The pain and the heartbreak of Becca giving up on me smashed into me again. I felt a heaviness in my chest and a dull ache in my heart. It always caught me off guard. I swore last time wouldn’t get me like this again, but here we were. “We don’t speak at all anymore.”
“How do you feel about that?” Lily asked, with kind eyes.
“It was brutal at first but I’m okay with it now. It’s for the best. Becca said I was, and I quote, ‘too much’. Too emotional, too needy, too clingy. At first I believed her, but I’ve realised over the past few months that you can’t be too much for the right person. Someone who truly loves you will love you because of who you are, including your flaws, not despite them. I want my next girlfriend to celebrate me not tolerate me. At least that’s what I’m hoping for, anyway. I can work on being less clingy but I’ll never apologise for having needs again. I guess Becca did us both a favour. I didn’t realise how dysfunctional we became until we were over.”
Lily was staring at me, intently. “It’s hard to see a situation for what it is sometimes. But it sounds like you’ve learned a lot from it ending,” Lily spoke gently. “You deserve to be celebrated and loved for who you are, Rona. I hope you find that one day.” Lily floated away from me a little, as if quietly contemplating something.
I wished the topic hadn’t come up but then I was glad it was out of the way. We had clearly hit it off and if it wasn’t just me, there was a spark here.
She sat up and straddled her lilo, giving off such top energy that it made me quiver.
I gulped, needing no time to switch gears into appreciating her.
“I’m looking forward to tonight,” Lily said.
“I am too. I can’t remember the last time I was actually drunk though, so it should get interesting.”
“Even better.”
Lily paddled over to the steps and got out. I openly watched her from my spot on my lilo, not looking away.
“Are you coming to get ready?” Lily faced me and put her hands on her hips like an exquisitely sculpted Greek goddess now immortalised into stone.
She waited for me and watched me as I joined her standing outside the pool. Water dripped off both of our bodies. My bikini might as well have been off, the way she was looking at me.
I ran my hands through my wet hair, stretching my body up, with a gentle arch in my back, fully aware I was baring my body to her and hopeful she wouldn’t forget it.
“Let’s go, hot stuff,” Lily said.
A wave of excitement rushed through me. She’d remembered what I’d called her the other day at the beach. She was so flirting with me, right?
I followed her through the villa. I wished no one else was in the house and we were on our way to do other things instead of shower separately. The very fact I was already imagining these things with Lily was literally crazy to me, given I’d only met her a few days ago. But she was turning me on, and we were on holiday, and maybe there was something more here on top of this insane chemistry.
When we got to our bedroom doors, Lily offered that I use the bathroom first, and then I offered it to her. She tookmy offer, after a few moments, and I waited in my bedroom as she showered, doing my best not to think about the water running in between her breasts and further down, to where I wished I could be.
~ 6 ~
Lily
We were at a little bar on the beach which turned into a club in the evening. The music was sexy and getting me seriously in the mood to be a little adventurous tonight. I was standing at the well-worn bar counter again getting more drinks for everyone, already buzzed from three very strong cocktails, but that didn’t stop me noticing how hot so many of the women were in here tonight.
As the bartender was busy making the drinks, I caught eyes with Rona, across the way. Everything seemed to stop, and it was like it was just the two of us for a second. There was something in her expression. I got the feeling she’d noticed I was checking other women out. Was she jealous?
A fucked-up part of me kind of liked the thought of that, even though she had nothing to worry about. She was the only person I wanted to focus on tonight, romantic potential between us or just as friends. Whatever happened, I already knew I wanted to get to know her better.
I made my way back with a tray full of colourful glasses with fruit sticks and umbrellas coming out of them.
“The hero returns,” Nell said, as I approached our table.
I handed out drinks to my rapidly-becoming-very-dear-to-me new group of friends.
“Thanks, Lily,” Kaira said.
“Yeah, cheers, mate.” Nell had on a great t-shirt of two women passionately kissing, in the style of a comic book graphic. It was something I would wear. “Here’s to newfriends.” She held up her cocktail and encouraged us all to do the same.
We sipped from our twisty and flamboyant straws.
Vicky and Mathilde had gone home already, having had an argument. They’d been at it all evening, bickering, with some sort of tension between them. In the end, Mathilde had risen to her feet, cursing in German, and walked out the door. Vicky had followed her out the door in a mixture of fear and frustration, and a shake of the head in apology to the rest of us.
