by Joey Bush
“Well, I hope you saved a little bit of energy, because there’s one more place that we’re going to go tonight. We can go home and change first.”
“You are just full of surprises,” I said.
The surprise, this time though, ended up being a club, a crowded place not too far from his villa.
Clubbing was clearly as natural for Levi as breathing was; he was that in his element. The place was called the Cobalt Lounge, and it seemed that every single person in there knew him by name. Guys and girls alike swarmed him when we walked in; it was like being with a celebrity, and after only a few seconds I realized that in a way, that’s exactly what he was.
I followed him through the crowd, over to the bar. The music was so loud, I could feel it reverberating through my bones. It was this pounding bass and on top of that, melodic, airy sounding synthesizers. The place was dark, lit only by a frenetic strobe light and strands of tiny white lights that were strung up throughout the space. People were sitting on the couches and at a few of the tables, but most of them were up on the dance floor, dancing, arms in the air, heads thrown back, eyes closed. Like the music was transporting them to another place or something.
“Want something to drink?” Levi asked.
“Uh . . .” I glanced at the bartender, a tall woman with prominent cheekbones, wearing a cropped tank top that showed off her perfect midriff. She gave me a big smile.
“You’re with Levi?” she asked in an accent that I couldn’t quite place. Before I could respond, she gave Levi an approving nod. “He has excellent taste in women.” She touched his arm with such familiarity that I knew they had slept together.
Levi laughed. “Thanks, Shana,” he said. “Isla, this is Shana. Shana, Isla.”
“Hi,” I said, shaking her hand when she offered it to me. I could barely hear anything over the music. “I’ll just take a water.”
“So, how long have you known Levi for?” Shana asked as she slid a glass of water across the bar to me. I picked up the glass, which had already started to sweat, and took a big gulp.
“We’ve known each other for a while,” I said, “but recently reconnected.”
“It’s the funniest story,” Levi chimed in.
“I’ll bet it is. You are always full of funny stories.” Shana reached out and let her fingers brush against my forearm. “My plans fell through for later tonight,” she said. “If the two of you are looking for any company.”
“Oh, Shana,” Levi said. “That’s very kind of you to offer. This is Isla’s first time in Ibiza.”
I decided not to add that this was also my first time at a club. That sounded entirely pathetic to say out loud, but it was true.
“Well.” Shana drew her hand back, but not before she let her gaze linger on me a few seconds longer than felt comfortable. “We will let her get acclimated then, no? Then maybe you will be ready for company.”
I looked at Levi after Shana went to help some people down at the other end of the bar.
“Shana goes both ways,” he said.
“So by asking if we wanted company, she was . . .?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Is that something you want to do?”
“Um, no, I don’t think so,” I said quickly, feeling my face flush.
“Well, if you ever change your mind, she’s definitely game.” He grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s dance.”
There wasn’t any time to protest or to come up with an excuse not to; he pulled me out onto the dance floor, and there I was, standing amidst a throng of gyrating bodies. He was a good dancer, especially considering this music felt impossible to dance to. I danced a little, only because it felt even more awkward to just be standing there while everyone else around me was moving, but I knew my moves were awful and that just made me more self-conscious. I felt as though everyone was watching me, which they weren’t, but when I looked at Levi, his eyes were on me, even as he danced around.
“I need to get my water!” I finally shouted, hoping it was loud enough to be heard over the music. “I’ll be right back!” I fled back to the bar, with no intention of ever going back out there.
My water glass was gone though. Shana saw me and came over, bringing another water without me even having to ask.
“Sorry,” I said. “I just left my other glass here. I didn’t know Levi was going to make me go out and dance.”
“Levi is very good dancer,” Shana said. “He’s one of those people who is really in communion with the music. It’s quite a thing to behold.” I followed her gaze back out to the dance floor where a group of girls had surrounded Levi and they were all dancing together.
“He sure seems popular,” I said.
“Of course he is. He’s one of those people that’s just always the life of the party. But I’m sure you know that already.”
I took a sip of my water. “I’m beginning to get that idea.”
Shana rested her forearms on the bar and leaned toward me. “This is your first time to a club like this, no?”
“How’d you know?”
“I can tell. You don’t quite look like you’re enjoying yourself yet. You look a little nervous. Especially out on the dance floor.”
“I’m not much of a dancer.”
She shook her head. “That’s rubbish. Everyone is a dancer. This music, it’s primordial. It’s like being back in the womb, when you were floating around in a sea of amniotic fluid, letting your limbs go whichever way they wanted. You didn’t think about it then—you just let it happen. It’s the same now—you just have to let it happen.”
I could tell she was probably an excellent dancer. “Yeah, I’m just not sure I really know how to let that happen,” I said. “I went out there and I felt like I had two left feet. I’m tone deaf, too, if that matters.”
She smiled slowly. “You are honest. That’s a good quality. Levi deserves to be with someone who is honest.”
I felt a flare of guilt; if only Shana knew my real reasons for being here with Levi.
I managed to avoid getting dragged out onto the dance floor again, though Levi tried to entice me several times.
“I’m really tired!” I finally had to shout over the music. That wasn’t entirely a lie, either; when we finally left and got back to his place, I was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.
My phone woke me up the next morning. At first, as I opened my eyes, I couldn’t figure out where I was. The bedside table my phone was on looked completely unfamiliar. It took me a second to remember that I was here, in Ibiza, in the guest room at Levi’s place. I reached over and picked up the phone. It was Kelly.
“Hello?” I said, my voice sounding groggy.
“Isla!” Kelly exclaimed and I winced, pulling the phone back from my ear. Maybe I should have waited until I’d at least had a cup of coffee before talking to her. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling and I stopped by your house and you haven’t gotten back to me! Sophie said you went to New York but that you should be back by now.”
“I was planning to be back, but something came up,” I said. I decided not to tell her where I was. I threw the sheets back and got up. “I know that you probably want to talk about the gym.”
“Well, yeah. It’s important. We’ve got some important decisions to make.”
“You didn’t tell me about Fitness Universe. I saw Clara at Starbucks the morning of the flood and she was surprised that you hadn’t mentioned it to me.” I walked out of the bedroom and down the hallway. I could smell coffee brewing. Levi was in the kitchen, cutting the tops off of some strawberries. He smiled when he saw me.
“Good morning.”
“Hi,” I mouthed to him.
“Who was that?” Kelly said instantly. “Was that a guy?”
“Never mind that,” I said. “You’re right that we do have some important decisions to make about the gym. Though I don’t know if we need to talk about them now. Never mind the flooding—the whole thing with Fitness Universe kind of messes everything up any
way, doesn’t it? And you should have told me, you know. I felt like an idiot when Clara mentioned it and I had no idea what she was talking about.”
Kelly sighed. “I know. Part of me thought if I didn’t bring it up, the whole thing would just go away. It’s really a nightmare. But I think we have loyal customers, and we can provide them something that a place like Fitness Universe can’t.”
“What would that be?”
“We know our clientele. Know them by name. We’re a small place. We don’t have a lot of intimidating gym bunnies, which is exactly the sort of people Fitness Universe is going to attract. I think that we might lose a few people, but overall, we’ll be fine.”
“Did you happen to forget about the part where things were under half a foot of water?”
“No! I didn’t! I’m here right now, actually. I figured you would’ve come by at some point. It doesn’t look as bad as I thought it was going to be. Most of the equipment is actually okay. Well, the mats are trashed, but that doesn’t surprise me. I don’t think this flood has to be the end of business.”
“How about the fact that you were embezzling money?”
“I wasn’t embezzling money! It’s all going to be paid back!”
“It doesn’t matter if you were planning to pay it back or not!” I said. “The fact of the matter is, it wasn’t yours to take to lend out to your boyfriend. Listen, Kelly,” I said, “we should talk about this later.”
“Want to meet me at the gym this afternoon?”
“Uh . . . no. I can’t today. I’ll give you a call soon, though, okay? And we’ll set up a time to get together.”
“Are you sure everything’s okay, Isla? You’re being kind of weird—”
“Everything’s great. I’ll talk to you soon, okay? Bye.” I hung up before she could say anything else.
Levi came over and held out a bowl of strawberries. “Morning, sunshine,” he said. “Rather, afternoon.”
I took a strawberry. “Afternoon? What times is it?”
“Almost twelve-thirty.”
“Shit! Are you serious? Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“What is the first rule of vacation? The first rule of vacation is that you get to sleep as late as you want.”
“Oh.” I took a bite of the strawberry. “Mmm. These are good.”
“There’s a little farmers’ market a few blocks away. I made more coffee.”
“Thanks. I will definitely need some.” I followed him into the kitchen and he poured me a cup.
“So,” he said. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or anything, but . . . you were being kind of harsh, don’t you think? On the phone just now?
“You think I was being harsh?”
“A little bit, all things considered.”
I stared at him. “She took money out of our business account to give to her boyfriend. I don’t even know if he’s her boyfriend; she hasn’t known him for that long. Why? What would you do in this situation if you had some sort of business and you thought your partner was just taking money for themselves? Just be fine with it?”
He shrugged. “It’s hard to say.”
“Right—because you’ve never been in a situation like that. Where you’ve actually had to work hard to achieve something.”
I cringed inwardly. I hadn’t meant to say that last part, even though I thought it was true. It’s not like he had a business of his own that he was running, yet anyway. Maybe he’d realize that things could be a little more complicated when he finally went into work at BCM.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean that last part.”
“It’s fine. Just because I have a trust fund, though, doesn’t mean I don’t have some other things going on, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
He gave me a mysterious look, to which I took to mean he was completely bullshitting me. He didn’t have anything else going on, other than a seemingly insatiable need to have a good time.
He pulled me toward him. “I’ve been wanting to do that since we got here. Let’s just drop all this business talk for now, okay? We’re here on this beautiful island together and I want nothing more than for you to enjoy yourself. Do you think you can do that?”
He had slipped his hand underneath the bottom of my tank top and was running his thumb lightly against my hip bone. I set my coffee down on the counter and put my arms around his neck.
“Yes,” I said. Nervousness was trying to muscle its way in and paralyze me, but I ignored it. I looked him right in the eye as he leaned closer to me.
“Now,” he said, his face less than an inch away from mine, “the last time we tried to do this, it didn’t go exactly as planned. So let’s give it another shot.” He brushed his lips against mine. “Mmm,” he said. “You taste even better than those strawberries.”
I let my eyes close and kissed him back. He slid his hands up my shirt. I wasn’t wearing a bra and he squeezed my breasts gently as we kissed. I could feel my breathing getting heavier as our kiss intensified, his tongue entwining with mine, running lightly over my teeth, our mouths both open wide, pressed against each other.
I could feel his cock pressed against me and I reached down and squeezed it through his shorts. He groaned softly and started to roll my nipples between his forefinger and thumb. I stopped touching him and unbuttoned his shorts and pushed them down. He pulled my shirt off and we separated from the kiss long enough for him to get the shirt over my head. He took his own shirt off and led me out into the living room, where the door to the terrace was open and a warm breeze was blowing lightly across the room.
He took me over to the couch and had me stand there while he pushed my shorts all the way down to my ankles, then my underwear.
“Sit down,” he said.
I sat on the couch and he kneeled in front of me, pushing my legs apart. He kissed a trail up my right thigh, all the way to my pussy, and then he started to lick me slowly. My breath caught in my throat and I bit down on my lip, trying not to cry out.
Now was obviously the time. I was supposed to laugh at his cock or kick him in the balls, but what I had failed to take into account was the fact that, once we got started, I might not want it to end so abruptly.
And I didn’t.
I wanted him to keep doing exactly what it was he was doing. In fact, I never wanted him to stop.
I closed my eyes as he started licking my clit, sliding one finger into me, then another. The feeling was intense, this roller coaster, swirling feeling in my stomach and pelvis that kept getting stronger and stronger. But it’s like I could tell it wasn’t going to reach its full peak unless I had more of him inside of me; his fingers weren’t enough. My whole body felt like it was pulsating.
He stopped, suddenly, and I opened my eyes. “Very nice,” he said. I shifted on the couch so I was lying down, and he lowered himself on top of me. He kept himself supported on his forearms as he moved his pelvis, first to the right, then a little to the left, and then I felt the head of his cock sliding into me. I held my breath, waiting for the pain, but there was none. There was just this delicious sliding feeling, this wonderful feeling of being perfectly fulfilled as he slid all the way in. It didn’t hurt at all, and I exhaled as he started to move slowly. I reached down and grabbed his ass, felt those smooth muscles flexing and relaxing. He kissed my collarbone and then my neck and I ran my hands up his back, digging my nails in as the sensations started to build. I arched my back and felt him go in even further, and I cried out, even though I was trying not to. I could no longer help the noises that were escaping from my mouth, the same way I couldn’t control what I was feeling anymore, either. Levi was moving faster, his breathing heavier, his own eyes closed, his brow furrowed. The faster he moved, the more incredible the feeling was inside of me; it felt like a rising tidal wave that kept going higher and higher until finally, it crashed, the pure, perfect pleasure of it cascading all over me. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him to me as closely as I could, and he kept mov
ing his hips, faster and faster, his breath heavy, a low growl building in his throat until he let out an anguished-sounding cry and yanked his hips back, pulling his cock out of me completely, his come spurting out onto my abdomen.
I knew I should have had him put a condom on, but I hadn’t cared right then; all I had wanted was to have him inside of me. He got up and went to the bathroom and came back with a towel that he wiped my stomach down with. Then he lay next to me, exhaling loudly.
“There’s probably a million cliché things I could say right now, so I won’t,” he said. “I’ll just leave it at wow.” He kissed my shoulder and ran his fingers through my hair.
“I can totally agree with you on that,” I said, my body still buzzing with that delicious feeling.
21.
Levi
The second rule of vacation is that when you can spend the entire day fucking, you do it.
Isla and I didn’t end up leaving the house that day; she got up late, but after we had sex, we went back to bed and had more sex. Rest and repeat. We paused to get some food delivered around ten o’clock that night, but that was it.
Now that’s the kind of vacation I’m talking about.
But the next morning, Isla was up early the next morning to go for a run.
“You’re on vacation,” I said.
“I know.” She had on a pair of tight running shorts and a pink Lycra tank top. Damn, she looked good.
“So that means you should come back over here, let me take those clothes off of you, and get back into bed.”
She smiled, a little dryly, it would seem. Hmm. Usually such charms would work wonders, but not with her, at least not right now.
“It really doesn’t have anything to do with me being on vacation, or needing a break from it. It’s sort of like something I have to do. And besides, we were in bed all day yesterday.”
“Are you complaining about that?”
“Certainly not. But running—it’s something I just have to do. I haven’t been as good about it lately, but I need to do it.”