37. Chapter 37
Anna’s question hit the air like a slap. Ody answered too quickly, desperate to make the moment sound innocent, even though nothing about it was. “He just came to get me for the pool.”
“The pool?” she repeated, still confused.
“Yeah. Steve and Antony are already there while you girls get ready.”
“Oh. Okay, so we have time. I’ll grab what I forgot and head over.” She walked straight into the bathroom, accepting his explanation without a second thought.
Mano looked at Ody with an unreadable expression, then exhaled and turned away, jaw tight.
“I’ll text you when we’re done with makeup,” Anna said as she stepped out of the bathroom.
“Okay.”
“See you!” The door shut behind her a second later.
The moment she was gone, Ody’s whole body sagged. He leaned his back against the wall, letting out a deep breath like he had been underwater far too long.
Mano watched him silently. He wasn’t the unpredictable one anymore. Ody was. And Mano hated how much he wanted to understand why. “If Anna hadn’t walked in,” he said, “would you have kissed me?”
Ody’s mind exploded with a thousand thoughts and fears.
He had a girlfriend. He had always been faithful.
And now he was doing the worst thing he could possibly do to her.
Looking at Mano the way he did was wrong.
Feeling this way was wrong. Confessing at the beach had been the biggest mistake of all.
Keeping this going was an even bigger one.
“No,” he finally said, keeping his gaze on the floor. “I just wanted to see what you’d do.” His voice sounded small, wrong. “Why would I kiss you? The first time was a mistake, and I admitted it.”
Mano stared at him, the muscle in his jaw flexing. “So I was right,” he said. “You’re doing all this just to win your little game.”
Ody shook his head, but nothing came out. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t lie convincingly. Not anymore.
Mano let out a quiet, bitter exhale. “Don’t worry, Ody. You’ve already won. Three to zero.” He stood up, brushed past him, and walked toward the door.
“Mano…” Ody said, and Mano turned on him instantly, his eyes sharp with anger.
“What I don’t get is why. Why you changed. Why you keep provoking me. And why the hell you’re playing with me!”
I’m not playing with you… I just need you close to me… But the truth was dangerous. It was madness.
“You think it’s fun messing with my head?” Mano asked, stepping closer. His voice sounded controlled, a little too calm, like he was trying to hold something down. “You enjoy this?”
He kept his eyes on Ody, steady and unblinking, but for a second, a wounded look slipped through. One he refused to fully show. He swallowed hard, like he was forcing the feeling back where it came from.
Ody searched his eyes. Mano looked angry, sure, but there was a flicker of something else in his face that threw him off. He couldn’t tell if it was hurt or something deeper, and the confusion twisted him up inside.
Mano looked down for a brief moment, like the floor was easier to deal with than Ody’s eyes. Then he looked right back at him, sharper now. “Tell me,” he said. “Is this a joke to you?”
“No!” Ody snapped, unable to tear his eyes away from Mano’s.
He couldn’t tell if Mano was furious or hurt. Probably both.
I want to tell you what’s going on inside me. I want to tell you why I can’t stay away from you. But I can’t. We’re both men. We came here with our girlfriends, and I’m already crossing every line I shouldn’t.
Mano let out a dry, ironic laugh. “Yeah. Thought so.” He turned for the door. “Tell the others I’m sleeping.”
The door clicked shut behind him.
Ody stayed frozen for a moment after Mano left, the silence in the room pressing down on him. His thoughts wouldn’t settle. He felt hollow, lightheaded, like part of him was still standing in front of Mano.
Eventually he forced himself to move. He changed clothes without thinking, splashed water on his face, and walked out of the room because doing nothing felt worse. By the time he reached the pool, he still felt the same tightness in his chest.
“Hey, Ody! Where’s Mano?” Steve called out.
“Uh… he stayed in the room to rest before we go out.”
“Something going on between you two?” Antony asked.
Ody’s heart nearly stopped. “W-what do you mean?”
“Ever since you fought at the buffet, things have been weird,” he said. “What exactly happened that day?”
Ody exhaled, a faint rush of relief running through him. “Mano’s just a private guy. He’s not into big crowds.”
Antony frowned, trying to connect the dots. “So that’s why he didn’t come?”
“Yeah,” Ody said quickly, grateful to steer the conversation away.
Steve snorted under his breath. “Private guy, huh. More like he decides when he wants to talk to people and when he doesn’t.”
Ody shot him a warning look. “Steve, seriously. Did you forget who stood with you and Chris when they dragged me to that school?”
Steve blinked, the bitterness draining from his face. He looked away, rubbing the back of his neck like he regretted saying anything.
Ody held his breath for a second. Even thinking about Kash felt like swallowing glass. He could practically see that night again, the boys who had come for him, Mano standing there with them. The guilt twisted hard in his stomach.
He looked back at Antony, trying to steady his voice. “He just doesn’t open up easily. Don’t take it personally.”
Antony nodded and let the subject drop.
When the girls texted that they were done with makeup, the guys headed back to their rooms to change.
Antony spun Christina around with a grin. “Wow, look at my gorgeous girl.”
“Thanks, babe.”
A few steps down the hall, Steve stepped into his room and froze for a second. “You look really pretty,” he told Danae, softer than usual.
“Thank you,” she smiled shyly.
Across from them, Anna emerged from the bathroom in her dress. “Babe, what are you wearing tonight?”
“I don’t know yet. Come here, let me see you…” Ody pulled her gently into his arms and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. “You look stunning.”
Anna smiled, not noticing the way his breath caught for a second before he let her go.
Meanwhile, Mano adjusted the sleeves of his shirt while Ranya waited beside him.
“You didn’t say anything…”
“About what?” he asked without looking up.
“You didn’t even look at me,” she said, clearly frustrated.
“Look at what?” Mano asked, fixing his black hair in the mirror.
“Oh come on, Mano. Look at me!”
He finally turned.
“What do you think?” she asked, striking a pose with a playful grin.
“You look nice,” he said, already turning back to the mirror.
“That’s it?”
“What else am I supposed to say? You looked the same when we met at the café.”
“What? I did not look the same. I didn’t even do a full face that day!”
“Huh?”
She threw her hands up and stormed off. Mano didn’t follow.
Once he was ready, he opened his door at the same moment Ody opened his. They both stopped short for a second, eyes locking as they took each other in. Ody in black and red, Mano in all black.
Anna hooked her arm through Ody’s. “Babe, the key card.”
Ranya appeared in the hallway. “Oh hey, guys.”
“Hey,” Anna said, and the four of them headed downstairs.
While the others walked ahead, Ody drifted closer to Mano. “Do you want to drive?”
“No.” He didn’t even look at him.
Ody swallowed and followed the group.
The other couples joined them, and they all got into their cars. When they arrived at the beach bar, the music hit instantly, loud and pulsing through the sand like a heartbeat.
“Ooh, we’re gonna go wild tonight!” Ranya squealed.
“Baby, don’t drink too much. You’re driving,” Anna reminded him, squeezing his arm lightly.
“Don’t worry. Just one drink for me,” Ody said, giving her a reassuring look.
They found a spot around a square high table under neon lights, bass thrumming through the floor.
“DJ’s killing it,” Steve shouted over the music.
Soon, their drinks arrived. Ody’s eyes drifted to Mano’s glass, a short one, filled with clear liquor and ice.
“Cheers!” Everyone raised their glasses and clinked.
The girls were the first to loosen up, moving with the beat as the crowd swayed around them. Mano wasn’t blending in. He drank and stayed detached, the music bouncing off him like he wasn’t even there.
About twenty minutes later, Ody noticed Mano walk away from the table. He glanced at the empty glass Mano had left behind. When he returned, he was holding the exact same drink.
Ody leaned closer. “What are you drinking?”
“Vodka,” Mano replied, not looking at him.
“Straight?”
“With ice. Obviously,” he shot back, eyes drifting toward the ocean as he took another sip.
Before Ody could say anything else, Anna grabbed his hand. “Oh my God, it’s my song!”
He let her pull him onto the dance floor even though he kept glancing back. Everyone was dancing, except Mano. A few songs later, Ody found himself looking back toward the table again. Mano wasn’t there.
He frowned, scanning the nearby crowd. Maybe Mano had just moved a little. Maybe he was talking to someone. He waited another moment, pretending to dance with Anna, eyes flicking toward the dark edges of the bar. Still nothing.
A quiet unease crept into his stomach. He stepped away from the group like he needed a break and looked around more carefully. No Mano near the tables. Not by the bar. Nowhere in sight.
His chest tightened. He pushed past a few people, checking again, then crossed the road toward the restrooms. The men’s room was empty. “Mano?” he called, pushing open each stall. Nothing.
He stepped back outside and made his way toward the table, forcing himself to straighten up like nothing was wrong. The music hit him again, loud and heavy, lights flashing across everyone’s faces.
Anna turned toward him, brushing a strand of light brown hair behind her ear. “Where’d you go?”
“Bathroom,” he said, keeping his voice even. “Did you see Mano anywhere?”
“Mano?” she repeated, confused, but before she could think it through, a new song dropped and the bass shook the floor.
“Anna!” Christina shrieked.