Reckless Girls(47)

“And your boyfriend,” I add. “It’s what he wanted to do, too, right? So, you’re doing a good thing, too.”

She nods, but the movement is jerky. “Right. Okay, well, that’s probably enough sharing and caring for today. I may devote the rest of the morning to getting day drunk.”

“Never a bad idea.”

She turns to go, but then stops, pointing at something in the trees. “Wait, what the fuck is that?”

It takes me a second to see what she’s staring at, but then I make out a shape, hanging in the branches, something that’s not just a vine curling in on itself.

I only take a couple of steps into the trees, but it’s like that first day we went exploring—everything immediately seems quieter, the air instantly thicker, even though I can still see Amma just behind me, the sea and sky beyond her.

There is a rope hanging from the tree. Skinny, worn rope that feels scratchy in my hand when I reach out and touch it, following the loop it makes up to a knot.

I tug at the dangling bit of the rope, and the loop hanging from the branch tightens like a noose.

It’s some kind of trap, probably to catch birds, maybe even the odd lizard.

Robbie’s buddy.

Robbie had said his friend was sure that someone had still been living on the island, subsisting off the jungle and what supplies they picked up on sails. Was this trap left over from that guy, whoever he was?

Or, I wondered, my eyes scanning the darkness of the jungle beyond, was it new?





NINETEEN





The next day, we all go to the pool Eliza brought me to.

None of us mention Robbie or the trap I’d found yesterday, but I know we’re all thinking about it. It’s nice to do something different, to be distracted by a change of scenery.

Now, I sit with Brittany on the edge of the pool, watching Nico and Amma swim. Jake and Eliza are sharing their own bit of sand, Eliza leaning back between his legs.

“What do you think it would be like to live here?” Brittany says. “I mean, yes, it’s paradise and all, but wouldn’t it get boring after a while? Lonely? Besides, how many sunsets can you really look at?”

That’s how I’d started to feel in Maui, but I wasn’t sure it was how I would feel here. In Maui, there had been responsibilities and jobs, real life intruding every day. Here?

Here you were just … free.

“I’d definitely get bored,” Brittany says now. “I know that sounds entitled, but it’s like … this is a place you come to forget, you know? Or disappear.” Another shake of her head, dark hair spilling over her shoulders. “And I’m not sure I want to do either of those things—not forever, at least.”

“Me, neither,” I say, but I’m not sure if I actually mean it.

Brittany looks back over at me, but before she can say anything else, there’s a shriek from the pool.

Amma is hanging upside down over Nico’s shoulder, her skin pale against his bronzed chest, her bikini bottom riding precariously low as Nico ducks underneath the water again, pulling her with him. I can feel Brittany’s eyes on me as we watch them horse around.

“Where’s Jake?” I ask when Eliza comes and sits next to us.

She gestures back through the jungle. “He forgot his stupid book, couldn’t possibly enjoy the afternoon without it, apparently. What were you two talking about?”

“Whether we could live here, on this island,” Brittany answers, pushing her sunglasses up her nose with one finger. “We decided we definitely couldn’t.”

“Same,” Eliza says, settling back on the sand. “Love a sunset, love a beach, but there’s so much of the world to see. And honestly, I’m starting to miss cities.” She takes a deep breath. “Not even a hint of exhaust fumes. How is a woman supposed to live on fresh air alone?”

Nico and Amma begin climbing out of the pool, and I watch from the corner of my eye as Nico drapes a towel over her shoulders.

“Where are you headed after this?” I ask, and Eliza shrugs.

“Not sure yet. Jake wants to go to Fiji, maybe Bora Bora, but I’m hoping I can convince him that Bangkok will be a nice change of pace from all these white-sand beaches.”

I feel a pang of envy. I’ll just be heading back to Maui, until Nico decides what we do next.

Eliza glances over and nudges me. “Wanna come with?”

I give a startled laugh even as the idea sends a flare of excitement through me. “To Bangkok?”

She nods, her blond hair coming loose from its sloppy topknot. “Why not? We like you, you’re fun. You clearly want to travel.”

“I do,” I say, and then there’s all the other stuff I should say, about how Nico and I have our own plans, but none of it comes out, not a word.

“Then come!” she says, and I look up to see Nico watching us as he scrubs at his sun-bleached hair with a towel. Did he overhear Eliza’s invitation?

And more important, did he hear me not turn it down?



* * *



IT’S EVENING BY THE TIME we make our way back to the beach, and as I look out at the lagoon, it takes me a second to realize something is missing.

There are only two boats at anchor now.

The Last Dance with Mary Jane is gone.