Totally nonchalant
Thirty
Liv
Istretch my arms and legs out in opposite directions, feeling the delicious pull of my muscles. The morning sun filters into the room, bright and warm. Sunny lay, dead weight, against my side, releasing a tiny kitty groan that directly contrasts his massive size.
I roll onto my side and prop up on my elbow, scratching the curly hairs of his belly.
“You left me out to dry last night, cat. I should be furious with you. But if it weren’t for you, Luke and I probably wouldn’t have ever…” I hum at the memory of the moment. “I guess I should be grateful.” Sunny reaches a paw toward my face and presses it into my chin.
“Except we were on a pretty fantastic path to doing lots of glorious things when you came along and spoiled the show. So, I’m actually not sure how I feel about you right now.”
Sunny starts purring, eyes blinking closed.
“Fine, I forgive you.”
“Knock, Knock!” I say, tapping on Viv’s door. It’s eight thirty in the morning. She’s awake, and I know it.
She opens the door, hair a mess. “What?”
Oops. Guess she wasn’t up yet.
“Coffee’s brewing. I can smell it, and it’s calling my name.”
“Ugh, you morning people are brutal.” She leaves the door open and shuffles back into her room. I follow her in and sit down on her bed.
“Come on,” I whine. “It’s eight thirty. Let’s get something to eat and figure out our day.”
“Fine. Just… give me a minute to process your awakeness. Why are you in such a good mood?” She splashes water on her face and spreads toothpaste on her toothbrush.
“Slept well, I guess.” It’s not a lie. Once my vibrator took care of all the hot and bothered feelings left over from that make-out session, I slept like a baby.
“Hm.” She scrutinizes me, toothpaste foam dribbling out of her mouth.
The great room is buzzing with life. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee floats through the air. Mae comes in and out of the door from the kitchen to the great room with plates of bagels and muffins. Holly trails close behind, carrying spreads and a glass jar of orange juice.
“Coffee.” Viv bee-lines it to the counter where the coffee carafe sits.
The little old couple, who look to be in their late seventies, wander in from outside, holding hands. They break their connection; the husband going to the counter, while his wife heads my way, an impenetrable wall between me and the coffee on the other side.
“Good morning, dear.” She smiles, slipping her oversized sunglasses off. “What a doll that cat of yours is!” She flicks her hand at me.
“Thank you. He certainly seems to be enjoying his vacation.” The woman smiles, eyes sparkling.
Unexpectedly, a frown washes across her beautifully aged face.
“We lost our beloved cat, Sawyer, some time ago. The house cat who lived here, Percy—beautiful cat—helped fill the void left behind by our Sawyer.” Her lips purse.
“Well, then he got old too, as everything does. Thank you for bringing him. It’s been so lovely to have his affection these last few days.
I hadn’t realized just how much we missed our Sawyer.
Cats are one of life’s little blessings,” she says, patting my arm in that way grandmothers do.
“I’m Gertie. That handsome fella over there is my husband, Frank. We stay here most summers.”
“I’m Liv. My best friend, Viv, is over there. We’re first-timers.”
“Wonderful to meet you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go see if I can sneak in a little smoochy time with Frank before we go shopping.” She winks conspiratorially, wiggling her eyebrows before making her way over to a patiently waiting Frank.
At some point when I was talking to Gertie, Luke arrived, stopping to say hello to his mom and sister, who were in the middle of a conversation with the family from the boat cruise the other night.
I catch him out of the corner of my eye on my way to the coffee station and prickle a little at the way their daughter looks at Luke. She bats her eyes up at him, and I look away, pretending to be unfazed by his presence.
“Morning, Trip.” Luke reaches up and grabs a mug, looking down to see if I need one too, then grabs a second one. He pulls the carafe from the hot plate and pours steaming coffee into both mugs.
Totally nonchalant.
Totally normal.
He stirs milk into the coffee and then picks up the mug, holding it out to me. His fingers lightly brush mine in the handoff.
“Thank you.” I pull the mug to my lips and blow on the steam wafting up from the top. He watches my lips intently and then takes a tentative sip from his own mug, the air between us charged.
“Morning, Liv.” Mae slides up to the counter and greets me with a warm smile. Her shrewd gaze sweeps between her son and me.
“Morning, Mrs. Huffman!” My voice is too chipper—and entirely too high-pitched to be natural. Thanks a lot, guilty conscience. My back is ramrod straight, shoulders tense. In my periphery, Luke’s expression is a mix of confused and amused, obviously clocking my nerves.
I’m an embarrassment to successful vacation flings everywhere.
“I hope you’re enjoying your stay. Is your room comfortable?”
“Oh my gosh, yes. I feel like I haven’t slept this well in…
I don’t know, forever maybe? My room is beautiful.
Everything is great. Thank you so much.” I’m gushing.
I can hear it in my voice, and I hate that for me.
Surely, I can thank someone for their excellent service without sounding like I made out with and dry-humped their son the night before on that couch right there.
“I’m glad you’re giving Sunny a chance to be out and about. I noticed he has a nice new cat bed out front.” She tilts her bright yellow glasses down on her nose and looks up at Luke.
“If he’s going to lounge around here, he needs a proper place to do it,” Luke says.
“Mmhmm.” She looks at her son, laughter in her eyes. “My boy here has an affection for—” Her gaze finds me, lingering a moment longer than comfortable, then looks to Sunny, who’s over by Gertie and Frank. “—animals. He loved our Percy dearly.”
Well, I have an affection for your son.
“Sunny is thrilled.” I sip my coffee, feeling all kinds of awkward.
Your son is an excellent kisser. An appreciative hum vibrates in my throat as the liquid slides down, and Luke clears his throat. My eyes reach his, but he looks away quickly.
“I can’t tell you how great it is to have this little taste of home every morning.” I avert my gaze and settle on Mae.
Mae nods thoughtfully in the same all-knowing way my Pop does when he’s about to provide a profound thought. Whatever she is thinking, though, she never expresses it. Instead, Mae pipes up, eyes widening.
“Oh, Luke! Tonight is trivia night over at Joanie’s, isn’t it?” She snaps her fingers and swings her gaze back to me. “Liv, you and Viv should go. Luke and Josh go every month. You boys have a good time, don’t you?”
Luke rocks back on his heels, Mae’s sudden revelation catching us both off guard.
“We’re already going!” I look around for my best friend but don’t spot her. Bringing my coffee to my lips once more, my eyes catch on Luke, who’s studying my mouth like he’s committing it to memory.
“You should be on a team together!” Mae swats at her son’s arm, disrupting his focus.
“Sure. You can be on our team.” Luke raises his eyebrows. “Play along” is written all over his face. I assume Josh told him last night we were planning to team up. “But Joanie’s team wins every time. I think it’s rigged.”
Mae laughs at that then looks between us again briefly before nodding and smiling.
“Well, that should be great fun. You all have a good time then.” And she throws her towel over her shoulder and excuses herself through the door. Luke turns so his body is leaning against the counter. A picture of ease.
I try my best to mirror his stance. If he can do it, so can I.
I scan the room, finding Viv in the corner whispering with Josh. As Josh talks, Viv’s expression morphs from surprised to curious, and then a slow smile spreads across her face, her eyes finally meeting mine.
That didn’t take long.
Josh lifts his hand and waves at us. We simultaneously wave back, then watch as Josh exits through the patio doors. Viv stalks in our direction.
“Morning, Luke. Did you sleep well last night?” Viv asks. Setting her coffee cup down on the counter and pouring more, she looks up at him and smiles sweetly.
“I did, Viv. Thanks for asking. How about you?”
“I did. Imagine my surprise to learn I slept through the distress of my best friend’s precious cat going missing, not knowing she needed help to find it.
Though, I hear she found help after all.
” Viv’s eyes cut to mine. Luke’s lips twitch slightly.
He sips his coffee, schooling his face before he pulls the mug away.
“All is well. The cat has been found.”
Viv stares at him. Then her eyes drift to me, waiting for my response.
“Sunny is fine. Sorry I didn’t wake you, but it was late.” My coffee mug is my salvation right now, hiding the guilty look no doubt plastered across my face. As it is, I’m going to get interrogated the moment Luke walks away.
“That’s good. Glad he’s safe.” Viv holds out her mug for Luke, who has picked up the thermos of milk. “So, we’ll see you tonight at trivia, then?”
“Yup. I look forward to taking Joanie, the Trivia Queen, down together.” He fist-bumps my best friend. “I should get to work.” I watch as he lifts off the counter, sauntering toward the door without so much as a backward glance.
“Um, excuse me. You’re practically salivating. I might even say you’re yearning. Yearning, and lusting—”
“Okay, okay, okay.” I turn to face the counter, placing my mug down as if I’m going to refill it. “I will tell you everything, but whatever happens—no matter what—it stays between us.”
“Obviously. But why?” She leans her butt against the counter and looks out to the room, blowing away the steam twisting and looping above her coffee mug.
“Because I’m a guest, and if anyone found out he was—” I release a breath.
“It just has to be a secret no one can know about.” I should feel ashamed, I think, going behind everyone’s back like some dirty little secret.
But that’s not how I feel at all. The whole idea of it turns me on.
In fact, it makes me want it more, knowing I shouldn't be doing this. What kind of person does that make me?
“Yes, girl! Secret flings? I am here for this.” Viv shimmies her shoulders. “You know what this means?” Viv’s eyes light up. “We’re breaking out the dress tonight.”