Chapter 11
11
MAX
If some sadistic force was trying to test my willpower, they’d succeeded.
When Stella’s bikini top had flown off, my first thought was wow. She’d always had a hot body and the most amazing tits, but now? They were incredible. I wasn’t proud of the indecent scenarios that flicked through my head at that point of what I’d like to do with them, but I was only human. Even though things between us were strained, you’d have to not have a pulse not to be affected by the sight of her.
Stella was all woman .
Luckily, I’d quickly dragged my thoughts from the gutter and my second thought was shit: she doesn’t realise that she’s standing there topless . And that’s when I knew I had to do something.
Pushing her under water wasn’t ideal, but every second counted. Telling her to put her hands over her chest would’ve added another ten seconds of embarrassment, so I thought it was better to do that below the surface where no one else could see .
In the end I think she appreciated my intervention. When she thanked me, a weird warm feeling filled my chest.
I was under no illusion, though. Just because I helped out didn’t mean I was off the hook. Even if I did something nice every day for a decade, it wouldn’t change the fact that she hated me.
Doing an activity with Stella every day was going to be challenging enough. And when they mentioned that shit about choosing photos together and doing playlists, I was tempted to throw in the towel. That was gonna be awkward as fuck.
But I’d made a commitment to stay. So I had to see it through. Starting with winning this first task.
Stella returned in a different bikini and as she walked to the pool with her head down, I tried my best not to look, but it was difficult.
I got up from the sun lounger and went over to her.
‘You good?’ I asked.
‘Yeah,’ she said softly. Even though she was wearing sunglasses, I could tell from her body language that she was still embarrassed.
‘Come on. Let’s go and win this thing!’
A small smile touched her lips and I felt that weird fluttery feeling again in my chest.
At least we still had one thing in common. We both liked to succeed. Stella wanted to win this tournament just as much as I did.
We won the rest of our games and now we were only one point away from being declared champions.
As the ball hurtled over the net, we both raced forward.
‘Go for it!’ I said to Stella. Even though I didn’t think she had anything to be ashamed of, I knew that if she got the winning point it’d boost her confidence .
Stella hit the ball at full force and it flew past them before our opponents got the chance to return it.
Jasmine blew the whistle.
‘The winners are: Thunderbolt!’ she cheered.
‘Yes!’ I held my palm up for Stella to high five.
As our hands connected, something shot through me. Our team name felt appropriate because it was like a bolt of lightning had struck me.
‘We did it!’ Stella smiled.
‘Yeah,’ I grinned before realising our fingers were intertwined. I pulled my hand away quickly to avoid upsetting Stella. Not even sure how or why that’d happened, but I knew she’d want as little contact with me as possible.
‘Come up!’ Jasmine said excitedly.
Stella got out of the pool and I averted my eyes to the other guests, then to the sky. Anywhere but looking at her arse.
‘Team Thunderbolt: it gives me great pleasure to present your prize.’ She whipped out a gold envelope. ‘Who’d like to do the honours?’
‘Ladies first,’ I gestured to Stella. It was probably something crappy like a bottle of wine so I wasn’t bothered. Knowing that we’d won was enough.
Stella beamed as she took the envelope. She made quick work of opening it. But when she pulled out the paper, her face fell and she glared at me. You didn’t need to be a detective to tell that Stella wasn’t happy.
‘No way,’ she scowled.
‘What is it?’ I asked.
When Stella handed me the paper, I winced.
Most couples would be thrilled with this prize, but not us. Never mind a bottle of wine. I think we’d both have been happier with a bottle of stagnant seawater .
This was the worst activity you could give a pair of exes who’d been forced together.
I was worried before about things getting awkward and I was right.
There was no way either of us would be going through with this .