135. Chapter One-Hundred-Thirty-Four
Chapter One-Hundred-Thirty-Four
Trick
It’s such a relief to find out we’ve got a ride to Golden Sands. I can barely believe it when Xane dives into the lake, and then when he tells us we can get out of here without the crazy plan he cooked up with Riley, it’s like the cherry on top.
Scarlett smiles so brightly, and when she hugs him the expression on his face is priceless.
“You got your perfume back!” he gasps.
She moves back, “Riley helped with that. But don’t think it lets you off the hook. I can still say you made me so mad I almost lost my perfume.”
He shakes his head. “I’m just glad you got it back.”
Kian splashes me as he darts past, away from Riley.
“Hey, Kian!” I call out, making him pause.
“What?”
“We’ve got a ride to the resort!”
He darts away again, so I’ve no idea if he heard me.
Riley gets closer. “Did you just say we’ve got a ride to the resort?”
“If you listened to Xane you would have heard him say that.”
He immediately swims to the edge and starts drying off.
So fast it feels like I barely blinked before he was out of the water.
“Hey!” Kian yells. “You can’t just get out. We were playing a game!”
“Swim over here and I’ll splash you with my feet!” Riley yells back.
Kian pulls a face as he moves back to where I am.
“What were you saying?” Kian asks.
“He said lunch is at the resort, so get out the fucking water before I steal whatever candy you’ve got in your pocket!” Riley yells.
Kian takes in a fast breath. “Lunch? We’re getting to the resort in time for lunch?”
“We’ve got a ride to the resort,” I confirm.
“Holy shit. Lead with that next time.”
Kian shakes his head before he swims for the edge.
Riley’s already shoving his clothes on out there.
I start swimming over once Kian’s out.
Scarlett and Xane are making out in the middle of the lake.
I don’t want to disturb them, but we’re gonna have to wait for them anyway.
“This better not be a joke,” Kian admits as he grabs a towel.
I pull myself out of the water and move around Kian to get a towel, too.
“Xane would never joke about that,” Riley says, before he pulls on his tank top.
“There must be a road back that way somewhere,” I tell them motioning to the direction Xane wandered off in after he told me he needed a minute.
“I hope it’s a fast car,” Kian says. “Because a few days on foot is still like a couple of hours if the car is slow.”
“A couple of hours is still a huge difference over a few days,” I remind him.
He pulls a face. I get it. He’s hungry. We all are.
I look back at the water, and I see Scarlett and Xane are swimming toward us now.
I dry myself off, take off my underwear and put on my clothes.
Xane helps Scarlett out first, and Kian wraps a towel around her.
She tells him thanks before she takes over drying herself off.
She’s in Riley’s T-shirt that’s long enough to wear as a dress a second later.
“Leave the towels and whatever here,” Xane says. “The cart the guy drove out here doesn’t have a lot of space. We’ll get them later, or someone will come and get them for us.”
I nod as we wait for him to finish dressing.
A few seconds later we’re walking in the direction of our ride to the resort.
Scarlett walks beside me, and I take her hand in mine.
She sits between me and Xane on the cart, across from Kian and Riley.
It’s a slow drive, but it’s pleasant.
The terrain is flat, and our driver is a cheerful kinda guy who whistles half the way.
When we finally get there, it’s the middle of the afternoon, and we’re all tired from the heat.
The driver radioes the resort manager as we get closer to the resort, telling her he’s bringing her missing guests in. There’s a gate that he has to enter a code into, and then we’re on resort grounds. He stops the cart in a parking bay that’s definitely new.
There are four carts out here in total, and they’re only a few feet away from the pool.
The hotel manager meets us before we get inside.
“I’m so glad you’re all okay. I’m gonna take you to our doctor, to make sure we’re doing everything right. Do any of you have any injuries?”
“Uh, Riley has a stingray sting,” I say, when everyone else shakes their heads.
“No injuries from the crash?” the manager asks, sounding surprised.
“It was more of a fuel running out issue,” Xane says, his face going kinda red. “I miscalculated.”
“Oh,” she says, nodding. “Okay. Well, check ups now, and I’ll send a waitress to take your lunch orders while you’re being seen by the doctor.
If everything’s good we’ll get you your room keys, and of course I’ll send a team to the other side of the island to grab your luggage and get your jet fueled up so it can be brought around. ”
She motions to us to follow her inside.
I let out a sigh as the air-con hits me.
Being stranded had its upsides, but this is my kind of heaven, for sure.