“So … funny story,” I tell her. “My brother knew I was about to graduate from college, figured I hadn’t lined up a job yet, which I hadn’t, and offered me free rent to move down here and stay at the villa he was about to lease out.”
“That’s an amazing opportunity,” she says.
“I thought so too, but you know when you sign a lease, and there’s all that fine print no one wants to read?”
“I’ve learned the hard way,” she says. “The military life demands every word to be read.”
“Yeah, well, I learned the hard way too. I’m living in the middle of some social study with two whack-job roommates and ten single men in the other villas surrounding me.”
“Theo?” she asks.
I turn around to make sure he isn’t on his way over. Jim agreed to join us too, but they needed a few minutes to freshen up for the beach … I didn’t question that. “Yeah, there’s prize money at the end of the term they agreed to, so while most of them are in it for the prize money, the others either didn’t think they’d care about the part where they couldn’t date or have relations with a woman for a year, or underestimated their libido. Half of them are like hungry tigers, and I’m a raw piece of steak.”
That seems to have taken Olivia down a notch. “That’s insane. Tell them to enlist if they want to see how long they can practice celibacy.”
“Prize money,” I repeat. “It’s all about the money.”
“How far into the study are they?” she asks, staring out into the ocean.
“I don’t know, almost seven months, I think.”
“The guy you were with the other night? Don’t tell me he’s one of them. Such a sweetheart.”
“Yup, he is, but he has been upfront about his reason for being here. It’s the others that want it all.”
The more I say this crap out loud, the more confusing it sounds.
“So, are you their temptation?” she asks.
“I guess, but it isn’t something I agreed to.”
“Well, Ashley, so far, you have totally distracted me from my life and my pity party. So, thank you for that.”
“I’m glad I could be of help,” I tell her, taking a sip of my strawberry-peach wine cooler.
“Ladies!” The voice grows from behind us, and I recognize it as Theo’s voice. I turn, finding him and Jim shuffling through the fine sand.
“Hey,” we say in unison. They both take a seat on the beach mat we’ve laid out.
“The pizza is already here. Dig in! Oh, and did you know the Pizza Stone delivers onto the beach? This is the life, right?” I ask Theo.
“Hell yeah. I’ve ordered from this place a bunch. They’re awesome.”
“Did you—ah—warn Olivia about the bonfire?” Theo asks.
“Bonfire?” Olivia repeats. “Oh, no.”
“You don’t have to stay if you’re uncomfortable, but the bonfires are a part of the—“
Theo clears his throat. “It’s something we do around here. You should stay, Liv.”
“What does it entail?” she asks, sounding eager but also a little apprehensive.
“Ten men, tempted by women, and a big cash prize. Which will they choose?” I speak out in a manly, reality show host voice.
“Are there cameras?” Olivia asks. “Is this like a real reality show?”
I laugh, sardonically. “I actually have no clue. I could be showering in front of a camera for all I know, but hey, I agreed to it, because I didn’t read the fine print.”
