Chapter 4 #2
Gabe turned to see two girls walking out of the house.
Simone looked exactly as he remembered her: tall and curvy with a cool affect and skinny braids pulled into a high ponytail, wearing a striped nautical one-piece that popped against her dark skin.
Her friend was really sexy, on the shorter side with pale creamy skin and a bright red bikini that she wore under a faded button-down shirt.
She wore big tortoiseshell sunglasses, and her dark curly hair fell around her face in ringlets—
“Fuck,” he muttered.
“Gabe.” Anya’s tone was terse. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”
“Me neither,” Gabe replied, sounding nonchalant.
It was hard for Anya to read his expression behind his dark Ray-Bans, but it was impossible not to notice that he looked like a male model lounging by the pool in sky-blue trunks that perfectly complemented his bronzed skin.
(He was already tan? How?! Hadn’t they all just been on campaigns?) Of course this was happening.
Of course he was sipping a Modelo, acting completely unbothered by Anya’s presence.
Two could play at that game. Anya flashed a bright smile at Gabe and his friend, who was gorgeous too, androgynous with amazing hair and a sporty black bikini with a racerback top and boy shorts.
“You guys have met?” Gabe’s friend asked.
“Anya and Gabe worked together in Ohio last cycle,” Simone explained.
“But only briefly.” Anya waved her hand breezily. “We hardly know each other.”
“That’s cool.” Gabe’s friend got up and approached them. “I’m Kira, by the way.”
“Kira. Hi.” Simone gave Kira a dazzling smile. “I’m Simone.”
“The famous Simone arrives at last.” Kira cracked the smallest grin.
“Famous?” Simone cocked her head. “What have you heard about me?”
“Nothing.” Kira’s expression was stoic. “Which is a crime, because I want to know everything.”
Simone giggled coyly, and Anya bit back a grin. Despite Anya’s current internal freak-out that Gabe was here, it was a delight to see her normally in-control friend get all flustered as this extremely hot person flirted with her.
Kira turned to Anya. “You guys came in from Colorado, right?”
“Yeah.” Anya nodded. “We worked together on the employment nondiscrimination ballot measure.”
“Oh, right on!” Kira broke into a huge smile. “You won, that’s such a big deal.”
“Thanks.” Anya felt a swell of pride. “What race were you on?”
“The presidential.” Kira gave a little shrug, which Anya took as either an apology (I know our candidate sucked ) or a humblebrag (Heard of it?). “In Florida.”
“Wow.” Simone’s eyes went wide. “You flipped Florida?”
“Nah, the voters did that.” Kira ran a hand through their hair. “We just helped a little.”
Humblebrag, Anya thought. Definitely humblebrag.
“You guys must be exhausted, flying all that way,” Kira went on. “Do you want to come sit with us? You need drinks, and I make an excellent margarita.”
“I don’t doubt that,” Simone teased. “Is it too soon to ask you to show me your secret recipe?”
“Much.” Kira looked dead at Simone. “But let’s go in the kitchen and see what happens.”
Simone happily followed Kira back to the house, leaving Anya and Gabe alone with absolutely nothing to say to each other. With his sunglasses, Anya couldn’t tell if Gabe was looking at his phone or at her.
“Well.” She finally broke the silence, nodding toward a deck chair at the other end of the pool. “I’m gonna—”
“You don’t seem surprised I’m here,” Gabe broke in.
Anya shrugged. Was he accusing her of something? “I knew it was a possibility. Simone showed me a picture of the group, and I recognized you.”
“Even though you hardly know me,” Gabe said pointedly.
Now he was offended by her? This was rich.
“Says the man who pretended not to know me for two solid weeks in Ohio,” she said coolly. “Are we done here? I’d like to take a swim.”
“By all means, do whatever you want.”
Gabe promptly went back to his phone, ignoring Anya completely. Well, good. Good! She walked to the other side of the pool, dropped her tote bag with her book and phone onto a chair, and slid into the water. It was colder than she expected—she couldn’t help letting out a surprised little “Oh!”
Gabe looked up sharply; she smiled tightly.
“Cold,” she explained.
He looked back down without saying anything—as if he were the one with a reason to be angry. As if she’d been an uncooperative jerk and said any number of shitty things to him last time they met, instead of the other way around.
That was two years ago, Anya admonished herself. You have no reason to care what he thinks of you. Let it go.
She sank beneath the water, taking down her bun and letting her curls unfurl.
When she splashed up to the surface and took in a big breath, everything felt a little easier.
She swam one lap, two, three—slow, lazy strokes, letting the last rays of daylight wash over her, pausing to rest her elbows on the edge of the infinity pool overlooking the ocean.
An easier feeling came into her body, a feeling of gratitude.
It didn’t matter that Gabe was here; it mattered that she was.
She sang a short Hebrew prayer under her breath, the one she always said in happy moments like this.
She stayed in the pool for a few minutes longer, but when the sun dipped below the horizon it got cooler quickly, and Anya wanted to wrap herself in a big fluffy towel and go upstairs to have a hot shower before dinner.
Except—oh for the love of Christ, she hadn’t grabbed a towel from the stack up on the deck.
And Simone and Kira still weren’t back, and everyone else was sitting at a big table near the house.
The only person anywhere near the pool was Gabe, and she certainly wasn’t asking him for a favor.
There was only one thing to do in this situation.
It was fine, it was objectively not a big deal to walk fifteen feet in a wet bathing suit to retrieve a towel, except she’d had to go and put on this red bikini that was sort of skimpy in the first place, and unlined besides, and— Whatever, Anya.
Stop overthinking for one second of your life and get the damn towel.
She kept her chin high as she walked up the steps out of the pool.
If she thought Gabe might care how she looked, or notice her plight and run to grab a towel for her, she was sorely mistaken; he rolled over and turned his back on her within seconds of her emerging from the water.
She thought she deserved a medal for not breaking into a sprint, because god she was cold, but she kept her gait steady, trying not to feel mortified by every wet smack of her feet as she walked across the pool deck.
Of course, the second Anya had a towel wrapped around her, Simone and Kira reappeared with four icy margaritas in hand.
“Hey!” Simone looked so happy, and Anya’s angst melted away when she saw her best friend in such high spirits. “We made you a marg, you coming?”
Simone nodded toward the deck chairs where Gabe was still facing away from them.
“I’m actually freezing, is it okay if I take mine inside?” Anya asked.
“Of course!” Kira handed Anya one of the drinks she was holding. “Dinner’s in an hour.”
“Perfect, I’ll see you then.”
Anya went upstairs and perched on the big king bed she was sharing with Simone, looking out the window at their incredible view. She really was so happy to be here.
She just hoped it wouldn’t take the entire week for her body to stop tensing up every time she laid eyes on Gabe.
“Hey, can I ask you a favor? It’s kind of a big one.”
Kira was in her sleep clothes: oversized white boxers and a ribbed tank. Gabe usually slept in his underwear (black boxer briefs, to be specific), but since they were in a house full of people, he figured it was polite to add a T-shirt to the mix.
“Is the favor my blessing to sleep with Simone? Because I sort of feel like you’re doing that either way.” Gabe shot Kira a knowing look. Kira and Simone had flirted all through dinner, and for a couple of hours afterward.
“Dude, your ‘blessing’? Are you for real right now?”
“Just want to make sure you kids have thought this through.” Gabe affected a concerned dad voice, and Kira laughed. “What’s the favor?”
“If I’m gonna sleep in Simone’s bed, that means Anya can’t.”
“Oh, right.” Gabe suddenly went numb, the same way he had when he first saw Anya on the pool deck. “I can take the couch or whatever. Anya can have this room.”
“There are like a thousand beds in here.” Kira nodded at the bunks. “I think this room’s big enough for the both of you.”
“Did she say it was?” Gabe pressed.
“What’s with you?” Kira peered at him. “You’ve been freaked out since she got here. What went down with you two in Ohio? Did you sleep with her?”
“No. No,” Gabe emphasized. “I was with another girl at the time.”
“Okay, then what?”
“We didn’t get along, that’s all.” Gabe shrugged. “I think she kind of hates me.”
“Seriously?” Kira burst out laughing. “She hates the most needs-to-be-liked person I’ve ever met? That must drive you insane.”
“Shut up.” Gabe shoved Kira’s arm. He was totally blushing. Great. “Anya really agreed to share a room?”
“Really and truly.” Kira held up her hand like she was swearing an oath. “Maybe she doesn’t hate you?”
“I doubt that.” Gabe frowned. “But if she’s fine to share, so am I.”