Page 53 of All at Once

“It would have been one if you didn’t play your fucking pirate national anthem,” I say, too pissed to care if my breath smells or if my hair looks like a tornado.

He turns toward his room and then back at me. “Oh you heard that?”

“I wish I hadn’t.”

“That song’s a classic.”

Ilovethat song. Just not when it obnoxiously disturbs my sleep. And so I will not be informing him about my further admiration of his music taste. Instead, I continue to glare at him, knowing he did this as payback for my loud music from yesterday morning. “I’m going to get you for this. I don’t know how. But Iwill.”

“How will I sleep tonight?” Luca says, the words setting off a firework in my chest. It’s not like he said it in a dirty way. But I still caught the half-second glance he paid to my lips. Or maybe to my cheeks. I can’t quite recall. I’m still half-asleep. The very opposite of Luca, who’s as energetic as ever as he nonchalantly walks past me, out the door, and toward the pathway of flora.

He puts on his sunglasses and adds, “Now if you’ll excuse me the omelette bar gets pretty busy on Monday mornings. See you for surfing…or not?”

“You wish! I’ll make it!” I call out, my eyes about to pop out of my face with the way I’m still scowling at him.

_________

Luca must have been thrilled to hear that I actually wouldn’t be joining them to surf after getting the worst cramps. Knowing how shitty I feel on the first day of my period, I sadly messagedEnrique that I’d also be skipping today’s activities altogether. Except I spared him the details and just said I wasn’t feeling great. Things are weird enough between us that he doesn’t need to know the details of my menstrual cycle.

The only thing I managed to do today was nap, trying my best to forget about my cramps, until I woke up in the early evening and ordered some room service.

At least I could use this time to look for a job since I’m not planning on wasting the rest of this vacation once I feel good enough to get out of bed. But then I curse underneath my breath when I realize I didn’t pack my laptop charger.

The chances of Luca having an extra charger are slim, yet it’s still worth a shot to ask. So I suck up my frustration at his lovely gesture from earlier this morning and knock on his door for the second time today, wondering if he’s also back from surfing.

When he opens it immediately, his arrogant smirk and slightly damp hair almost startles me. “Should I just give you my extra room key?”

“Very funny.” I fake laugh. “Do you happen to have a MacBook charger? My laptop is about to die, and I forgot to pack mine.”

“Yeah, I do,” he says.

“You do?” I parrot. “What are the odds?”

His eyes grow wide, clearly mimicking me. “Oh look, it’sfate.”

I roll my eyes, but this time I actuallysmileat his banter.

Luca offers, “I’ll go and look for it and bring it to you when I find it.” He touches the back of his hair and quickly adds, “Or you could come in while I look for it?” I think he included this to be polite. He must also see my laptop tucked under my arm. I don’t know why I brought it with me.Maybe as proof?I’m not exactly thinking, still in pain and now groggy from my nap.

Although, I don’t mind waiting inside. Maybe it’s my nosiness. Or the trace of mystery that lingers around Luca. But going into his suite, seems the closest I’ll be getting to his room, my curiosity for the faintest of things clearly not stopping with a guy who’s this handsome.

“I can come in,” I say. Smile timid. Mind not really thinking this through. Then my heartbeat immediately speeds up as I enter his suite, walking past his doorway, spotting his bed, realizing that I’m now alone with a guy in a setting like this for the first time.

Luca rummages through his things, trying to find the charger while I take a seat on the closest couch next to the door, continuing my job search.

He hands me the cords not even a minute later, just as I’ve begun a new application.

“Oh. Thanks,” I say, slightly delayed as I finish the line I’m working on. “Sorry, I was just filling out a job application.”

“You can keep working on that if you want.” He gestures toward my laptop.

“That’s okay. I don’t want to bother you more than I have.” I give a small smile. It would be nice to have some company, though. Distracting, yes? But still nice.

“You wouldn’t be,” he says. “I was just going to read a little before going to bed.”

“Okay, great. Thanks.” Not really wanting to leave, I don’t bother questioning him again.

Luca goes to sit on a chair right next to his bed near a reading lamp when his voice catches me by surprise. “What happened to you earlier? Did you walk to the wrong beach?” he deadpans.

---