Page 17 of Free Fall

My new friend laughed. “I’m a surf instructor at the resort. Was going to head out for a midnight paddle.” He pointed his thumb toward the exit, his wide eyes sparkling and looking every bit the sweetheart he probably wasn’t. I felt at ease though, the alcohol swirling in my veins giving me trust issues. And not the self-preservative kind, the bad sort where I trusted everyone. My gut was telling me it would be fine. Fun.

I downed my drink and accepted his now proffered hand. As he wove me through the restaurant, I sent a quick text to Jules, letting her know I was done with the evening.

I didn’t look back.

Nine

Luca

Afteralmostbeingcaughtearlier, I’d had to think fast. As Zelda slipped back into the room she shared with her sister, I rushed to the resort lobby where I should have been in the first place, to ask the staff for assistance. They helped me gather flowers, chocolates, and wine to take back to Alison. A poor distraction at best.

She looked pissed when I walked through the door, a sheepish expression paired with sodden clothes and the scent of the sea on my skin. We’d argued. She’d accused me of all manner of things and called me names, but I endured it. She wasn’t wrong to call me a dickhead. I took it on the chin. She didn’t know how right she was.

But I’d managed to distract her with the gifts and lead her into the hot tub, kissing down her neck and stroking just under her tits in a way I knew made her melt. I explained what Zel and I had planned, that we’d gone for a walk and found ourselves lost. Alison hummed in acknowledgement as I sucked on her skin and pulled her into the hot tub. I was still dressed, my clothes wouldn’t be any wetter anyway, and she found it funny. Sexy even, like it was just impossible to wait to get my hands on her.

Writhing on top of me, she orgasmed on my fingers minutes later as I played with her tits, using twenty-plus years of knowledge to get her off as fast as possible. My cock had never been more shriveled, but it was all I could think of to make her forget, to remind her we were good together. It was a lie, of course. Sex with her felt like a chore. An obligation. I hated myself for it. I never had before.

At dinner, Zelda’s mood soured with every simpering gaze or brush of fingers from Ali. I’d promised her more later, planning on getting shit-faced on cocktails and passing out before she could touch me. But she was in the vacation spirit, wouldn’t lift her paws from my skin. I watched Zel drink herself into a stupor, seen the twitch of her eyes and the tightening of her jaw. But I couldn’t say anything, couldn’t push my wife away to make my side-fuck feel better.

“Something is seriously up with that girl,” Ali said as Zelda stormed to the bar, leaving her chair pushed far out enough that a waiter had to tuck it under the table before walking around with his tray of plates. I bristled at Ali’s words, annoyed at her comment. My teeth cracked together to hold my tongue. Zelda was starting to feel more like mine, and less like anyone else’s. How dare they discuss her mood behind her back? How dare they treat her like a grumpy child? It pissed me off. She was so much more.

“I’ve been trying to get through to her,” Delilah sighed, all of us watching Zelda order her drink, then slump onto the bar, muttering to herself. I was pretty certain all Delilah will have done is mentioned it to Zelda once, made it clear it was a burden that she dared have an emotion.

Henry and Delilah had never been hands-on parents, preferring to let their children work things about by themselves. Both traumatized by helicopter parents, neither of them were keen to interfere unless asked. Even now, with Zelda in clear drunken distress, they didn’t go to her.

Henry shifted in his seat, uncomfortable, but still not moving. “She just needs a vacation. We all do,” he said to his wife, louder than necessary. So for my wife, too, who enjoyed interfering more than either of them did. The tone of his voice told them to drop it. He hated listening to Delilah and Alison jabber on about their children, sharing everything, even private moments. The occasional argument they had often stemmed from that.

We were a close group, two families well blended. Delilah always thought it should spread to parenting too, sharing the load, using Ali’s sternness in her own favor. Del hated me. That had been obvious since day one, but she loved Alison. She enjoyed having the boys around to play with her girls, so it was a deal that benefited her. Though the boys had been more disliked as they’d grown and their influence turned from the occasional chasing with a bug to supplying drugs for free…

Delilah pursed her lips at her husband. “I don’t know…” she trailed off, sipped her cocktail.

“Who’s that?” Jules asked, interrupting her mother, sitting up higher from her slumped position. She looked just as pissed as Zelda to be here. Her sister was now blatantly flirting with some long-haired kid, leaning toward him as he spoke. The sight sank into me like a damn ball of lead, and my spine stiffened to the point of pain. My hand was still in Ali’s, and I squeezed it tight enough that she yelped until I let go. Shit.

“Ouch,” Ali said, shaking her fingers free, looking at me with curiosity. “What the hell?”

“Sorry,” I said, trying not to breathe like a fucking dragon as I watched Zelda chug her drink, then follow the ass out of the restaurant. Why the fuck weren’t her parents stopping it? She was only twenty-two, acting a damn fool. The muscles in my legs twitched with the urge to leap up and beat the shit out of the kid.

“Uh,” Delilah said, observing her eldest with confusion. “Should we go after them?”

“She’s an adult,” Henry interjected, watching after them, too.

Jules, staring at her phone, spoke, “He’s a surf instructor. She’s pinged me her location. She’s not coming back.”

“I’m not sure I like this,” I said, keeping my voice measured. Henry looked at me funny though, his brows dipping in question.

The anger in me was hard to hide. I had to follow Zelda’s lead and slam my beer back. Maybe drunk was the way to get through this. As the bitter liquid poured down my throat, I didn’t know what I’d fucked up more. What I cared about more. My marriage or my obsession with my little puppet.

Once dinner was over, awkward and stilted after Zelda’s exit, Henry and I moved to some beach sofas. They were wicker, hard under my ass, but faced the moonlit water. Everyone else wandered off to do their own thing. The twins drifted deeper into the bar area, seeking drunk vacationers to fuck with. I’d heard them muttering about finding a girl, and blocked my ears up to avoid any more. no thanks.

Ali, Delilah, and Jules wandered to the spa to get themselves signed up for a slew of treatments. It got me thinking about our deal.

“I fucking tell you,” Henry said, spreading his legs wide as he sipped his whiskey and stared out ahead at the view. “I’m desperate for a good fuck. We should find that club tonight. Or another one nearby.” His voice slurred, which only happened when he was close to passing out. I didn’t want to go to a sex club. I wanted his daughter.

“Mm,” I responded, keeping things vague, hoping he would be unconscious soon and I wouldn’t have to come up with an excuse. I was too busy scouring what I could see of the beach for any sign of Zelda. Jules mentioned she was further away, that she’d keep watch, but it made me uneasy.

“Though it looks like you and Ali got busy earlier?” Henry asked, nudging me. “You got more in you?”

“Always,” I said absently. The idea of going to a sex club should make my dick hard. The willing bodies, the depravity I could partake in… I could be rough, find a sweet young thing to destroy while they begged for more… but I had that in Zelda.

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