Page 27 of The Island of Hopes and Dreams

What had it felt like, Lola?she asked herself sternly. The feelings that kiss had stirred scared her senseless, because it had felt like magic.

16

There was no opportunity for Rhys to talk to Lola about the kiss, not while they were at the restaurant. Did she regret it? She was gulping down her drink and avoiding looking at him, seemingly relieved when Deni started talking to her, stealing her attention firmly away from him.

What he did catch was Zoe looking his way with an expression he couldn’t decipher. The moment their eyes met, she switched her focus to Freddie, like Lola had done with Deni. The promise he’d made to himself in Bosa to move on from Zoe for good had been thwarted by their engagement announcement, but it was an emptiness he felt rather than anger. What had Freddie been thinking to choose now?

Suddenly, it all slotted into place: Freddie’s announcement, Rhys’s own devastation, and the way Lola had turned to him with fire in her eyes to instigate a kiss so public Freddie and Zoe couldn’t have failed to notice. It had been a pity kiss; of course that was all it had been, however good it had felt. It was no different to Lola putting on a show for the benefit of Freddie and Zoe when they were in Bosa. She was just being nice, pushing the boundaries of their pretend relationship to make him look good in front of the two people who continuously kept hurting him.

And yet it had felt real. His whole body was on fire, and he was fighting the desire to kiss her again. Those feelings that had been stirred during their night in Bosa had ignited and he didn’t think he could push them back in their box or pretend that kiss hadn’t meant something.

At least to him it had.

The last hour or so at the restaurant passed by in a blur. He ate his plum gelato without really tasting it, chatted to Barnaby about rugby and joined in another toast to Fabs and Mirabel. As the evening ticked by and the sky darkened to midnight blue, he felt more and more alone. Fear crawled through his chest that somehow he’d messed up with Lola, and his gut reaction to kiss her back had pushed her away. As everyone got up to leave and Lola hooked her arm in Deni’s without even glancing his way, it certainly felt as if she was trying to avoid him.

Lola made the journey back to Villa Capparis with Mirabel and their friends, while Rhys found himself climbing in a taxi with Barnaby, Gareth, Freddie, Zoe and Fabs. Not that returning to the villa separately meant anything. He rubbed his hand across his face as if it would somehow erase his worry. The closer they got to the villa, the more unsettled he felt.

The second Rhys got inside, he escaped to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. He needed to take hold of the negative feelings that were beginning to choke him and calm the hell down. Leaning on the sink, he stared at his reflection. He’d caught the sun since being here and the freckles across his cheeks were more pronounced. At least he looked less washed out than when he’d first arrived.

He wiped his hands, gave himself a stern look and left the bathroom to find Gareth hovering in the hallway, a beer clasped in one hand.

‘You and Lola, eh?’ Gareth slung his free arm across Rhys’s shoulders. ‘Putting on quite the show for Freddie and Zoe’s benefit.’ He whistled low. ‘You’ve got a keeper there, and she’s smoking hot too. If you want the truth,’ he said, lowering his voice, ‘Lola looks at you with far more love than the way Zoe looks at Freddie. And to be honest, that was a shitty thing they did announcing their engagement in front of everyone – in front of you. Lola shoving what you two have in their faces was the perfect comeback.’

Except it wasn’t real, Rhys thought with dismay. Lola was a good actor – that was all Gareth had seen.

Rhys ran his hand through his hair as they strolled towards the others in the living area. He tried to focus on what Gareth was saying rather than on Lola, who was chatting to Deni, the scooped back of her summer dress revealing an expanse of smooth skin. Her bracelets jangled as she talked animatedly to her friend.

‘Parading it right in your face was wrong,’ Gareth continued to say. ‘I’m not sure Fabs was best pleased. I knew they’d gone off for a romantic picnic, but shit, I didn’t think he was going to propose to her. Stupid bastard.’

‘You don’t think they should get married?’

Gareth shrugged. ‘They’re both impulsive and headstrong, and Zoe changes her mind about things as often as I change my underwear.’

Rhys raised an eyebrow.

‘Which I do frequently,’ he stressed. ‘Honestly, even when they moved in together, I didn’t fully believe they were that serious about each other. I was expecting them to break up, not get engaged. But you and Lola are the real deal.’

‘I don’t really know what we are.’ He shrugged, his earlier confusion returning despite Gareth’s surprising words. ‘But I like her a lot.’

That was the truth. So what if everyone thought they were more to each other than they really were? He felt different when he was with her; positive and happier, like there was more to life than a constant battle to keep himself upbeat and not spiral into depression. Lola was the reason for that, which was why his current uncertainty over where he stood with her hurt so much.

After a final drink with everyone, Fabs and Mirabel said goodnight. Freddie and Zoe slunk off too, more subdued than they’d been earlier in the evening, perhaps realising too late the mistake they’d made. Rhys didn’t feel even a little bit sorry for them.

Lola was sitting with her friends on the terrace and Rhys watched as Gareth joined them with a tray of limoncello cocktails. He was smooth and a charmer, which made Rhys wonder if he had an ulterior motive wanting to sit with them, possibly to talk to Lola.

Rhys turned to Barnaby. ‘Gareth’s been overly nice about me and Lola and trashing Zoe.’ He swirled the wine around the glass. ‘That first night we were here, I got the impression he fancied Lola.’

‘What, until you swooped in?’ Barnaby laughed. ‘I’m teasing.’ He knocked his shoulder against Rhys’s. ‘Gareth’s not really bothered who he winds up with as long as he eventually gets laid. Which he managed to do in Bosa with the friend of one of Fabs’s sisters. I’m surprised you hadn’t noticed, but then you do seem to only have eyes for Lola. Which is a good thing, considering what Freddie and Zoe announced tonight. You shouldn’t let them bother you one bit.’

Rhys huffed. ‘They’re not making it easy.’

‘Fabs ignored their faux pas. Mirabel wasn’t best pleased, but then she’s too nice to say anything – although I’m sure if it had been one of her friends making an announcement like that she would have.’

‘If it had been her friends, they’d probably have talked to her about it first,’ Rhys said with a raised eyebrow. He knew Lola would never upstage her friend, but of course it was something Zoe would do. Freddie too. They’d been thoughtless or conniving or just plain hurtful. Probably all of those things. And Barnaby was right, he shouldn’t let them get under his skin any more than they already had. Neither of them deserved his time or thought, and truthfully, he was having a hard job thinking about anything other than Lola.

* * *

Lola hadn’t intended to ignore Rhys after their kiss, but she had, and she felt awful. They could have laughed about it together; the perfect way to get back at Freddie and Zoe and end a fabulous evening. Until itmeantsomething. Shit, it really had meant something, stirring feelings that had long been buried. And because of that she didn’t feel able to laugh it off, so she’d taken the coward’s way out and ignored the situation, shoving those difficult, twisty feelings down, then retreated to the familiarity of Deni.

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