Chapter 26
26
It’s a nice night to be sitting outside. The heat from the firepit is wrapping around me like a cosy blanket, taking the chill out of the air that comes when the sun disappears for the night.
We’ve got drinks, snacks – and we’ve all dressed up, not that it really matters but, hey, if they do it on Love Island , we can do it here, in our own ‘pull for a chat’ area.
‘Yo, yo, yo,’ a male voice calls out.
Did I say it was a nice night to be sitting outside? It was – but probably not any more, now that the boys have turned up.
‘Oi, you’ve nicked our spot!’ Harry’s voice breaks through the calm atmosphere like a box of fireworks with a lit match dropped into the mix.
He, and his crew, are carrying armfuls of beer bottles, clearly ready to make a night of it.
‘We were here first,’ Nita tells him.
‘No, you weren’t, we were here at three,’ Owen replies.
‘That was this afternoon, this is this evening,’ Lou points out. ‘You weren’t here first, you were here earlier.’
‘It’s a communal area either way,’ Travis points out. ‘So, why don’t we join you?’
‘Can we actually say no?’ I ask no one in particular.
‘Not really,’ he reminds me.
Now we’re all sitting around the firepit, all eight of us, like we’re at an awkward school disco. Honestly, I wish someone would put the ‘Cha Cha Slide’ on, so that we can disperse.
The guys take one side, making themselves at home with their beers, while we manoeuvre ourselves to the other side with our wine.
The flames flicker and crackle between us, giving the boys a warm but almost creepy glow about them. Well, they’ve definitely been giving off satanic vibes so far.
‘So,’ Lou begins, trying to make the best of the situation, if we’re going to have to play nice with them. ‘Where are you lot from?’
‘Manchester,’ Owen says, cracking open a beer. ‘Lancashire born and bred, the lot of us.’
‘Proper northern lads,’ Harry jokes. ‘Manchester is the best city in the north.’
‘Is that so?’ Nita replies.
‘Go on then, where are you from?’ Harry asks. ‘Don’t think we haven’t clocked those accents.’
‘Leeds,’ Nita tells them.
Owen playfully spits into the fire, in disgust.
‘So, what do you do?’ she asks. ‘When you’re not stealing villas from people – presumably you all have jobs?’
‘We didn’t steal anything,’ Harry reminds her. ‘We booked the villa fair and square, just like you.’
‘I’m a builder,’ Harry says, moving things along. ‘Big strong lad like me, what else is there to do to put my skills to good use?’
‘You know those labs, where they test products on animals?’ Nita pipes up.
‘Yeah – is that where you work?’ Harry replies, raising an eyebrow.
‘No, I just meant that, well, given your skills, that’s another job you could do,’ she replies.
‘A scientist?’ he asks.
‘One of the animals who gets tested on,’ she claps back.
Harry frowns at her.
‘I’m in marketing,’ Owen tells us. ‘Same agency as Nolan – he’s a backend developer.’
‘What about you?’ Travis asks, shifting his focus to me. Suddenly he seems like he needs to know. ‘What do you do, Molly?’
‘I work in recruitment,’ I tell him.
‘That’s a job finding jobs?’ Harry teases.
Why does everyone get so hung up on that?
Our conversation drifts from work to travel, to who has the superior accent, to how to make the best cup of tea. We weave in and out of hostile territory. Sometimes it feels like we’re getting on, but then someone inevitably has a dig at someone else, and suddenly we’re not playing nice any more.
‘Anyone fancy playing Truth or Dare?’ Harry asks. ‘Unless you’re too scared.’
Absolutely not.
‘We’d love to,’ Nita replies.
Would we though?
I shoot her a look that mixes horror and excitement. Yeah, sure, this could be a fun game, but it could also be a car crash.
‘All right,’ Harry says, leaning forward, a grin playing on his lips. ‘Nita. Truth or dare?’
‘Truth,’ she replies.
‘Boring!’ he heckles her. ‘But, okay, who’s the worst shag you’ve ever had?’
‘Easy,’ Nita replies. ‘Guy called Paddy. Small, quick, zero effort – I thought I was going to have to fake it, just to get it over with but, no, he got it over with pretty quickly on his own.’
‘Gutted for you, Paddy,’ Harry says with a laugh.
‘Harry,’ Nita says, wasting no time in retaliating. ‘Truth or dare?’
‘Dare, because I’m not a chicken,’ he replies.
‘Give a sexy lap dance,’ Nita tells him.
‘Not a problem,’ he replies.
‘To Owen,’ she adds.
He stares at her for a moment.
‘Give Owen a sexy lap dance,’ she says again.
Owen narrows his eyes at Harry.
‘I can’t back down, can I, mate?’ he says to him quietly.
‘Just get it over with, will you?’ Owen replies through gritted teeth.
You’ve got to give Harry credit where it’s due, because he takes off his shirt and throws it at Owen before placing a leg up on the bench where Owen is sitting, and gyrating inches away from his face.
Owen looks horrified. The other boys are in stitches. As are we.
Harry turns around and starts wiggling his bum at Owen.
‘All right, enough,’ Owen says, shoving him away.
Harry laughs to himself as he sits back down.
‘My turn again,’ Harry says as he scans the crowed. ‘Hmm… I’ll choose… Nita.’
Oh God, it’s going to be like this, is it?
‘And I guess you have to choose dare, because you can’t pick truth twice in a row,’ he tells her.
‘Erm, that’s not a real rule,’ I point out. ‘I don’t know how you play in Lancashire, but in the rest of the world that’s not a real rule.’
‘Ah, it’s fine,’ Nita reassures me. ‘He lacks the creative intellect to come up with anything that would bother me.’
‘Kiss one of your friends,’ he tells her.
I mean, who didn’t see that one coming?
Nita scans the three of us.
‘Molly?’ she says.
I mean, what a double-edged sword, because as she was looking between the three of us, working out who she wanted to kiss the most, part of me was hoping she would pick anyone but me, while the other part of me was panicking about overthinking why wouldn’t she pick me? What do the other girls have that I don’t, besides generally better lives and prospects?
‘Me?’ I squeak.
‘Yeah, you lucky lady, come here,’ she says.
Nita shuffles closer to me, takes my face in her hands, and plants a long, lingering peck on my lips. I mean, it’s nothing, we peck each other all the time – we’re friends. However, something about doing it for an audience makes it feel kind of… I don’t know. I feel like the boys should be paying per view.
As Nita releases me, and we both look over at the boys, for the first time since we arrived I think they might actually be stunned into silence. Travis is staring at me, his jaw almost in the fire.
‘Need a hand picking that up, Travis?’ Nita jokes. ‘In fact, Travis, truth or dare?’
‘Er… dare,’ he says, instantly looking like he wishes he hadn’t.
‘Okay, I dare you, for the rest of the game, to sit with Molly on your knee,’ she tells him.
‘What?’ he and I both blurt at the same time.
‘Is that a dare for him or for me?’ I ask.
‘For him,’ Nita replies.
I wince slightly. Do I really have to do this? Nita gives me a look that says… something. I don’t know. I think she’s doing something. I’ll just have to go along with it.
‘Erm, okay,’ I say, making the short journey to Travis, before sitting down on his lap.
I feel his body tense up a little, as I sit down on him. I sit sort of sideways, so that I’m comfortable, and stable, and not putting too much weight on his knees.
‘Erm, hi,’ he says with a cute laugh.
‘Hello,’ I reply.
‘Don’t worry, Molly, I know self-defence, so if he tries anything, I’ll put him on his back,’ Nita says before downing the last of her wine.
‘Okay, I guess it’s me,’ Travis says as he puts his hands on my hips to support me. It feels… weirdly good, but don’t tell anyone I said that. ‘Nita, truth or dare?’
We really are just retaliating at this point.
‘Dare,’ she says. ‘And keep in mind, you can’t repeat any of the dares we’ve had so far. I can make up rules too.’
‘Fair enough,’ Travis says with a chuckle. ‘I dare you to – how did you say it? – put Harry on his back.’
‘What?’ she replies.
‘You said you knew self-defence, and that you could put me on my back, so I want you to do it to Harry,’ he says. ‘Flip him, or whatever.’
‘Mate, she can’t flip me, I’m too jacked,’ Harry points out.
‘I absolutely can flip you,’ Nita tells him. ‘They taught us how to use people’s strength against them.’
‘Okay, little lady, this I’ve got to see,’ he replies, and you can see it winding her up. I wouldn’t like to be in his shoes right now. To be honest, I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be – maybe it’s the wine talking.
Harry stands in a clear area. He puffs up his chest and smirks at Nita as she approaches him, and then it all happens in an instant, she flips him, but she doesn’t put him on his back, she puts him on his front. Face down, on the flags.
‘Fuck,’ he says as he rolls over.
As he does, blood flows from his nose. Oh boy, that’s a lot of blood.
‘You psycho,’ he tells her. ‘You’ve broken my nose.’
‘It’s okay, calm down, I know first aid,’ Lou tells him. ‘Let me have a look. Nolan, grab some tissues.’
‘Okay,’ he says, before dashing off.
Lou examines Harry’s nose for a few seconds.
‘I don’t think it’s broken,’ she tells him. ‘There are no signs of any real injury, I think you’ve just got a nosebleed, from the impact.’
Nolan appears with tissues.
‘Here,’ Lou tells him. ‘Pinch the bridge of your nose and keep your head upright, don’t tip it back. It will stop soon.’
Harry holds his bloody nose in a wad full of tissue. He looks up at Nita.
‘What?’ she replies. ‘I just did what I was dared to do, like everyone else.’
‘Maybe we should stop playing,’ I suggest. ‘Maybe that’s enough excitement for one night.’
‘I’m going in,’ Harry says.
‘Right behind you, mate,’ Owen replies.
Travis hangs back for a moment.
‘Sorry, Nita, that was my fault,’ he tells her. ‘I didn’t think he’d go down so easily.’
‘They always do,’ she says with a smile. ‘Sorry I cut short your time with Molly sitting on you.’
‘Oi,’ I reply. Her teasing him makes me feel sort of embarrassed.
‘I’d better go help them out,’ he says. ‘Sorry again.’
‘Well, that went well,’ I say, when it’s just the four of us again.
‘Yeah, I don’t think they’re going to want to hang out with us tomorrow night,’ Lou adds.
‘I don’t know about that, I reckon they will,’ Nita says.
‘Anyway, why did you have me sit on Travis?’ I ask her.
‘Just to confirm something,’ she says with a smile.
‘What?’ I ask.
‘Something I’m cooking up – you’ll see tomorrow,’ she tells me. ‘But I think it’s going to win us the next round of the competition.’
Oh, great. I’m sure I’ll sleep real easy with that on my mind all night…