by Nia Arthurs
The rest of the guys chose to sit in the helm of the boat. Well, Spencer sort of commandeered his pregnant wife to sit in the shade and Mia and Peyton got into an argument about Peyton not wanting to wear sunscreen so the only people from our crew sitting in the bow of the vessel, feeling every spray wash up the sides and indulging in the sunlight was me and Archie.
Ever since our visit to Georgetown, something had shifted between us. I looked at him differently. I thought about our relationship differently. And most importantly, I did not feel scared when any of these notions took to my mind.
I slid closer to him, “Have you been to San Pedro before?”
“Yes,” he said, “it’s a gorgeous island. You’ll love it.” He playfully pulled on one of my curls.
I grinned up at him and turned my face to the sea. The scent of salt invaded my nostrils and I inhaled deeply. This place was just so beautiful. Every single part of it felt alive and connected me to something bigger than just myself. A few other people milled about near where we sat. I noticed a tall, red-head with green eyes in a revealing sarong eyeing Archie. He seemed oblivious to her stare, so I tried to ignore it too. A few minutes later, she made her way across the boat.
Please don’t come over here. Please don’t come over here.
The stunning red-head poised herself right next to Archie. She was so close to him, it was like she was painted on.
“Hi,” She purred and I heard the accent in her voice. She was from America, somewhere in the mid west. The sarong covered a tiny white bikini bottom and bra like bikini top. She had an obscene amount of cleavage and I felt immediately uncomfortable when she sought Archie’s attention.
I silently groaned when Archie turned to face her and gave her a friendly smile. “Hi.” He replied.
Wait, don’t engage her!
“I love your tats.” She stated emphatically.
“Thank you,” Archie stated politely.
“Rhapsody,” the young lady stuck out her hand and shook Archie’s.
What sort of name is Rhapsody?
Archie accepted her touch and hooked a finger at himself, “I’m Archie and this is Susan.”
“Oh, are you two together?” Rhapsody asked.
I opened my mouth to deliver some ambiguous answer that would give the effect of no, we’re not but he’s still off limits. Unfortunately, Archie answered before I could.
“No, we’re just friends.” I looked away, but not before noticing Rhapsody’s primal grin, the one of a hunter to a prey.
“Ok, cool. Are you going to San Pedro too?” The woman asked Archie.
No, we’re flying to Antarctica. Everyone on this boat is headed for San Pedro, brainiac.
Archie answered the woman as though this was a perfectly acceptable question and I got to my feet with disgust as they launched into a friendly discussion of the best sights on the island. As it turned out, Rhapsody was a frequent visitor. Moving toward the shade, I found a spot between Mia and Melody.
“Looks like Archie found a new friend,” Mia pointed to the knockout in the pink sarong.
“He did.” I said grumpily, leaning down in my seat and frowning. There was no way on earth that I could ever get my body to be as voluptuous as Rhapsody’s. During my freshman year of high school, I had to stuff my boobs with toilet paper just so people could identify me as a female. I no longer used the soft bra fillers. Thank God my chest had filled in over time. On better days, I ditched the training bras and headed straight for the big league cups. Unfortunately, my good days were few. I was still sorely lacking in the chest area.
“She’s pretty. A little too immodest for my tastes, but she’s okay.” Melody quipped next to me.
“What are you two doing?” I asked suspiciously.
“Nothing. We’re just feeling her out to see how well she’ll fit in the group.” Melody explained innocently.
“What do you mean? They’re just talking,” I glanced outside again. Rhapsody put a hand on Archie’s arm for a brief moment before moving it away. They then shared a laugh about something.
What could that airhead say that would actually be so funny?
I glowered at the pair. “They’re just talking.” I chanted to myself. Unfortunately, Archie and Rhapsody ‘just talked’ for the rest of the boat ride.
By the time we’d arrived in San Pedro, I was hot spitting mad at Archie and had no idea why. This trip was supposed to be the time of my life. So why was I feeling so miserable?
The object of my thoughts helped me off the boat and nudged me with his shoulder. “You alright, Vegan?”
I smiled to soothe his concern, “I’m just dandy.” I stated sarcastically and then moved to stand beside the handsome guy that was taking our luggage. Archie followed me with his eyes but didn’t come after me. I collected my bag and then wheeled it to the end of the pier.
“I could have helped with that.” Archie groused, pointing to where Peyton and Spencer took care of their wives’ luggage.
“You don’t have to. We’re not together, remember?” I wheeled my luggage away as fast as I could go.
“What’s up with Susan?” I overheard Archie asking Melody as the group slowly followed the crowd heading off the pier.
“She’s realizing that she had something good and she might lose it.” Melody replied.
I quickened my steps so that I could not hear the rest of their conversation. When I stepped off the pier, I was forced to put my bad mood to the back burner. The sea lapped against the sand. A large sign declared ‘WELCOME TO SAN PEDRO’ in bold letters. The palm trees were spotted in several places along the bank. The group came up behind me, exclaiming over the beauty of the day and the new developments they’d noticed since they’d last been here. I looked around for Archie and observed him helping Sarong Girl with her luggage and encasing her in a taxi. I saw her give Archie a piece of paper, no doubt with her number on it and he smiled and pocketed the scrap. I turned red again and decided that for the rest of the weekend, I would not speak to him.
Archie jogged back to our group, “You guys ready to go?” he asked.
Everyone (except me) smiled wide and followed him to the car rental where he soon had us shooting down the main road to the beach house. The houses in San Pedro were all colorfully painted. The sea waved at us wherever we went. Tons of golf carts browsed the streets and vendors selling their wares littered the beachfronts. Finally, Archie pulled up to an amazingly gorgeous bungalow house that overlooked the sea and got out. We all admired the architecture as the men carried our suitcases inside. I turned to find Archie right behind me. He handed me my suitcase and grinned sardonically.
“Hey, we’re not together right?”
I glared at him and stiffly wheeled my luggage inside.
I heard Melody scolding Archie as I stepped away but I did not linger to hear the exact words. I stepped into the wide, open space of the beach house and allowed the others to select their bedrooms first. Everyone gave Melody dibs and she chose the room with the biggest bed. Mia and Peyton went next and chose the room that led to the balcony. Archie and I were the last to select a bedroom.
“Take whichever one you want,” Archie said without looking at me.
Was this how it would be for the rest of the trip? Ugh, I was already tired of the fighting.
“Hey,” I touched his arm. He looked down at me and for a minute I forgot to breathe. Those silver eyes of his took my breath away.
“What?” he said impatiently and once again my mind was distracted by those oh-so-kissable lips.
My tongue darted out to wet my own in nervousness. Archie ran a hand through his hair and set me away from him.
“Stop-stop looking at me like that.” He said hoarsely.
Frustrated for some reason, I followed after him.
“Like what?”
“Like your begging me to kiss you. Don’t do that to me.”
I gritted my teeth and hit him in the arm, “Then stop making me so confused.” I accu
sed.
He groaned and responded in kind, “How the heck do I confuse you? You’re the one who makes absolutely no sense.”
“Uh, guys,” Melody peeped out of her bedroom, “You might want to keep it down. We can all hear you.”
Reddening from embarrassment, I nodded sharply at my friend, grabbed Archie’s shirt front and marched him backwards into the nearest bedroom. Seething, I slammed the door with my foot, enclosing us from our public debate.
“What do you want from me, Archie?”
“What do you want from me, Susan?”
I released my fistful of his shirt and rubbed the wrinkled fabric down, hoping to smooth out the lines. We were both breathing heavily from anger or… something else and I needed a minute to collect myself. Soon my hands moved of their own accord to trace his tattoo sleeves. I heard Archie’s breath hitch, but he stilled, not moving a muscle as I perused his ink. My fingers traced the lines and images on his arm and moved to just behind his neck.
“We’re friends, right Archie?” I whispered as my hand traveled to the next arm.
He nodded once.
“Just friends.” I clarified.
This time, Archie hesitated and then nodded slowly once more. For some reason, his easy acquiesce disappointed me.
“I-uh- I think I’ll take the next room,” I said hoarsely, opened the door and strode out. If I stayed in there a minute longer, I was going to combust.
I knew the ins and outs of it. Having Mr. Reyes as a surrogate father meant that I was properly informed of how easily feelings and attractions could deceive you. I knew that women often got carried away by their emotions instead of using their heads and so always got hit with a curveball when it came to love. The problem was Archie had proven to me that he was more than just a man who stole my breath with a look. He was kind and honorable, generous and brave. He was a man of deep faith. I respected what he believed and desperately wanted to believe in it too. That came with the founding rule of abstinence before marriage. But if just standing in a room with the guy tracing his tattoos made me feel so hot and bothered, I couldn’t imagine a weekend of restraint.
God, I know you’re up there. Um… help?
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Later that day we went grocery shopping, deciding to spend our first night on the island close to home. We returned to the beach house with tons of snacks and enough raw chicken meat to feed an army. Melody and I decided to cook fried chicken along with mashed potatoes for dinner. Mia, of course, would be providing the moral support. I looked forward to hanging with my girl friends just goofing off and making dinner. With all the Archie drama going on lately, I needed the reprieve.
Speaking of Mr. Hotstuff.
It was getting so darn hard to keep my hands to myself whenever Archie and I were in the same room. I forced myself to dance lightly around him if we chanced to be in the same area but it was as though a switch had been turned on inside of me. Everything Archie did was some kind of come on. If he drank from a water bottle, it was as though a fan was blowing through his hair, he was shirtless and he was dunking the water all over his head in slow motion. He could be doing something utterly ridiculous like tying his shoes or turning a door knob and somehow it gave me chills. I had a problem and though I spoke to the King about it, it didn’t seem to be getting any better.
“Earth to Susan!” Mia snapped her fingers in my face as we seasoned the raw chicken in preparation for the fryer. I quickly righted the bottle of Season-All that I had been liberally sprinkling over my now dead chicken friend as I day-dreamed about Archie.
“Wow, girl. Where’d you go?” Melody laughed and slipped her chicken parts into the fryer on the stove.
“Uh… I was…um,” I browsed my mind for an answer.
At that moment, Archie stepped to the doorway of the kitchen. He stretched and braced his arms above the door, making his muscles contract. I quickly looked away lest I started to drool like some kind of deranged human being.
“You girls good in here?” He asked charmingly.
“We’re fine.” Mia and Melody called at once.
“Yes, yes,” I said stupidly, ducking to open a cupboard and poke my head inside.
“Cool.” Archie said and then slapped the top of the doorway. I heard his feet moving away from the kitchen. Slowly, I peeked out of my sanctuary and beheld the knowing grins on the faces of my two friends.
“What?”
“Girl, you are so in love with that man it’s kind of painful.” Mia laughed.
“I am not.” I defended stonily, brushing off imaginary dirt from my clothes.
“Oh, you are. And he’s just as in love with you.” Melody pointed out.
“What makes you say that?” I asked curiously, “Not that I believe you or anything.”
Melody smirked, “He came into the kitchen just to see you, you goof. Didn’t you hear him?”
“He was checking up on us.” I argued.
Mia rolled her eyes, “He was checking up on you. Gosh, you two are like a telanovella. I can’t keep up.”
“Right,” Melody teased, “This afternoon they were arguing their butts off and now they’re flirting with each other.”
“We were not flirting.”
“Mm-hm,” the Belizean women said as one. I ignored them and moved to put my overly seasoned chicken into the fryer. Thankfully, they changed the subject and we produced an edible meal as I put a vested effort into not thinking about him.
The fried chicken was browned to perfection. The mashed potatoes were light and creamy with only a little bit of chunk to it thanks to our culinary-inept friend, Mia. We all moved to the outdoor deck attached to the back of the house facing the sea and found seats around the picnic table. The outdoor lights brilliantly lit our display and the sounds of the night provided a soothing backdrop to our light banter. God heard my prayers and ensured that Archie was neither beside nor in front of me. If he had, I probably would have been unable to eat. As it were, when he addressed me during the dessert round of vanilla ice cream and crushed Oreos, I choked on a shard of biscuit.
“Are you okay?” Melody asked, concern coloring her tone.
“Here have some water,” Peyton poured out a glass and handed it to his wife, who handed it to me.
I hacked some more, my eyes tearing up and gulped down the liquid. Finally, I calmed down enough to breathe. Everyone was staring at me and I wanted to sling myself from the balcony and fling my body into the sea.
“Wh-what was the question, Archie?”
He glanced at me with apprehension and said lamely, “I forgot.”
The table had quieted and awkwardness filled the air.
I took another bite out of the ice cream and smiled, “I’m okay, guys. Really, I am.”
Hesitantly, the conversation picked up and I blew out a sigh of relief. Crisis averted… for now.
After the meal, I volunteered to pack up the dishes and stack them neatly in the kitchen. I thought I’d made my escape when a deep voice said, “I’ll help.”
Archie got up and followed me up the short stairs toward the back door.
“Guys,” Melody halted us, “We’ll take a short stroll on the beach while you’re doing that.”
“Yeah,” Mia piped up.
Peyton and Spencer exchanged confused glances.
“Babe,” Spencer started to protest, “the baby-”
“Walking is good for the baby,” Melody said with an edge to her voice that could not be mistaken.
Without another word, Spencer got up and followed his wife to the little gate dividing the stretch of sand and sea from the man-made building.
“Yeah, a walk sounds good,” Peyton added, catching on without having to be berated by his wife. The couple stood as well, trailing Melody and Spencer.
Archie glanced at me and laughed, “Do you actually think that they’re trying to be subtle?”
I chuckled weakly, “I don’t know.”
I turned and walked inside of
the house. Archie kept step with me and grabbed the dinner plates from my hands.
“I’ll go back for the bowls!” I yelled when the simple brush of his fingers lighted me like a flame.
God, really, leave me alone with him? That’s your plan?
Archie gave me a quizzical glance, before I dashed off in the direction of the deck. I closed my eyes and allowed the breeze to cool my heated cheeks. I wasn’t the heroine in some cheesy romance novel. I had to snap out of this before I did or said something stupid. Suddenly, the words of Cloudy, or Archie, returned to me.
Think on things that are true, noble, right, pure and lovely.
Pure and lovely.
I could do pure and lovely.
With the statement flitting through my head, I balanced the bowls and spoons in my hand and made my way back inside. Archie had already filled the sink with warm, soapy water.
“You want to wash or should I?” he asked.
“You can wash,” I replied.
He groaned, “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”
I grinned, feeling a bit of our comfortable friendship returning, “Too bad for you.”
I stood beside him as he dunked the cups into water, swirled the washcloth around for a few seconds and then handed it to me. I rolled my eyes, but decided not to chastise him for his less than thorough cleaning skills and rinsed the soap off of the utensils, plates, and glass cups. We worked in silence for a long while, being careful not to touch each other by accident. When Melody, Spencer, Mia, and Peyton returned we’d kept to our don’t touch, don’t feel routine. My friends looked distinctly disappointed.
What did they expect to find when they came home? An engagement ring on my finger?
“Thanks for cleaning up guys,” Spencer called out to us.
“You’re welcome,” I replied.
Mia and Melody took over from us and without one word to each other, Archie and I slipped into our various rooms for the night.
Phew, Day one down, two more to go.
The next day, we packed up for a day on the beach. I wore a light cream folk embroidered cold shoulder beach dress along with my handy flip flops, my hat and my sunscreen. Underneath my dress was a red and black totem flounce bikini top and tasteful swimming shorts. Mia wore a cute white bikini under a long green maxi dress. Even Melody rocked her baby bump with a peach one piece maternity bathing suit, a colorful sarong tied at the waist. Kudos to her if she ever convinced Spencer to let her in the water. The men wore their staple tank tops and swimming trunks.