Reckless Girls(34)

“Exactly zero skulls this time, I promise.”

“Can you even make a promise like that here?”

She considers that, screwing up her face and tilting her head to the side. “You know what? Probably not!”

We follow the trail the guys hacked yesterday to the clearing, but this time, instead of pushing on the way we went, Eliza turns to the left. I follow her, already sweating, the heat and humidity of the jungle intense even though it’s early in the day. But after just a few minutes, I hear the sound of rushing water, and I look at Eliza in surprise. There’s a little smile playing around her lips, and she somehow still looks cool and put-together, her blond hair pulled up in a tight bun at the top of her head.

She winks, and pushes some branches back.

We’ve arrived at another small clearing, but this one contains a pool, fed by a waterfall. The scene is perfectly framed: the trees overhead keep it in shade, the water is clear, and there are patches of sand that are perfect for sitting.

“I found this the other day,” she says. “Okay, technically Jake found it, and only because he was looking for an exotic place to shag, but still.”

It’s an easy scene to imagine, and I find myself blushing instantaneously: the two of them, beautiful, blond, and tan, slicked with water … the thought sends a sudden, surprising thrum of desire through me. Maybe it’s just because Nico and I haven’t had sex since before we left Maui. Clearly, I should bring him here and rectify that.

“How long have you two been together?” I ask, following Eliza to a sandy patch where we sit, watching the water flow into the pool.

“Oh god,” she says on a sigh, tipping her head back. “Depends on how you look at it. Technically, about a month.”

They have the easy comfort of people who’ve been together for ages, and my face must reveal my shock because Eliza laughs. “I know. We come across as very Old Married. But I’ve actually known him since we were teenagers, so that’s part of it. Timing was never right until recently. What about you and Nico?”

“Nearly a year now,” I say. “We met in San Diego, then he sailed on to Maui and I followed.”

“Romantic,” she says, nodding approvingly, before looking back toward the pool, her arms around her knees. “It’s funny, because you two seem so different, really.”

I’ve never really considered what Nico and I look like to the outside world. We’ve more or less been in this little secluded bubble of two up until now.

“Do we?”

“Mmm,” she nods. “He’s so laid-back he’s basically horizontal. Which isn’t a bad thing!” Eliza holds up one hand, reassuring me. “God knows we need more men like that. But you seem so … I don’t know. Tough. Steely.”

I laugh self-consciously. “Seriously?”

She nods again. “Seriously. But it’s weird, because sometimes you’re like—”

Sitting up straight, she clenches her fists, her jaw, stares off into the distance like a woman on a mission, and I laugh, embarrassed and pleased at this version of me.

“Like a proper Valkyrie,” she says, letting the pose drop. “But then, other times, you’re all—”

A new pose. She curls her shoulders forward, ducks her head, looks up at me through her lashes, and I laugh again, but it’s forced. Is that how I come across? So … meek? Timid?

Eliza shakes it off, sitting up straight again. “I have not even begun to figure you out yet, Lux McAllister,” she concludes, and I am surprised to hear myself reply, “You and me both.”

The words hang there, neither of us saying anything for a long time.

Eliza gestures toward the pool in front of us. “I know it looks pretty, but it’s brackish. Totally undrinkable.”

“I wonder if those shipwrecked sailors ever stumbled across it,” I say, grateful for the change of subject. I imagine those men from long ago, sunburned and skinny, wearing the heavy blue wool coats of the British navy in this heat. “That would’ve been fucking awful, right? Coming ashore, discovering paradise, but it won’t help you.”

“Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink,” Eliza quotes as she nods. Then she elbows me. “But that’s not us, thank Christ. Plenty of water back on board.”

“And plenty of wine,” I add, making her laugh.

“That, too.”

She leans back on her elbows, toeing off her shoes and lifting her face to the sky. “So, tell me everything about yourself, Lux.”

I mimic her posture. “Everything?”

“Well, the interesting bits.”

I scoff. “There aren’t many of those.”

Eliza looks over at me, sliding her sunglasses down her nose. “I refuse to believe that. My god, woman, look at you! Living in Maui, sailing around the world with a scorchingly hot man … Brittany tells me you nearly went overboard in a storm on the way here and completely kept your cool.” She shrugs. “That all sounds very fucking interesting to me.”

The weirdest thing is, when she says it like that, I actually feel interesting. Like someone who has done shit.

And I really like that version of me.

Maybe it’s the easy warmth in her voice, maybe it’s the beauty of our surroundings, maybe I just really like Eliza, but I hear myself say, “My mom died. When I was in college.”