Lovestruck

by Bronwyn Sell

  ‘You were a natural. I can’t believe you haven’t done that before when you practically grew up here.’ He dropped his sunglasses from his crown to his eyes, swung his long, muscular legs onto his lounger and bent one arm back to rest his head on it, showing part of the tattoo on his biceps—a black dragonfly wing, in pinpoint detail she’d like to examine way more closely, while tracing the lines with her fingertip or maybe her tongue.

  ‘She was the kid searching the caves for creepy crawlies and dinosaur fossils and begging Harry to do science experiments with her,’ Carmen said, evidently realising that they’d lost Amy.

  ‘I’d believe that. Hey, Carmen,’ he said, craning to see past Amy. ‘Is that wedding prep you’re doing?’

  Carmen looked at her seating chart, which was covered in scribbles, as if a tiny figure skater had strapped ink to her blades and gone for a spin. ‘Just going over the seating plans and checking I have the dietary requirements straight. We’ve had a couple of people pull out and another three RSVP late, so it’s a bit of a nightmare, especially because the head chef is away this week, conveniently.’

  ‘Anything I can help with?’ he said, relaxing back down.

  Amy sipped her beer to kill her grin—she’d told him about Carmen’s legendary inability to delegate.

  ‘That would be great. I’m sure there’s something that …’ Carmen shuffled her reams of paper. ‘Actually, you know what? It’s probably easier if I do it myself at this point. By the time I tell you what to do …’

  He smirked at Amy. ‘If you’re sure?’

  ‘Yeah. It’s kind of all in my head, so …’

  ‘Well, the offer’s there,’ he said, somehow managing not to sound as cheeky as he looked. Amy gave him an I’m-onto-you smile. Through the lens of his sunglasses, she detected a wink.

  ‘So you’ve just moved to Melbourne?’ Carmen said, scooting down her lounger and spinning so she could see both Josh and Amy. Amy reset her expression. ‘What’s taken you there?’

  ‘Sanjay, mostly. I’m a firefighter and a senior position came up and my mum pretty much filled out the application for me because that’s how desperately she wanted to get rid of me. I’ll be working in the CBD.’

  ‘A firefighter,’ Carmen repeated with unnecessary emphasis. ‘That’s so cool, isn’t it, Aims?’

  ‘So cool.’ And believe me, she silently communed to her sister, I’ve pictured him in his uniform, all sweaty and smeared with ash while he carries a baby from a burning house, silhouetted by orange and golden flames—in slow motion, like all good firefighting is done.

  ‘You know Aims here is a climate scientist?’ Carmen said it as if firefighters and climatologists went together like doctors and nurses.

  ‘She was telling me about it last night. She definitely got the brains in the family—I mean I’m sure you have them too, but I’m just saying that I—’

  ‘Amy’s always been the super-smart one,’ Carmen said, completely underselling herself. ‘So, the CBD? That’s not far from Amy’s apartment. Do you have a place to live?’

  Amy widened her eyes at Carmen. Do. Not. Go. There.

  ‘Not yet,’ he said, wriggling over to get his eyes in the shade of the umbrella. His bent elbow grazed Amy’s knee. She uncrossed her legs and stretched them out in front of her. ‘I’m staying with Sanjay but I’ll look for a place the second I get back. Because sharing with newlyweds? Nuh-uh—especially when it’s your dad.’

  ‘I’m sure Amy’s mentioned it, but her housemate moved out.’ Carmen deliberately looked right past Amy at Josh. Later she would no doubt claim she was unaware of Amy’s don’t-you-dare expression.

  ‘Oh,’ he said, the skin beside his eyes bunching. ‘She didn’t say.’

  ‘She’s desperate—she’s covering all the rent. You’d be doing her a massive favour.’

  ‘I only share with women,’ Amy said without thinking.

  ‘Yeah, okay, that’s cool.’ Josh levered up onto his elbows and sipped his beer. Was that a bite of hurt in his voice?

  ‘And why is that again, Aims?’ Carmen asked, feigning innocence. Two of Amy’s last three housemates had been male—and she’d fallen in love and spectacularly crashed out with only one of them, which was a pretty encouraging ratio.

  ‘They’re tidier.’ Another lie. She’d literally fumigated after the last (female) housemate vacated.

  ‘Dude,’ Josh said, ‘I went to boarding school. Tidiness was basically beaten into me.’

  Dude? She was dude now? ‘I’m a really hard person to live with.’

  Josh looked at Carmen, his head tilted in a question like he was passing the issue up the chain for a response.

  ‘You’re the most laidback person in the world,’ Carmen said. ‘Our mother wouldn’t let me move in with her,’ she told Josh. ‘She made me take the apartment next door, but she keeps begging Amy to move up from Melbourne. Plenty of room in my apartment, honey. I’d take that personally if it wasn’t for … Okay, I do take that personally.’

  Amy looked at Josh. ‘I’m a nightmare housemate, seriously.’

  ‘Hey, don’t stress,’ Josh said, reaching over and tapping Amy’s knee in a brotherly way that shouldn’t make all her nerves ping one after the other, all the way up to her stomach. ‘I’m not about to muscle in and cramp my little sister’s style.’

  ‘That interrogating the boyfriends thing, huh?’

  ‘I would legit do that. I do it to my mum’s boyfriends, but then she does date losers, and never for long—hey, no wonder she wants Perth all to herself!’ Again, way too perky. ‘I’m sure you have far better taste, but only the perfect guy for our little sis, am I right, Carmen?’

  ‘Yep, nothing short of the perfect guy,’ Carmen said, reaching over Amy to high-five him.

  ‘Not that I’m saying I have equal rights in this sibling scenario,’ he said, settling back onto his elbows. ‘I’m the awkward middle child trying to keep the peace between you guys. Older child,’ he corrected, after a moment’s thought. ‘Does that still work?’ For all his catalogue-model looks, he was adorably eager, like he’d never seen a mirror and didn’t realise he didn’t need to try so hard. But Amy loved that he didn’t pretend to be cool. He gestured at her with his beer. ‘And I really don’t need to move in. I mean, that’s just taking the insta-sibling thing too far … right?’

  That hesitation. He wanted her to contradict him. This was a guy who was desperate for a family, and she had an awesome family. An interfering, irritating family, sure, (case in point, Carmen, right now) but the idea of not having them there … And Josh would be a great addition, like his dad was. A great brother. A fantastic housemate. And all that rent money she was torching with every day that passed … She needed to get over herself and let it happen for everyone’s good, especially his.

  Amy could swear part of her was hovering outside her body as she said the words, ‘I’d love it if you moved in with me.’

  7

  Amy could feel Carmen and Josh studying her face, one either side—optical nails drilling into each of her temples. Somehow, she’d managed to make her offer sound decisive yet offhand, for which she should get a golden statuette.

  ‘You’re sure?’ Josh said, that vulnerability cracking his voice and disintegrating her heart into crumbs.

  ‘I can’t think of a single reason why not. And better my brother than a stranger, right?’ It sounded so wrong to say the B-word aloud when she was crushing on him like a car compactor, but best she got used to it. Brother, brother, brother.

  ‘Cool,’ her brother said. Her brother’s whole body seemed to inflate, like he might float away. Her brother sat up, spun toward her and planted his brotherly feet on the sand, resting his brotherly elbows on his brotherly thighs. ‘But you have to promise that you’ll tell me to move out if it’s not working for you. Be a bitch about it, like a real sister. I don’t want to blow my chances of being invited back here for Christmas by leaving the toilet seat up—which I don’t do, for the record
.’ Her brother held out his hand. ‘Deal?’

  Helpless, she reached out. He jerked his hand away and ran it through his hair, chuckling, just like a brother. She laughed, when inside her head she was bolting down the beach, screaming and Kermit-flailing her arms. How had she gone from vowing to avoid him to moving in together in the space of a few minutes?

  Carmen. That was how. Always a family member involved.

  They would need ground rules for this flatting arrangement. Shirt on at all times. No coming out of the shower in a towel. Separate sofas. No bodily contact. No binge-watching TV shows together. No cooking meals for her or doing her laundry or inviting relatives for dinner and playing host and hostess. Hopefully he’d leave dishes in the sink and sweaty gym shorts in the hallway, and he’d never vacuum or clean the bathroom, and within a few months she’d wonder why she’d ever been attracted to him. Ye gods, what if he brought girlfriends home? Or worse, dates, seeing as he didn’t do girlfriends?

  ‘Hi, Mum!’ Carmen called, waving.

  Rosa was ambling through the shallows, hand-in-hand with Silver Surfer. ‘Look at them,’ Amy said, squinting into the sun. ‘They could be on an ad.’

  ‘Curlew Bay,’ Carmen purred in a mock voiceover. ‘Fall in love with perfection.’

  ‘Mum didn’t come home last night,’ Amy said. She hadn’t been able to share the dirt over breakfast with little Mika there eating her chia pudding—which was dessert disguised as breakfast but who was Amy to judge? But now the little girl was safely at kids’ club.

  Carmen’s head snapped around so quickly it risked spinning right off her neck. ‘What?’

  ‘Oh man,’ Josh groaned, ‘that was your mum in Viggo’s room?’ When Amy looked at him, not following, he added, with a sharp, pained intake of breath, ‘Viggo’s my roommate—we’re both groomsmen. I don’t think anyone in that villa got any sleep last night.’

  Josh was Sanjay’s groomsman? Why had Amy not thought of that? And she and Carmen were their dad’s groomswomen. Carmen’s wedding-day schedule had everyone paired off in twos like Noah’s ark—drinking champagne together, sitting together, dining together, dancing together. Amy would be paired with either her mum’s new boyfriend or with Josh, seeing as Mika was Carmen’s plus-one. And the way Carmen was none-too-subtly matchmaking …

  ‘Our mother?’ Carmen said. ‘Aims, you realise this means both Nan and Mum have better sex lives than we do?’

  ‘Not hard to achieve. And, um, that may be TMI for our new brother.’

  Josh gave a brusque laugh. ‘I reckon I reached TMI around 3 am. Does this mean I’m truly inducted into the family?’

  ‘We may have more initiations in store,’ Carmen said, her red lips twisting into a grin that could only mean trouble. ‘You should hang out with Aims and me as much as possible to give Mum plenty of quality time with Viggo, and Dad plenty of quality time with Sanjay. Of course, that’s when I’m not busy with wedding arrangements, or with my daughter, or working, which is going to be most of the time, I’m afraid.’

  ‘I say we let Mum take this at her own pace,’ Amy said. ‘No pressure, you know? I’m sure she’ll want to go slow after all this time.’

  ‘Uh, Aims?’ Josh said. ‘Don’t look now but I don’t think that’s their plan.’ Of course, Amy had to go and look because that’s what you did when someone told you not to—just in time to see the end of an eye-popping kiss. ‘Don’t sweat it, sisters. Viggo’s a great guy. And I gather he hasn’t had any action since his divorce a couple of years back. He’s pretty much married to the company, which isn’t always healthy for anyone involved, the way I hear it.’

  When the lovebirds finally made it to their happy little sibling trio, Rosa gave a double clap like the ballet teacher she was and announced she had a great plan. ‘You know how we were wondering how to end the wedding dance sequence?’ She threw up her hands. ‘I’m sorry, where are my manners?’ She introduced Viggo to Amy and Carmen, and then stopped dead at Josh, drawing a blank.

  Josh stood, ducking out of the way of the umbrella, and introduced himself. ‘I’m Viggo’s roommate,’ he added.

  Rosa’s face paled, and then flared. She turned woodenly to Viggo. ‘You have a roommate?’ she said, brightly but with clipped consonants. ‘You didn’t mention that. I assumed you had the villa to yourself.’

  Viggo’s gaze flittered around his intent audience. ‘The subject didn’t really come up last night … or this morning. Sorry, Rosa,’ he added, sotto voce, ‘I didn’t hear him come in. It wasn’t until this morning that I remembered he was even sharing with me.’

  ‘You mentioned you had a great plan, Mrs—Ms—?’ Josh said to Amy’s mum. Throwing her a lifeline. What a hero.

  ‘Just Rosa. And yes, the wedding number. I’m thinking, let’s factor in some lifts. Really bring it to a climax.’

  Don’t say climax. ‘Lifts?’ Amy said. ‘You want me to lift you? Won’t that look like a cheerleading routine?’

  ‘No, honey, you won’t be lifting, you’ll be lifted. We’ll bring in reinforcements, just for the big finale.’

  ‘Who?’ Amy said. ‘Dad and Sanjay? Dad might break something—and just before his honeymoon.’

  ‘TMI,’ Carmen and Josh chorused.

  ‘And this is supposed to be a surprise for them,’ Carmen added.

  ‘How would you feel about stepping in, Josh?’ Rosa said, turning to him with her hands at prayer.

  Eek.

  ‘Viggo’s happy to help out.’ Rosa exchanged an almost shy smile with Viggo that Amy would find adorable if she wasn’t freaking out at the alarming implications of this. ‘And Carmen can do a cute lift with Mika.’

  ‘Mate, I’m so keen,’ Josh said with a little jump. He knocked the umbrella and reached out to steady it, the dragonfly pulsing around his biceps. ‘Can we do the Dirty Dancing lift? I’ve always wanted to try that.’ He looked down at Amy. ‘We could practise in the water, like in the movie. It’ll be hilarious.’

  ‘So, so funny,’ she squeaked.

  ‘Yeah,’ Carmen said, ‘the part in the movie where Patrick Swayze and that socially awkward Jennifer whatshername fall in love and he doesn’t see it coming even though everyone watching does. You’d definitely have the strength to do it. Wouldn’t he, Aims? I mean, look at those muscles.’

  Josh had the class to look embarrassed, but Rosa beamed. ‘That lift would be perfect!’ she said. ‘We’ll have to get started this afternoon. We only have a few days, and busy days at that but, Josh, you’re in good hands with Aims. She’ll show you what you need to do. You’ll want to practise somewhere private so Geoff and Sanjay don’t catch on. This is going to be great.’

  ‘How about one of the little bays around the coast that we saw from the boat?’ Josh said to Amy.

  ‘We can’t learn that lift in the water,’ Amy said, standing and brushing sand from her sarong. ‘That was a crock.’

  ‘An excuse to get Patrick Swayze wet and shirtless,’ Carmen said. ‘Not that it didn’t have artistic merit.’

  Josh frowned. ‘What do you mean, “a crock”?’

  Amy tried not to picture Josh wet and shirtless, but perhaps not as hard as she could have. ‘If we did it in the water, it’d be harder for me to get momentum for lift-off and I’d be slippery. If you value the bones in your nose, it’s not a good idea. And in the ocean, you have the added factor of the tide sucking at your feet.’

  Rosa nodded. ‘I shudder to think how many people have tried it in the water because of that movie and sustained awful injuries.’

  ‘Seriously,’ Amy said. ‘We would need a gym, with padded mats and things, and there isn’t anything like that on the island.’ She shrugged. ‘Sorry.’

  ‘No water? You’re destroying everything I hold sacred,’ Josh said.

  ‘Are you sure you’re not gay?’

  Carmen unleashed a laugh tainted with just enough evil for Amy alone to catch. ‘Josh, I love that you even know that movie.’

  ‘My mum loves it. The
number of times I’ve had to sit through it at Christmas …’ The vulnerability glitched his voice and evaporated, as it had every time he’d mentioned his mother in the last twenty-four hours. Yeesh, it wasn’t even twenty-four hours since they’d met.

  ‘You can learn it without a gym,’ Rosa said unhelpfully. ‘Josh would have the strength, and probably the balance. Try Fossil Cove at low tide, where there’s lots of flat sand—it’s over the hill from the resort, on the eastern side of the island,’ she added, for Josh’s benefit. ‘It can be exposed if there’s an onshore wind, but you’ll survive.’

  He frowned, looking at the ocean. ‘What direction are we facing now?’

  ‘North-west,’ Amy said, pointing out through the centre of the bay.

  ‘Start off with him lying down and bench-pressing you,’ Rosa instructed, ‘so he can practise balancing you while you do the plane pose, and then move onto a standing lift, and then add the run-up.’

  And being Josh’s barbell with her tits shoved out wouldn’t at all be uncomfortable.

  Amy cycled through potential excuses. Snorkelling injury? Too-tight dress? Sudden fear of heights? But Josh’s face was glowing like it was lit from within. Yesterday the guy had no family to speak of, and today he was in a family dance troupe. How could she take that from him? This whole attraction thing was her problem, not his, and she alone would take the hit—even though she knew only too well what part of her body his hands would have to palm. I really should have gone to the gym.

  Or maybe they could try the Dirty Dancing lift a few times and fail spectacularly, just short of a broken nose—because it’d be a crime to spoil that perfect profile. And then she could talk him into a lift that would require less practice and a way less intimate hold. No coming face to butt, hip to hip, hand to thigh, or groin to anything. An arabesque lift? No, he’d have to palm her inner thigh. Same with a fish lift. And definitely not a reverse leg wrap, for which they’d practically need contraception. She’d leave those ones for her mother and Viggo, who were probably already way too comfortable with each other’s inner—