Page 56 of Chasing You

“What the fuck are you wearing?” I hear from Leo as May and I round the corner to see them standing at the front door.

Isla is sporting a new floral sundress, but Caio, Caio is wearing something akin to Crocodile Dundee.

“They’re called khakis. Everyone in Australia wears them, they’re cool!”

Leo and Rafael do that slow nodding thing people do when they have no idea what the other person is talking about, and Heath just snorts from behind his fist—the Australian in the group knowing exactly what is going on here.

“He wouldn’t leave without getting a pair.” Isla shakes her head, dropping her bags and running straight for us.

The three of us squeal as we collide, tipping from side to side as we wrap our arms around each other.

“You can never leave us for that long ever again,” May says.

“Aww,” Isla coos from the middle of our three-way hug. “Did you miss me?”

“Yes,” we say in unison.

“Did you get bored without me? Stuck with all these men?”

“Yes,” we repeat.

She just giggles, knowing full well we are being dramatic, but both of us did miss her. It’s not the same around here without her sunshine energy brightening the place up. It’s hard to remember Ruby Cove without Isla, she’s such a part of this place now.

The boys are still surrounding Caio as he tries to explain hisoutfit to them. Isla releases us from her grip, moving past us to go see her brother.

“Hey, idiot,” she says as she walks up to him. His face breaks into a grin, one I haven’t seen in a long time. One that a small part of me wishes was directed at me. I can’t help but watch them interact, watch as his arms hold her in a warm embrace, watch as they sit together, his eyes bright as Isla talks to him. He looks everything like the guy I used to know, and I feel oceans away.

“That look.”

I break out of my daze, looking to see May standing beside me. “What?”

She points at my face. “That look is why you didn’t have to say it.”

“In all fairness,it had red on it. It looked like a black widow to me, and I wasn’t going to stick around to find out,” Isla says.

“No,” Caio chimes in. “Instead, you just threw your sleeping bag in the air—probably tossing the spider onto me—and ran screaming out of the tent.”

“Yeah, you two aren’t built for the outback,” Heath says, shaking his head.

“It got better for a while there, but once I saw the snake by our barbecue, I was done,” Isla shivers as if the snake is right here in the room with us.

“Pick it up by its tail and you’re fine,” Heath says casually.

“Oh, so you’re a crazy person,” May laughs. “Who in the hell is picking up a snake? I’m running before I get anywhere near those scales.Fuck no.”

“Most of them aren’t poisonous.”

“How do you know until you’ve picked it up and it’s sinking its teeth into your balls, injecting life-threatening venom straightinto your life supply?” Leo says, and a laugh bursts from my throat.

“Your life supply,” I mock, snorting as I laugh. It sets Isla and May off and before you know it, the three of us have tears rolling down our cheeks. Isla is nearly on the floor and Leo is just sitting there with rosy cheeks, arms folded across his chest as he watches us.

“So,” Caio starts up a conversation, ignoring the three of us who are now wheezing. “Miles, how long have you been here? Isla said something about you seeing one of the eagles in the forest at the edge of town?”

Caio and his newfound interest in birds.

That makes me quieten down, May too. Isla follows suit, her laughing fading as she looks at us as if to ask,“What did I just miss?”

“Oh, um. I think it’s been about two weeks now. And, uh, yeah, it was huge, man. I haven’t seen that many before and I wasn’t expecting them here of all places.”

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