“Feeling better now?” Ody asked when they both reached the sand.
Mano turned toward him, water dripping from his hair, his body glistening. “What?” His eyes were sharp, dangerous.
“In the car earlier, you acted like a ten-year-old,” Ody said. “You calm now?”
“Fuck off.” Mano turned to leave.
“Fuck off yourself,” Ody shot back. “That’s what you do, right? Are you gonna wait until we get back to Athens, or have you already found my replacement?”
Mano’s jaw tightened. His entire posture shifted as he stepped closer, looking ready to throw down. “I’ll fuck as many chicks as I want. Got that, mikre?” He jabbed a finger into Ody’s bare chest. “It’s none of your damn business.” He turned away again.
“Oh yeah?” Ody said. “You sure you can even do that?”
Mano slowly turned back. His expression darkened. “What did you just say?”
“I said... can you even fuck them? Because with me, you were moaning like a bitch when I made you cum.”
Ody barely saw the punch coming. Mano’s fist crashed into his face and sent him sprawling onto the sand. “What the fuck did you just say?” he shouted.
“The truth,” Ody said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I know you wanted me. You were dying for me to touch you!”
Mano tackled Ody to the ground and drove another punch into his cheek. “You’re the one who said you want me! That you can’t stop thinking about me. That I make you horny! Huh? You little faggot!”
Ody froze. That word hit like a slap. Rage flooded his face. He shoved Mano off him with a yell and threw a punch back. “If I’m a faggot, then what the fuck are you, huh? You jerked off thinking about me!”
Neither of them seemed to realize what they were actually admitting.
“Shut the fuck up!”
Ody flinched as his hand drifted to his jaw again. The bruise still throbbed. He stared at the ceiling of the hotel room, the memory fading but the ache still there.
The afternoon passed slowly. A few hours later, everyone was getting ready for their last night on the island. The girls slippedinto light, flowy dresses, while the guys went for shorts and lightweight shirts. Mano barely looked at his suitcase before grabbing the first things he saw. A black T-shirt and black pants. He didn’t care.
When he stepped into the hotel lobby, his gaze instantly landed on Ody.
They headed out to the cars, sitting in the same groups as that morning. Mano and Ranya rode with Christina and Antony.
The club was right by the beach, and the moment they arrived, pounding music filled the air.
“Ranya…” Anna leaned closer, voice raised over the music. “How did Mano get back to the hotel this morning?”
“He took a taxi.”
“A taxi? From where we were? That couldn’t have been cheap.”
“I know,” Ranya said with a shrug. “That’s what he told me.”
Mano had gone straight to the bar. By the time the waitress brought the drinks to their table, he had already finished his first and was heading back for a second. “I’ll bring them over in five minutes,” the waitress said before hurrying away.
Mano downed the second drink. Soon after, the waitress returned with drinks for everyone else. Ody noticed Mano leaning in and whispering something in her ear. Moments later, she returned with a third drink. Just for him.
Ody’s mind drifted back to that night at the beach bar. The night Mano had drunk too much, broken down crying, and listened to Ody confess his feelings. The night he kissed him.
“Hey, babe, slow down,” Ranya said as Mano downed half his drink in one go.
“Leave me alone,” he snapped, and kept drinking.
The others were still on their first drinks. Mano was on his fourth. All vodka. When he finished it, he went to the bar again and came back with whiskey.
