The rain washed away my tears as fast as I spilled them. I will have turned this pool into the Great Salt Lake before I’d cried him out of my system.

Lightning lit up the sky. Automatically, I counted the seconds before the thunder sounded. One, one thousand. Two, one thousand. Three, one thousand. A low rumble rolled over the top of the rainforest canopy nearby.

I dipped my ears under the water and could hear the thunder and the muted echoes of the rain plopping on the pool’s surface, but nothing else.

The sky grew even darker. There was darkness above me and all around. Even the water looked black. I was floating in a void, wishing for a whirlpool to swallow me up as I started feeling the ache again. The sharp blade that stabbed me in the heart and twisted with cruelty, every single time I tried to forget it. The pain that should’ve killed me days ago, except my stubborn, stupid body kept insisting on breathing, my heart kept beating, though I no longer knew what for.

I closed my eyes, replacing the darkness with more darkness. Except this blackness felt empty, just like me.

Had he thought of me since the day he shattered my world into a million pieces? Did he feel as terrible as I did? Did he care that I was hurting? That heartless, soulless bastard…whom I loved.

I loved how he smelled. I loved the dimple in his chin. I love the way he sometimes frowned before he smiled. I loved the way he said my name. His voice filled my ears. I could hear him calling my name, as if his voice lived inside my head. I heard him say my name the way he did the first time I had made him come.
Phin,
oh
Phin.

Another sheet of lightening flashed red behind my eyelids. I could still hear Douglas calling me. Except now it wasn’t the cry of passion as I’d imagined a moment ago. Now he said my name with urgency—the way he did when he wanted me so badly, he could hardly wait until we got home.

A roll of thunder drowned his voice out for a second or two. I grew agitated at the weather for interfering with my reverie. I lifted my ears above the water. The plop of the raindrops on the pool rose to a racket. The thunder rumbled almost constantly now. The lightening made the air crackle with electricity.

“Phin!”

I jerked my head. Someone was really calling my name.

“Douglas?” I said without thinking, voicing my hopes and fears in one word. Was he here? Had he come to take it all back and beg for forgiveness? Or maybe to stomp on my heart one final time to make sure I’d never survive him? Either would be an act of mercy—as long as it stopped the pain.

“Phin, are you nuts?”

Frantically, I looked around the pool, but couldn’t see the person shouting at me. I wiped the rain from my eyes and tried to pinpoint the direction the voice was coming from, which was tough to do over the rain and thunder.

A light shined on me, hitting me straight in the eyes.

“Get out of the water.”

Realizing that it wasn’t Douglas’s voice, I assumed it was a resort security guard.

“Do you mind?” I shielded my eyes with a dripping hand.

“Don’t you know it’s dangerous to swim during a thunderstorm?” the voice yelled.

A bright flash of lightning lit the area, revealing the source of the voice. It was Byron.

Instantly aggravated, I swam away from him and toward the deep end of the pool. I’d rather get struck by lightning than listen to that asshole.

“Of course I know that,” I said as I paddled around casually, though now that he’d brought it up, I grew a tad worried.

“And yet you’re swimming in a pool during a thunderstorm.”

“Life is dangerous.” I put on a bold front. “There are a lot worse things that can happen to you than a little electrocution.”

“Spoken like someone who’s never been electrocuted.” He strode along the edge of the pool toward me. His clothes were soaked and clinging to his body. He looked like a walking wet dream, in every sense of the phrase.

What was he doing here anyway? “Shouldn’t you be at the Lava Lounge working some drunk chick with your schmoozy one-liners?”

“Cut me some slack. I prefer hitting on drunk prudes who can’t hold their liquor.”

I momentarily forgot all my sadness as anger flared inside me. I searched for a cutting come-back, but I was so frustrated I got tongue-tied and came up with nothing. So, I glared at him instead.

A bolt of lightning split the sky.

Byron crouched and held out his hand. “Seriously. Get out of the pool.” By his expression, he seemed annoyed, but his tone sounded genuinely concerned.

“I’m staying right here, thank you very much.”

He shook his head. “You are one stubborn bitch, aren’t you?”

My mouth fell open. “Did you just call me a bitch?”

“No, I called you a
stubborn
bitch.”

“Screw you, Lord Byron.” I swam away from him as fast as I could.

A moment later, I heard a big splash. I stopped swimming and turned my head to look at where Byron had been standing. Lightning flashed again. He was gone.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my thigh and another on my waist. I yelped, as a head popped up next to mine. I was so startled that I went under and accidentally swallowed a big gulp of water. The hands brought me back above surface. I clung onto Byron’s neck as I choked and coughed the water I’d inhaled.

“What are you doing?” I yelled when I could speak again. He’d jumped in—shoes and all. Lightning lit his face. It was so close to mine. I could see his features clearly. All signs of arrogance and smugness were gone. He looked only angry.

Our treading legs touched and slid against each other, as our bodies engaged in an underwater dance. I couldn’t have swum away from him if I tried. We were drawn together like the lightning to the ground.

Suddenly, his face changed. The anger washed away by another look—the look of hunger.

His hand pressed against the back of my neck, tilting my head upward. I felt overcome by an urgent desire. My legs wrapped themselves around his waist. Before I could stop them, my lips pressed themselves against his.

The tip of his tongue parted my lips, and I let him slip it between them. I sucked on his tongue as he withdrew it, pulling it back in for more. His hand slid under the cup of my bra and caressed my breast. The sensation sent a thrill through me, and suddenly, my body became possessed by a higher power.

I squeezed him with my inner thighs and lifted myself higher, putting my breast in front of his face. He complied with my silent demand and closed his mouth around my nipple. His tongue played with it until it became hard and tight. He bit it lightly, making me squirm from the sensation it sent between my legs. I grabbed his hair, prying his mouth off my nipple, and lowered myself again to kiss him.

His tongue pushed into my mouth harder now—telling me without words that he wanted what I wanted, too. He pressed my back gently against the wall of the pool. I reached for the bottom of his shirt and began to pull it up. He was faster and whipped the shirt off just as lightning struck a tree nearby. He looked like a god. Like Thor himself coming to Earth to mingle with us mortals.

I wondered what was wetter at this point—the pool or me. Wanting him inside me, I worked at his belt and undid his pant button. I reached inside. He was swollen and so hard, the first thought I had was that he must not have had any sexual release in months. I squeezed his hardness, overcome by an intense desire for him to release all that he had pent up inside…into me. As I gripped him, a sound of pleasure escaped from his lips, and he became overcome by an intensity of his own.

He reached between my legs and moved my panties aside. When he pushed himself into me, an explosion of pleasure rocketed from between my legs up to the top of my head. I heard myself cry out over the thunder and rain. He put his mouth on mine again, as if he wanted to feast on my ecstasy.

He thrust into me again and again, causing waves in the water. My pleasure grew with each thrust, mounting like the pressure in a geyser just before it erupts. I felt his own pleasure growing too. Whenever I thought he couldn’t feel any harder or bigger, I could feel him grow inside me. He filled me to capacity and beyond.