Page 84 of Here for a Good Time
SEVENTEEN
“Ms. Poe! Mr. Zwe! Leila!” Antonio practically wails when we’re close enough for him to make out who we are. Dropping the giant rock he was holding as a precaution, he sprints across the wet sand at an impressive pace. I’m expecting him to come to a stop when he’s near, but instead, he keeps charging forward with outstretched arms. Leila swiftly sidesteps right before Antonio barrels into us and all three of our bodies go down.
“Hey, kid,” Zwe laughs. He tries to shake the sand out of his hair, but it’s so caked there’s not really any point. His grin tells me that he doesn’t mind the tackle one bit.
I don’t care either that I can already feel sand slipping into crevices in my body where I’d rather there not be any sand. “I’m so happy to see you!” I exclaim, properly hugging Antonio. “Are you okay? How about everyone else? Your grandpa?”
“We’re all good! Areyouokay? I thought you guys were goners!”
“I’m happy to see you, too,” Leila calls out. She’s hovering aboveus, arms crossed, one brow cocked and lips pushed to the side in an annoyed manner.
“Are you feeling left out?” Antonio stands up, wiping sand off of his trousers.
“Of being tackled by you?” Leila scoffs, but there’s a trace of softness in her voice, and I know sheisfeeling left out.
Antonio does, too, because he fully embraces her, hugging her so tight she emits a soft grunt. “I knew you’d be okay,” he tells her without letting go. “You’re the toughest person I know, Leils. You know how much I love you.”
That melts her exterior, and she smiles into his shoulder. “Ugh, I suppose I love you, too, you doofus. Glad to see you’re safe,” she says, although I have an inkling she’d made it clear to her cousins that not a single strand on Antonio’s head was to be harmed.
They don’t immediately let go after they pull apart. Leila ruffles his hair with affection, and Antonio beams. After a satisfying enough reunion, they reach down and help me and Zwe up.
“How’d you two get free?” Antonio asks us.
Zwe and I trade a look. “Well, funny enough,” I say with a nonchalant air, “an extremely smart friend of ours once gave us this great tip about how to position your hands when—”
Antonio gasps, his excitement propelling him ahead of me. “When you’re being tied up!” he yells, and punches the air. “See, and Grandpa’s always accusing me of knowing too little about too much, but wait until he hears about this!” He’s moving away when something catches his attention. “Leils—” He points at mine and Zwe’s bruised and torn wrists, and then at hers. “How come your hands don’t look like they’ve gone through a shredder? Didn’t they tieyouup?”
Leila stutters an “Well, uh, I—”
“Because she didn’t know about the trick,” I jump in. “Remember? She left to use the toilet when you were explaining it to us? Only Zwe and I knew to turn our hands, so hers were in the wrong position. Leila had to wait for us to free ourselves before we could undo her rope.”
Antonio raises a finger in anAhmanner. Behind his back, Leila mouths,Thank you.
“We were taking bets on which of you would make it out alive.” He waves at us to follow him toward the rest of the group, who are still waiting from a safe distance farther back. “Well, to be honest, we were taking bets on which of you two”—he gestures at me and Zwe—“would make it out alive. We had no doubt Leila would survive.”
Leila places a hand on her heart. “Aww, thanks.”
“You didn’t think I would make it out alive?” Zwe scoffs.
“I thoughtyouwould,” Antonio replies instantly. He darts me a suspicious glance.
“Ye prick of little faith!” I go to hit him on the back, but he glides out of the way.
“Do you think we’ll be saved soon?” Zwe asks. He nods back up toward the resort. “We can gather everyone back indoors, or, well, what’s left of the indoors. Probably safer than just on the beach.”
“Good call,” Antonio says.
He and Leila walk ahead of us, talking and laughing and occasionally thwacking each other.
Zwe and I crisscross our arms around the small of each other’s backs. “We did it,” I say, leaning my head against his bicep. For the first time in days, I let out a full, satisfying exhale. “We’re going home soon.”
“Do you think you got enough inspiration for your next book?”
“Actually—” I gaze up at him, and even though I’ve known this face for most of my life, my breath catches. Because it’s just hit me that this is mine now. Zwe is mine now. “I do.”
He tucks his chin in. “Do tell.”
“Well, I haven’t figured out thewholestory yet. But it’s going to be a love story between two best friends.” A grin overtakes his handsome face, and my love for him grows in an instant. I already know that that’s how it’s going to be from now on—despite it feeling impossible, every day, I’ll love him just that much more. “And the reader’s going to be told from the first page that this is a love story between two best friends. They just don’t know it yet.”
