Chapter 19
19
MAX
As the playlist alert flashed up on my screen, I braced myself for Stella’s selections.
After kicking off my shoes, I flopped down on the bed and pressed play.
Oh. I wasn’t expecting that.
The first song was ‘Thank You for Being a Friend’. It sounded familiar. I checked the screen and saw it was by someone called Andrew Gold.
That song was followed by ‘Hold My Hand’ by Jess Glynne and ‘Lean on Me’ by Bill Withers.
The last two songs were ‘Torn’ by Natalie Imbruglia and ‘Don’t Speak’ by No Doubt which I’m pretty sure were both about break-ups or scumbag exes, but I wasn’t gonna dwell on that. Three out of the five songs all seemed to convey that Stella was thankful which was a lot better than the angry songs from her previous playlists.
Maybe we’d made progress after all.
It didn’t take me long to create my playlist. Once it was done, I shared it then turned off the light. Something told me I was gonna sleep much better tonight.
‘You’re here.’ I looked up from my breakfast as Stella slid onto the seat at my table.
‘Yeah. Thought I’d try and catch you before the morning briefing.’
‘What’s up?’ I frowned. She sounded serious.
‘Nothing. I just… wanted to thank you. For last night. For bringing me dinner.’
‘I know we’re not exactly hitting it off, but despite what you think, I’m not a monster. And I didn’t like the idea of you skipping another meal.’
‘Thanks. I really appreciate it. Especially the fact that you’d bought me barbecue chicken and chips. They’re my favourites.’
‘I know.’
Our eyes connected. Stella looked so pretty today. Then again, she always did. The yellow sundress she was wearing suited her skin tone and even though she wasn’t wearing any make-up, she was stunning.
I wished things were different so I could lean over and kiss her.
Shit. Where the hell did that come from?
I’d always loved kissing Stella. Sometimes we just used to kiss for hours. Okay. Maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but we used to kiss a lot. It was one of my favourite things to do.
For a split second, I wondered if her lips were as soft as they used to be. Then I remembered it was irrelevant. She wasn’t interested in me romantically and the feeling was mutual. We were just being civil. That was all .
‘So.’ I broke the silence and looked down at the half-eaten omelette on my plate. ‘The playlist you sent was cool. Thanks.’
‘I hope the message of gratitude came across.’ A small smile touched her lips.
‘It did.’
‘Your playlist was good too. Although it made me sound like I’d battled through some deep adversity rather than just walking for a few hours!’ she laughed.
I’d picked: ‘Eye of the Tiger’ by Survivor, ‘The Climb’ by Miley Cyrus, ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry, ‘FIYAH’ by will.i.am and ‘Brave’ by Sara Bareilles.
‘I disagree.’ I shook my head. ‘You faced a fear. Did something that was challenging, so those songs fitted perfectly. You were really brave.’
This time, Stella didn’t argue. Instead she smiled.
‘Thanks.’
I’d hoped that we’d made progress last night and it was feeling like we had. Stella had thanked me several times and that smile was the cherry on top. Today was off to a great start.
After breakfast, we headed to the briefing where Jasmine told us that we’d have free time all day, then there’d be a group barbecue and party in the evening. Sounded good.
‘So what do you wanna do today?’ I asked. Part of me regretted it as soon as the words flew out my mouth because when I suggested doing something together outside the compulsory tasks yesterday, Stella blanked me. But the other part said fuck it .
Like I said earlier, we were making progress.
Although it was kinda hard to admit, I wanted to spend time with her. And I might be misreading the signs, but Stella also seemed like she wanted to .
As well as being more civil, at breakfast I’d caught her staring at me for longer than normal a couple of times.
Anyway, whatever . The worst she could say was no.
‘I don’t know. Maybe we could hang out by the pool?’ she asked.
‘Cool. But we should get our photos first.’
‘Good point. Meet back in reception in ten minutes? I just need to get changed.’
‘Okay.’
Nine minutes later, Stella strolled towards me looking hotter than a jalape?o.
She was wearing some sort of crochet cover-up dress, but I could see that she had a pink bikini underneath.
I tried not to replay the memory of Stella’s bare tits in my head. It was getting harder and harder not to be affected by her presence.
‘Got them?’ she asked.
‘Yep.’ I waved two envelopes in the air.
‘Let’s go and have a look!’ she said enthusiastically.
As I followed behind her, I took in the sight of her firm arse and my dick twitched. Fuck. This was ridiculous.
‘Wow. It’s busy,’ I said, trying to distract myself.
It was another hot day. The sky was clear blue and I could already feel the heat searing my skin. We stopped by the pool.
One couple were cosying up on an inflatable flamingo, another was reclined on two giant pizza slice floats and there were a handful of other couples in the pool just playing around and having fun.
‘Um, there’s no more sun loungers left,’ Stella said.
‘Looks like we’re late to the party. Wait.’ I paused as I scanned the area and caught sight of a fancy white cabana daybed with plush cushions, adjustable backrests and white curtains neatly tied to the sides. It looked so comfortable. ‘There’s an empty bed over there? Wanna share that?’
‘You asking me to share a bed with you?’ Stella tilted her head suggestively. I wished she wasn’t wearing sunglasses so I could see her eyes.
‘If I did, what would you say?’ I replied cheekily.
‘Sharing a bed with you in front of all of these people? That’s a little risqué for me.’
‘Good to know. Maybe next time I’ll find something more private…’ I licked my lips.
I knew my comment had pushed the boundaries so I waited for Stella’s jaw to drop. For her to argue. For her to tell me that I didn’t have a chance with her and that she’d rather eat a rotting cockroach than share a bed in private with me.
But her protests didn’t come. Instead she smiled and started walking towards the daybed.
Well, shit.
Stella really was thawing.
I might be imagining things, but I was starting to think that maybe she didn’t hate me after all…