Page 53 of Clean Point

‘At least Sarah’s good,’ I said, trying to move the subject along to something less likely to cause a physical reaction. ‘I’ve had plenty of embarrassing experiences on shoots.’

‘Like what?’ he asked with a cheeky smile. I let out a breath, trying to pick from the many, many possibilities, before deciding on one that felt harmless.

‘Wardrobe malfunctions, for one. Sometimes, those tennis skirts are hemmed a little too short, even for me. I’d spent the entire shoot trying to keep it from riding up while I leapt around a court after a ball. At least ELITE’s clothing is actually comfortable.’

He laughed, the sound as calming as the rolling waves in the background. ‘I should ask them to send a new hat.’ His gaze moved from my face to the navy cap sitting atop my head, a ponytail threaded through the back. ‘My baseball cap has been going missing for weeks.’ He flicked the cap with his forefingers, moving it up, the hat going loose around my crown.

‘Hey!’ I cried, my free arm flying up to press down on the hat before the wind took it. ‘I don’t have a clue what you’re on about.’

He was about to say something else when one of the cats from the villa came up beside him, nuzzling its small brown head against his arm as it purred for more attention. Nico rolled his eyes at the animal, but relented anyway, his free arm coming round to pet the cat.

‘What happened to hating cats?’ I said as the cat rolled onto its back, exposing its belly to him.

Nico, the weak man a feline reduced him to, complied to the animal’s will and began to rub its belly instead. ‘I do. I’m allergic.’

‘You don’t look allergic,’ I argued, taking in the scene. A man like that was far too attractive to add a pet into the mix. He’d be lethal on a dating app. I almost cringed at the idea.

‘Just wait until my throat begins to close up and my eyes start bulging out of my skull.’

I hummed, unsure. ‘I don’t think that’s going to make Sarah very happy.’ When I started to worry if I should grab an EpiPen, he came clean.

‘It’s okay. I started taking an antihistamine when I saw the cats around the villa.’

‘Is that for your benefit or the cats?’

‘I’m trying to survive them.’

‘Sure. As if I’m supposed to believe that it’s not because those cute little faces have melted your heart.’

‘My heart is still safe in its deep-frozen state.’ His eyes remained fixed on the cat, which let out a wide yawn, exposing large teeth that had never looked so adorable. My eyes flickered to his face, his lips pressed into a loving smile.

Frozen state my ass.

‘Did you have any pets growing up?’

He thought to himself for a moment, pushing his hair out of his face; it had grown a little long without a haircut. Shaking his head, he answered, ‘No. My younger brother had always wanted a hamster though, but the way mom acted, you’d have thought he was asking for a rat.’

‘They are rodents,’ I reasoned, imagining somebody as large as Nico holding the small thing, with its beady little eyes and hands and scurrying feet. A cat made more sense.

‘My parents moved to the US with very little, and after food and rent, it left no time or money for a pet of any kind.’

‘What part of Greece did they move from?’ I asked, enjoying the moment of openness with him. It was a far cry from where we’d started. He’d been a closed book, and I was too wrapped up in my own stuff to even ask. But talking with him, being around him was easy. Even with Sarah taking our photos in the background.

‘The mainland, Athens.’ He smiled. ‘They moved when my brother was young. I wasn’t even born until a few years later, and they didn’t go back for decades, not until I made enough to take us back on holiday. We still have family in the city, so it was good to see my parents reconnecting after so many years away. I always thought about representing Greece to honour them, but I was born in the US. I didn’t want to overcomplicate it. They run a Greek bakery down in Tarpon Springs.’

‘Where’s that?’

‘Just northwest of Tampa.’ Nico grinned madly, as if he was lost thinking about it. Then, he shook his fist in the air in a mini celebration. ‘Sponge capital of the world!’

I looked at him as if he had gone slightly insane, but instead I tucked the memory away, enjoying this side of him too much to tease him.

Nico spoke again. ‘It’s been hell not asking Elena to stock up on more baked goods. Loukoumades used to be my favourite; it’s like a dough ball, but soaked in honey.’

‘You should! I’d love to try some.’

‘Jon wouldn’t be happy. He still doesn’t know about the burger.’

I tried not to smile wider at the memory of us scrambling back to the van in the pouring rain, getting back just as the rest of the group joined us, but not enough time so that Jon couldn’t smell the beer on our breath. ‘And he never can. It was bad enough when he found out about the beers.’

---