Chapter 5
FIVE
As soon as they finished work, it was a group consensus to hit the beach in front of the aquarium. A dip in the ocean was just what Sam needed to chase away the remnants of the night before.
Decked out in swimwear purchased from the aquarium shop, they looked the part. Sam had chosen board shorts with crabs on. They were the closest things to squid.
“Are you coming?” Maria asked Wolfgang.
“No, thank you,” he replied. “I have some reading to do.”
With that he set off toward the park. He had been quite good company over the afternoon.
Miguel had insisted on the mission staying a secret until the next day.
However, he had cryptically tasked Sam and Wolfgang to make notes on all the exhibits.
Wolfgang had studiously copied nearly everything down, while Sam had done his best to keep up.
“He’s a real misery guts, isn’t he?” Maria declared.
“He’s probably scared that Sam will try and catch a glimpse of what’s inside his trunks,” Astrid fired back with a cackle.
The pair had matching swimming costumes bedecked in starfish.
The beach was busy but they managed to get a spot so the sea lapped at their feet. Lying on towels that they’d also bought at the aquarium, Sam sighed.
Having lived in the frozen north of England all his life, to have a beach he could actually sunbathe on had been one of the reasons he’d jumped at coming to Valencia.
The sensation of sand between his toes was so refreshing.
He dug his feet in the cooler, wet sand.
The sun had been beating down on them for most of the day.
He would not be drinking that much on a work night ever again.
Paul pulled his shirt off and revealed a very impressive, if a little hairy, physique.
“Blimey, Genevieve,” Sam said. “I can see why you spend so much time in your room now.”
Genevieve scowled.
Astrid lowered her sunglasses and took in the view. “Who knew what you had hidden under there.”
Resplendent in turtle shorts, Paul flexed his muscles. “Who fancies a swim?”
Genevieve sat bolt upright. “Actually, I saw a supermarket in the arcade. We should probably go and get some things. We need supplies.”
“I wanted to swim.”
“Come on.”
Poor Paul seemed disappointed as he dutifully put his shirt on. “Does anyone want anything?”
Sam shook his head as they set off toward the promenade. Genevieve berating Paul loudly for taking his top off in front of a bunch of strangers. He hung his head.
“You’re going to get yourself a reputation as a sex pest,” Astrid said, lying down and closing her eyes. The last of the afternoon sun’s rays fell on her pale skin.
Sam made a face at Maria. “Hardly.”
They lay in a row. Sam enjoying the peace. It had been quite a day.
It’s amazing how quickly you can get close to people when you’re thrown together.
“How lucky are you two, getting dolphins?” he murmured.
Astrid stretched. “Yes, quite the shock. I was sure you’d get the best deal.”
Sam leant up on one arm. “Meaning?”
She giggled. “Don’t think we didn’t notice.”
He turned to Maria for an explanation but she remained annoyingly poker-faced.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said.
Astrid sat back up and stared hard. “Are you telling me you didn’t notice the way Ruben flirted with you today?”
A rush of anxiety flashed through him. Had he been flirting? He had been friendly, which was his job.
“You’re imagining it.”
Astrid raised an eyebrow at Maria, who slowly nodded. “He never took his eyes off you, Sam,” she confirmed.
“Hey,” Astrid said. “There’s no need to make a face about it. Good for you. Making things work while you’re here. Smart.”
Sam got up and threw his T-shirt down.
“In the interests of changing the subject, I’m going for a swim. Are you joining me?”
“No, we’d better let you go alone and cool off, hot stuff,” Astrid replied with a sickly-sweet smile.
Sam stalked off to the water’s edge. Ruben might not even be gay. If they started silly rumours and it had an impact on his time there, he would be furious.
Why did people always assume if a gay man and another man got on, it had to mean they would end up in bed?
He waded into the water and dived under a wave. Immediately luxuriating in the cocoon the water provided.
Finally coming up for air, he trod water. Astrid and Maria had come to paddle, clearly on the premise of chatting to two guys who had been walking through the surf. Astrid’s flirtatious titter echoing around the whole beach.
Their Ruben theory was still reverberating in his mind. Perhaps their silliness was just them getting carried away with being footloose and fancy-free in a foreign country. Or maybe they were jealous.
“If you’ve got it, flaunt it,” he said to himself and launched underwater with a kick.