11
We head out to meet the guys in the sauna area, our bodies loose and relaxed from the massages, and my face feeling soft and smooth from the moisturizers they piled onto it after the facial. I breathe in a sigh of contentment as I step out of the massage room and into the main area of the spa. The air is a little cooler out here, probably to provide a contrast between the different saunas and steam rooms.
Meghan taps my shoulder. “I’ve got to run to the restroom. Why don’t you figure out which sauna the guys are in and I’ll catch up to you?”
I flash her a thumbs up and turn to study the different chambers. There’s a few of them: a big stone chamber that looks like an oven, with a wood fire burning inside it. Another with what look like jade crystals embedded into the walls all around it, also with wood smoke. Then there are a couple of steam baths, small eight or ten-person sized bubbles filled with so much steam you can barely see inside the windows.
I check the two saunas first and find them empty. Then I open the door to the first steam room. The scent of eucalyptus and mint spills out, along with the sound of voices.
“—two weeks until the wedding,” Paul is saying. “We just wanted to have our last fun as… well, you know. As a non-married couple.”
“Define fun, exactly.” Luke’s voice sounds funny, constricted a little. Almost… angry? But that can’t be right.
“You know. A little sharing, a little mutual pleasure. I mean, we heard you guys last night, and it definitely sounded like a fantastic time.”
My cheeks flush, not from the steam either. Is Paul suggesting what I think he is? I think back to Meghan’s comments in the massage room. Besides, I think you’re smoking hot too. Was this what she meant? That she wanted to… what, share me with her husband? And Luke?
I hesitate, holding my breath. What is Luke going to say? On the one hand, Paul and Meghan are very attractive. But on the other, I’m not sure I’m into the idea of sharing Luke. Not when I finally get to have him all to myself, after all this waiting. I can’t stand the idea of seeing him with Meghan. It turns my stomach, even if I know she only meant it in fun.
“Absolutely not,” Luke says, and I let my breath out in a rush, relieved.
Paul laughs a little, though it sounds weak. “I didn’t mean anything, man. I only thought the four of us could have some fun together. Celia’s extremely hot, you clearly hit the jackpot, and I’d say I did too, although I might be biased… Why not share the wealth a little, you know?”
“Because I’m greedy,” Luke responds without missing a beat. “While I agree with you—she is amazing—I’d never share Celia. Not with anyone.”
There’s a tense silence, but I don’t even notice, because I’m too busy feeling a rush of relief. I realize I’ve been standing in the doorway, letting the heat and steam out of the room, and I step inside fully, pulling the door shut behind me. I step over to the bench where the boys are sitting just in time to witness them hugging, Luke slapping his friend’s back.
“Sorry, man, I’m sorry, that was out of line,” Paul is saying.
“Don’t worry about it,” Luke says, and then his eyes flash to mine. “Celia. How did spa day go?”
“Great,” I say, unable to keep the stupid, wide grin off my face at hearing him defend me like that, when he didn’t even realize I could hear him. I’d never share Celia. Never, he said. Not just “not for this weekend.” I can hardly breathe; my head is spinning from so much happiness—not to mention from the steam is here.
I plop down next to Luke and rest a hand on his thigh, and he immediately wraps an arm around my shoulders, protective and comforting all at once. “How was your guys’ day so far?”
“Massages were excellent,” he says. “The steam room, I’m not so sure about.”
Paul leans around him to nod. “You know, I think the steam is getting to my head, actually. I’m going to go pop out for a minute, try and clear it.”
Luke relaxes the moment his friend leaves, holding me closer against his side. I snuggle into him, unable to repress my smile any longer, and rest my head on his shoulder. “I kind of like it in here,” I say, and I can hear the smile in his voice when Luke says, “Me too. Now, anyway.”
12
At sunset, we join the hotel crowd on the beach just below the cliffs where the building sits. There’s a huge bonfire already going by the time we get there, since after sundown it tends to get a bit chilly on the waterfront. The sun hasn’t set quite yet, but it’s starting to turn orange, and painting the wisps of clouds along the horizon bright pink as it goes.