Lovestruck

by Bronwyn Sell

  ‘Anyway, bro,’ Cody said, ‘you’re swimming with a naked guest and you’re warning me off?’

  ‘I’m not a resort employee and I wasn’t swimming with her.’

  Cody folded his arms. ‘But you do want to screw her, yeah? The thought has crossed your mind?’

  ‘Have some respect, dickhead.’

  ‘Just concerned that your balls will explode, bro.’

  ‘You, worrying about me?’ Harry shook his head. ‘She’s vulnerable. The last thing she needs is more confusion.’

  ‘Sex is not confusing. It’s really fucking simple. But maybe you’re just doing it wrong. Ah, I forgot—you’re not doing it at all.’ Cody slapped Harry’s shoulder. ‘Hot tip. No one forces you to get married afterwards anymore. But promise me you’ll check the dates on your condoms. And if you’re not going to go there? Feel free to set her up with me. I’m good at providing uncomplicated distractions.’

  ‘Don’t you dare.’

  Cody fake-recoiled. ‘Ooh. Why?’

  ‘Like I say, she’s fragile.’

  ‘You’re such a fucking hero. Just coz whatshername hasn’t found anyone else doesn’t mean you’re responsible for every …’ Cody trailed off, focusing on something over Harry’s shoulder. He knew Rachel’s name perfectly well, but since she and Harry had broken up, he’d made a point of never saying it. ‘Shut up, she’s coming.’

  Harry reluctantly introduced Sophia to Cody. Normally, he was happy to guide guests in his brother’s direction if he sensed all they wanted was a mindless holiday flirtation. The guy could charm the tail off a mermaid. But not Sophia.

  ‘We’ll be lifting off in just under thirty minutes,’ Cody said to Sophia. ‘Shall I grab your things?’

  ‘No, I’ll stay if Harry’s staying,’ she said, turning to Harry. He hated himself for feeling relieved. Under her sunhat, her cheeks were flushed, but she didn’t seem embarrassed by being caught naked—and nor should she. She looked chilled out and happy. ‘There’s not many times in your life you get stranded on a tropical island with a handsome … um …’ Her hand flew up to her collarbone.

  ‘With a handsome?’ Cody prompted.

  ‘Collection of books,’ she finished, emphatically. ‘Harry picked out some books for me.’

  Okay, now she looked embarrassed.

  ‘Books. Right. Well then, enjoy your afternoon,’ Cody said. ‘And listen out for Lena’s boat. You’ll hear it a mile off so that should give you time to stop whatever it is you might be doing. Reading or skinny-dipping or, you know, whatever.’

  ‘So you saw that?’ Sophia said, gesturing at the water.

  ‘Just some spectacular scenery.’ Cody stepped away, then stopped. ‘Catch you at the bachelors party tonight, bro? Hey, you should join us, Sophia. The uncles won’t mind.’

  ‘A bachelor party?’ she said.

  ‘A bachelors party. It’d be great to, ah, see a little more of you.’ He grinned.

  Bastard. Coming from anyone else, a line like that would have sounded sleazy, but he managed to make it playful and funny.

  ‘Uh …’ Sophia looked at Harry like she was checking it with him. He wiped the dark look off his face, but not quickly enough. ‘No, I’m fine, but thanks.’

  ‘Well, if you change your mind …’ Cody said, mock-saluting. ‘Make sure you check those dates, Houdini.’

  ‘Dates?’ Sophia said, as Cody walked off after his guests.

  ‘For meetings. Health and safety.’

  She narrowed her eyes. Hell, he’d forgotten about her lying superpower.

  ‘Houdini?’ she said.

  ‘He reckons I get away with stuff he doesn’t because I’m the “good brother”. When in fact it’s because I am the good brother and I don’t do stuff I need to get away with.’

  ‘And what did he mean by bachelors party? I’m needing quite the translation here.’

  ‘Plural and non-gender specific. My former uncle’s gay wedding. Bucks’ night for two.’

  ‘Ah. I have a vague recollection of hearing something about that last night at the bar.’

  ‘Do you also remember stripping to your underwear and dancing on a table?’ And that gave him an image of her in the white bra and panties, which was basically naked with a scrap of intriguing decoration.

  Silence. ‘I’m … fairly confident I didn’t do that. Wouldn’t do that.’ She noted his grin and swiped at him. ‘You’re teasing.’

  The only person he was really teasing was himself. ‘You had to stop and think.’

  ‘It’s not something I would do, no matter how much I’d drunk.’ She noticed a tourist aiming a phone camera their way, and turned her back to the woman. ‘Your brother seems …’ She chewed on a corner of her lip, watching Cody.

  ‘He’s not that hard to figure out,’ Harry said. ‘Does what it says on the packet.’

  ‘He’s like a blond version of you.’

  ‘I bloody hope not.’

  ‘Same height, same build, same dimples.’

  Dimples? He touched one of his cheeks, feeling the imprint. ‘Different in every other way, I promise you.’

  ‘Really? You seem so close.’

  ‘Why would you say that? And don’t tell him that. Intimacy is his kryptonite—emotional intimacy, anyway.’ The rest he had no problem with.

  ‘Wise man. Thanks for bringing me my towel,’ she said, rubbing her hands down the sides of her pants. ‘I was miles away.’

  ‘Not at speed dating?’

  She laughed, a much lighter laugh than the cynical one of earlier. ‘Far from it. In a happy daydream.’

  ‘It was obviously a good one.’

  ‘The best,’ she said with a loaded smile. If he were Cody, he’d ask for details. ‘I might go and read for a bit.’

  ‘One of the handsome books? I didn’t even think you’d opened the bag.’

  ‘I haven’t.’ She grinned like she knew she’d been caught out and didn’t care.

  ‘Then how do you know they’re handsome? And what even is a handsome book?’

  ‘I trust your judgment,’ she said. ‘Are you going to join me? In reading, I mean.’

  ‘Nah. Round here, you can always find work that needs doing.’ Another lie, but that tent was too small for both of them, especially now that his brain had overlaid the image of her underwear over those curves. Would you even need to peel it off before—?

  He shook himself. Maybe he and Cody had more in common than he thought.

  ‘Can I help?’ she said. ‘Maybe I could prove my worth away from a computer?’

  ‘I don’t doubt your worth. But this work involves going into the water and, yeah, I wouldn’t rate my chances of getting anything done if you’re wearing … Or not wearing … Listen, I’m going to go and … clams and dugongs.’ He waved like he was conjuring them, just as she muttered something about books and a drink of water.

  ‘Cool,’ they said together. He swivelled and strode toward the rocks, remembering halfway there that his snorkelling gear was back on the beach, near the tent. And there it’d stay. He filled both cheeks with air and released it. He’d gone and got attracted to the wrong woman. Again.

  No matter what, he was staying in the water until he heard Lena’s boat, even if it took hours. And then he should send Sophia back with Lena and camp out here for a night. Or ten.

  But he knew he wouldn’t. Because he wasn’t the hero Cody thought he was.

  Trip Review: Curlew Bay

  Rating:

  Review: There was only one pool and it was only solar heated so not warm enough for swimming and I don’t let my kids go in the ocean because of sharks so they got bored and annoying.

  16

  Amy

  No one could prove that Amy was saving a seat for Josh. Sure, she’d spread across two spots on a bench seat at a table, one of several that were pushed together on the deck to make one long one. And yes, she might have angled herself so she’d see him when he arrived, whether he took the steps up from the bea
ch or came through the pavilion.

  But she wasn’t even sure she wanted to sit next to him and even less sure he’d want to sit next to her, given his abrupt exit from the cove. She was keeping her options open, that was all.

  Cloaked by the night, she sipped her lime and soda, inhaling the peppermint and citronella from the oil burners holding off the mosquitos, and letting her family’s conversation ebb and flow around her. Well, flow. There was never an ebb. Beside her, Harry was arguing across the table with Lena about the military base, though Amy was pretty sure they were on the same side. Aunt Jaz and Nan were discussing a rumoured royal visit to Queensland and their chances of bagging a booking. Wedding guests occupied the rest of the spaces, everyone talking over each other like it was a contest. Rosa and Carmen sat at the far end, Mika on Carmen’s lap in all her three-year-old gorgeousness, eating chargrilled baby octopus and something that could have been sea urchins—because she had no idea that regular kids ate hot chips and chicken nuggets.

  Amy usually loved exhaling into the energy of her family without having to make the effort to be energetic herself. Listening was exhausting enough. It was like being invisible while getting a big hug.

  But today she was antsy. Maybe she should go and sit next to Carmen. Then there’d be no room for Josh beside her and she wouldn’t have to suffer this will-he-won’t-he-and-did-she-even-want-him-to rubbish.

  She scrunched her hair for the tenth time in as many minutes. If she could hear anything above the chatter and music and rush of the ocean, she was sure it would crackle. It was already finding its salty holiday norm, where one minute it looked beach-babe sexy and the next like she’d been locked for a week in a fish and chip shop.

  And there he was, walking out from the pavilion. Finally. Without looking directly at him, she put together the picture. Striding in that easy way of his, carrying a beer, wearing a pale-green shirt—striped, maybe?—and shorts. She pretended to be engrossed in Lena and Harry’s discussion, suddenly aware of her hands and not sure what to do with them. What did she usually do with them? What had she been doing with them ten seconds ago, and for the twenty-seven years before that? She settled on wrapping them around her glass.

  He paused as he neared the table—sizing up his seating options? She felt like she was shrinking into the shy ten-year-old she used to be. Not that she wasn’t still shy, but these days she covered for it marginally better, aside from blurting out cringy things. She scooted closer to Harry, subtly leaving a Josh-sized space. Your call. She wasn’t about to call out and make him feel compelled to sit there while bringing more attention and scrutiny to whatever was or wasn’t happening between them.

  How awkward had the afternoon been? So much for her plan to switch the dance move to something less intimate. Even line dancing beside Josh would get her all hot and breathy. Her plan to dull her attraction by getting to know him better had also backfired, and Sanjay’s obvious disapproval was having zero impact. And that was without getting started on Josh’s outright rejection of her, that she’d pretended not to hear—or feel. There’s no way in hell I’d go there. And he shouldn’t.

  So why did she want him sitting next to her? Why set herself up for rejection again?

  And why did a coldness come over her when he sauntered to the other end of the table, where Carmen was sitting? Carmen glanced across at her, eyes narrowing. Amy looked down at her glass. Out of the corner of her eye, she tracked him as he sat beside Carmen. He couldn’t have chosen a seat further from Amy.

  ‘You’re being quiet there, Aims,’ Harry said.

  Amy gasped. Sometimes she forgot she wasn’t actually invisible. ‘Someone has to be.’

  He gave a sympathetic laugh. Across the table, Lena had joined the discussion about the royal visit.

  Amy gestured at the water in front of Harry. ‘You’re not drinking either?’

  ‘I’ve had the strangest day, little cousie.’

  ‘Me too.’

  Harry was safe territory, fortunately—a proper brother figure. Some of her earliest memories were of him showing her fossils, a wild, patient barefoot boy who preferred the quiet places on the island, like she did. When he’d moved to Melbourne for uni, he’d boarded with them, and she’d loved hearing about the sea creatures and things he was studying. She’d taken all the science classes at school to be just like him. That was the kind of uncomplicated bond she needed to find with Josh.

  ‘What was your strange d—?’ she began.

  ‘The fuck?’ Harry said under his breath, looking along the deck. Weird. He never swore. She followed his gaze to where Cody had arrived with a familiar-looking blonde in a knockout bright-blue dress.

  ‘Harry?’ Amy said, but he didn’t seem to hear.

  Cody headed straight for them, picking up a loose chair on the way. He set it down at the head of the table. ‘Amy, have you met Sophia?’ Amy’s brain caught up—this was the champagne-swigging honeymooner, looking way more together.

  ‘You were in the bar last night,’ Amy said.

  Sophia raised two tapered, symmetrical eyebrows of perfectly medium thickness and density. Amy’s eyebrows were different heights and sparse in places, so she always noticed other people’s. ‘Apparently so.’ Sophia brought her hands together. She’d fixed her chipped nail polish. ‘Let me buy a round of drinks, seeing as I’m the gate-crasher.’

  ‘Bourbon and cola,’ Lena called without looking up. Sophia looked around, as if trying to locate the voice.

  ‘That was Lena,’ Amy said, pointing at her cousin, who was carrying on her conversation, oblivious. ‘She has this freakish ability to catch the words “buy” and “round” anywhere in a one-kilometre radius.’

  Cody ordered a light beer as he sat.

  ‘Nothing for me,’ Harry said.

  Amy raised a hand. ‘I’m good.’

  Harry watched Sophia walk back into the pavilion toward the bar. Amy could smell a Tova cold front approaching. Uh-oh.

  ‘What are you doing with her?’ Harry said to Cody once Sophia was out of earshot, his voice just audible.

  Cody tsked, eyeballing Harry right back. ‘Being a good host.’

  Amy rolled her eyes, though her cousins were too busy shooting lasers out of theirs to notice. One on the offensive and one on the defensive, on any given topic, in any given situation. Never a middle ground. Being stuck in the middle of their arguments was like being a ridge of high pressure between two tropical depressions, which was probably why Lena had grown up taking crap from no one. But if a stranger decided to take on one brother, he quickly discovered he had two to contend with—three when Lena’s twin, Luka, was around. And Lena made four, of course.

  ‘Where’s her husband?’ Amy asked.

  Harry relinquished eye contact with Cody. ‘Turns out there isn’t one. He dumped her just before the wedding and she’s come up here alone. So she doesn’t need further complications.’ He directed the last words at Cody.

  ‘Ever thought about letting her decide that?’ Cody said.

  ‘Ever thought she might not be in a position to make a good decision?’

  Cody sat back, slinging an arm over the side of his chair. ‘And here we go. You think I’m some predator but it’s you who thinks that grown women need protecting. Women can make up their own minds, right, Amo?’ Amy threw up her hands in an I-am-not-getting-involved gesture—now that she’d remembered how to operate her hands—but the brothers were back to glaring at each other like tomcats in a standoff. ‘I respect that, and so should you.’

  ‘Cody, whatever your endgame is here, she’s not—’

  ‘Houdini, stop. First, she’s not my type. Second, even I can see the woman needs space. I didn’t bring her here tonight for me.’

  She’s not my type. And was that simply one of those uncrossable barriers? Sophia wasn’t Cody’s type. Ricky Galanos hadn’t been Carmen’s type. Amy wasn’t Josh’s type. Game over.

  ‘I don’t need you doing me any favours,’ Harry said. ‘If I thou
ght she was interested—’

  Amy spotted Sophia returning and laid her hand on Harry’s forearm. ‘Back to your corners,’ she hissed. ‘She’s en route.’ She shifted along. Sophia might as well have the spot Josh had passed up. At the other end of the table, he and Carmen were laughing as Mika hoovered a mussel from a shell. They looked like a little family, which, of course, they were.

  ‘The hell is up with you?’ Cody said, leaning forward and lowering his volume. ‘I didn’t bring her here for you, either. She’s not a gift.’

  ‘Then what?’

  ‘I brought her here because she’s a fucking jilted bride and she was alone in her honeymoon suite. I brought her here for her. Jesus.’

  Harry looked up. Sophia was stepping onto the deck, juggling three drinks. ‘And that was your idea?’ he muttered, standing.

  ‘Course not.’ Cody relented just enough to allow his upper lip to lift in the beginnings of a smile. ‘Nan made me.’

  ‘Right,’ Harry said, as if that proved whatever point he was trying to make.

  ‘You do know this would have been Nan’s plan all along, right?’

  ‘What would have been?’

  ‘To make you jealous enough to actually make a move on the woman.’

  Harry slapped Cody on the shoulder as he passed, slightly too hard.

  Cody laughed. ‘Loser.’

  ‘Dickhead.’

  Harry grabbed two of the drinks from Sophia. He planted Cody’s in front of him, the beer splashing onto the table and Cody’s lap. Cody quietly swore as he flicked the liquid off his shorts. Lena accepted hers with a raised hand of thanks, without turning. Amy was pretty sure she had no idea who she was thanking or possibly that the transaction had even happened.

  ‘Hope it’s okay for me to be here.’ Sophia regarded Harry and Cody with curiosity as she sat next to Amy. Harry climbed back into his spot, leaving Amy stuck between them.