“He was naked, so I’m assuming he lives here!” Ris laughed, her face screwing up in thought. “You know, now that you mention it, I don’t think I got his name. I was on my knees and it never came up...other things did though!”
She dissolved into giggles, and Lurielle felt her long ears heat, the champagne providing her with the stomach-churning image of Khash’s square jaw dropped, his mouth hanging open in pleasure as Ris finished the job Lurielle had started in the thermae, his experience with her forgotten. The tiefling appeared at the table then, depositing a basket filled with fragrant, bready pastries, warm and sweet-smelling. “Did-did we order this?”
“Oh it’s-it’s a part of the brunch special,” the tiefling explained, pulling back the cloth covering to reveal the assortment of croissants and danishes. “And I’m sure you need something to balance that champagne, am I right?” The girl gave them a bright smile as she cleared away their empty plates, “Would anyone care for coffee or tea? I’ll get those water glasses refilled…”
Silva gave another squeak of laughter, and Lurielle watched the orc’s head rise again from where he worked behind the bar. The tiefling moved from their table, beelining directly to where he stood,, their heads coming together conspiratorially.
“This place is wild,” Ris announced, picking out a fat croissant, chocolate oozing from the end. “They gave us a magnum and that brunch menu doesn’t say a single thing about pastries...anyway, does it matter about his name? We’re just meat to these guys, and that’s all they should be to us.”
Lurielle sipped from the refilled water goblet, feeling a stone turn over in her stomach, a heavy island in a sea of champagne.Just a piece of meat.Ris was right. He was too charming, too funny, far too handsome for her to believe she’d been anything other than just anothersightseerto him. Best to put him out of mind and try to salvage the rest of the weekend.
♥♥♥
Shopping proved to be an uncoordinated adventure, as they staggered down the sidewalk, gripping each others arms and giggling, and they wound up headed back to their room not long after, laden with bags of small trinkets.
“Let’s just put our swimsuits on and lie out by the pool,” Silva tittered once they arrived back in the suite. “We need to metabolize these mimosas before we try to do anything else.”
Lurielle realized her blue two-piece had been left on the floor of her room the night before, leaving her to wear the yellow halter-style she’d packed. Picking up the still-damp scraps of fabric, she brought them to the bathroom to rinse in the tub, turning her friend’s words over and over in her mind.Just a piece of meat.Ris was right, and she needed to shake off the previous evening. She was here to have a good time, after all. None of these men cared about her, and she didn’t need to care about them in return.
The blue pareo was similarly still in a crumpled heap on the floor, where she’d dropped it last night before crawling into bed. The small scrap of paper fluttered from the gauzy folds, disappearing beneath the bed as she grunted in annoyance, dropping to her knees.
His handwriting was strong and bold, with firm downward strokes and long lines, the letters of his name filling the white square, the numbers below it equally as long. She sat on the floor beside the bed, her lungs unable to draw breath, moving her finger over his name until Silva called out that they were ready to head to the pool, snapping her from her reverie. Saving the number in her phone, she placed the small scrap of paper, an indelible piece of him, into her bag, determined not to lose it. She would decide what to do once they were installed in the sun.
Emerging from her room, she saw Silva slipping a sheer-white cover-up over her head, the gossamer fabric doing nothing to disguise her model-perfect body in its pink two-piece. Ris hadn’t bothered with an additional layer at all, and her black string bikini left scant little to the imagination, a towel slung over her arm and sunglasses propped on her head.Are you sure you don’t want to put on something a bit more modest, dear? You’re going to look so terribly out of place, after all...she gritted her teeth, forcing her mother’s voice out of her head, unwilling to allow the negative thoughts to dampen the elation she felt over the number in her phone.
“Don’t forget water, ladies, hydration is important! We want to make sure we have our energy for tonight!” Ris said cheerfully, lowering the sunglasses and throwing open the door. “Let’s go!”
♥♥♥
The champagne had been sweet and effervescent, much finer than the acrid, dry stuff that usually constituted as house champagne, the bubbles still making her head feel light, giving her courage she might have lacked otherwise.
Hi. It’s Lurielle
Tipping her head back, she let the sun warm her, and attempted to tune out the shrieks and laughter around them. The pool wasn’t as crowded as it had been the night before, although the majority of the sun chairs were full. There were a good amount of other tourists in the pool, and more than a handful of orcs, but it seemed the spectacle of public sex was one reserved for the evening. She knew Ris was right, that she was probably just setting herself up for disappointment...but he didn’tseemlike the kind of guy who treated women like meat. The phone buzzed against her leg and her heart climbed to her throat, waiting.
Saving immediately
“Bluebell”
She breathed around her heart, feeling lightheaded.It’s just the champagne, that’s all…but when her phone buzzed again, she was unable to hold back her smile.
I’m glad you messaged
I was worried I’d frightened you off
Lurielle was certain Silva was going to be able to hear the thump of her heartbeat next from the next chair. She had joked that they’d lined up by height on the sun chairs—tall, leggy Ris, perfectly proportioned Silva, and her—short and stumpy, on the end. There was no reason for her to think someone like him would be interested in someone like her.
I’d like to see you again
Dinner tonight?
The girls had decided to have dinner together before finalizing their plans for the night. Silva had no intention of going to the bonfire, and Ris would not be missing it...she needed to decide which direction she’d be heading in. Closing her eyes behind her sunglasses, Lurielle sucked in a slow breath. She was lying to herself even pretending she didn’t want to see him again, that her thoughts hadn’t been about him since he’d left her with a soft kiss the previous evening.
I’m having dinner with my friends
But maybe after?
There. No more lying to herself. She didn’t want to go with Ris, to be another piece of meat in a loud, overbearing crowd of people; nor was she terribly interested in whatever solitary pursuits Silva was planning.
