Page 55 of Semblance

Shadow shook his head. “Between those two, they can create a sound business infrastructure that can last this country a lifetime. I don’t have the expertise like they do. Instead, I just contribute money wherever I can.”

I nodded.

We spent another hour exploring the temple ruins before hunger and thirst finally settled in. I was also a sweaty mess and was beginning to feel self-conscious of my appearance.

“I must look disgusting,” I said as I tugged on my shirt collar in a hopeless effort to cool myself down.”

“I’m not any better,” he said. Beads of sweat glistened across his bare shoulders and traces of it soaked the collar of his tank top. There was something about a sweaty, physical man that did it for me.

I prayed that I wasn’t blushing right now.

“Besides, I like a girl who doesn’t mind getting wet,” he said with mischief in his eyes.

Shit. If I wasn’t blushing before, I most certainly was now and damn it if I wasn’t picturing every way of getting wet with him.

“I need some water,” Shadow said. “If we’re ready to leave this place, we can head back to the tut-tut.”

“Water would be amazing.”

Johnny was where we had left him. In addition he had brought us a cooler filled with water, juice, and a few snacks.

Shadow grabbed a bottle of water and handed it over to me. He took one for himself and drained it in a matter of seconds.

After we were both rehydrated, Johnny handed me what looked to be a bamboo stick.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Tasty treat,” he replied as he showed me how to peel back the layers of bark, revealing sticky rice and black beans inside.

“I’ve never eaten anything out of a stick before,” I laughed as I took a cautious bite. It was delicious. I began to devour the bamboo sticky rice like a starved animal.

“Hungry?” Shadow laughed peeling back one of his own tasty bamboo treats.

“This is orgasmic,” I said.

“First time I ever heard of a woman getting off from rice.”

I was going to make a witty comeback, but decided to use my mouth for eating instead.

After we were finished with our snack, we sat in the cool shade of the tut-tut while relaxing and sipping water; the two of us alone. Johnny had left to go find some lunch of his own.

“Thanks again for bringing me here,” I said. “This trip has been incredible so far.”

“There’s a lot of Cambodia left,” Shadow said. “This is only one of many temples to explore as well as more foods to taste. There’s deep fried spider if you’re feeling adventurous enough.”

“You’re serious? They eat deep fried spider here?”

“It’s more of a novelty for tourists than anything,” Shadow replied “It’s not considered one of the basic food groups for locals.”

“I think I’ll pass on the deep fried spider. Everything else sounds amazing. For a fake date, you’ve really outdone yourself.”

“Think nothing of it,” Shadow said. “I love this place too. My dad took me here when I was still a little kid. I remember how speechless I was when I saw the temples for the first time—though I was probably too busy complaining about the heat at the time to appreciate the serenity of Angkor Wat.”

“Did your dad take you here for a trip?”

Shadow shook his head. “Business,” he replied, as his thoughts seemed to trail off into the past. “Everywhere he took me was always for business.”

“You never made the coming-of-age trip to Disneyland?” I teased.

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