“You may have stopped maturing at twenty-one, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us did,” Mark replied. Eric shoved Mark’s shoulder, and the two of them bickered back and forth while Meghna and Karthik went off to greet the rest of the guys. Meghna hadn’t met the remaining two groomsmen before: Blake, a friend of Seth’s from work, and Seth’s cousin, Ralph, who looked up at them over the cover of his book, then went straight back to his reading.
Seth had already gone for a swim and was jogging back from the ocean, his hair flying in the wind like something out of a commercial.
“Hey, glad you guys are here!” he shouted to them. He joined them at the loungers, claiming the one to the right of Meghna, leaving her sandwiched in the middle between him and Karthik. He picked up a tube of sunscreen and started rubbing it onto his shoulders and face, though both had already turned an alarming shade of pink.
“I always forget that I need to reapply,” he said. “You want some?” He waved the sunscreen in her direction.
Meghna laughed, stretching her legs out in front of her, fully reclining in her chair. “When have I ever needed sunscreen?”
“You don’t wear sunscreen?” Karthik asked.
“Do you? I’ve never gotten sunburned.”
His brows snapped together. “Me either, but sunscreen is recommended even if you have a lot of melanin. You can still get serious skin damage. Even skin cancer. Dermatologists recommend…”
Gah. Why was she finding this lecture so cute? It should have been irritating. She didn’t understand it, but she couldn’t stop the wide smile spreading across her face. His voice suddenly trailed off.
“You…you should wear sunscreen,” he finished.
She threw her hands up in resignation. “Fine, fine.” She grabbed the sunscreen from Seth and started putting it on her arms and legs. Then she handed it to Karthik and turned around in her chair, presenting her back to him.
“Mind getting my back?” He’d made fun of her earlier for acting like they had never touched before, and she was tempted to give him a taste of his own medicine. See how calmlyhereacted to having to put sunscreen on her bare skin.
Karthik took the sunscreen from her without complaint, poured it into his hands, and started rubbing it on her. Unexpected sparks of pleasure burst across her skin. They followed wherever his hands went: the backs of her arms, down her spine, her lower back. The pleasure grew, and it was almost as if all the bones in her body had disappeared, like she would melt into a puddle right there and then. Butshewasn’t supposed to be the one so affected by this. And with herback to him, she couldn’t even see how he was reacting or if he was reacting at all. Her plan had been poorly thought out. Again, he seemed to have the upper hand in whatever strange game the two of them were playing.
His hands suddenly stopped. She turned, and he immediately averted his eyes, looking off toward the ocean.
“All done?” she asked, working hard to make her voice sound light and breezy.
“Yup. Here you go,” he said, handing the sunscreen back to her.
“What about you?”
He shook his head, getting up from the lounger. “Put some on earlier. I’m going to go for a swim.” He started walking toward the water, but glanced back at her with an odd expression. She frowned, hoping he wasn’t still feeling unwell.
“You two make quite the couple,” Seth remarked, his eyes following Karthik’s path down the beach.
“Thanks. And I know I’ve only seen pictures, but you and Julie look really great together.” As she said the words out loud, she was surprised to realize she actually meant them. She’d scoured their engagement pictures on the wedding website, feeling a bit nauseous as she went through them. Somehow each pose managed to be more lovey-dovey than the one before. But after she had finished her scrolling, she had to admit they looked like they went together. Like one of those couples in the black-and-white stock photos in brand-new picture frames. They seemed to just fit.
Seth put a hand behind his head, turning on his side to face her. “I think you’ll really like her.” He pulled his phone out and started swiping his finger across the screen. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask your advice about something.”
“Go for it.”
“I’m working on something to sing for her at the reception, but I’m worried it’s a little too sappy,” he said.
Meghna’s gut twisted, but she tried to ignore it.
“Could I send you the lyrics? Get your thoughts?”
“Sure,” she said. “I’d love to take a look.”
He smiled, his teeth unnaturally white and gleaming. Had he gotten them bleached recently? Meghna winced. They were almost blinding.
She’d joked once with him, after his first song had sold, about whether he’d have to change up his look. If he’d start wearing designer clothes or get some trendy new hairstyle. If he’d forget all about her once he became rich and famous. He’d laughed and promised he’d never do that. And she’d been pleasantly surprised that he’d meant it. He hadn’t forgotten about her. Not after his breakout hit. Or his second. Or his third.
He’d still been there for her. Still read everything she sent him. And he’d continued to send his songs over as well, showing her how much he valued her and her opinion. Even this last year, when he’d started churning out songs at an unprecedented rate, she’d discussed every one with him, making suggestions and workshopping ideas. It was just what they did. How their writing partnership worked. Though now that she thought about it, it had been a while since they’d had a similar conversation about her own words.
Her phone pinged, signaling he had emailed the lyrics over.
