Page 48 of It's All Sun and Games

And, dare I say it, it’s done.

‘Okay, now we can sunbathe,’ Andrea declares with a grin, gesturing for us to climb into our makeshift raft.

We settle into the sort-of boat, lying side by side. I close my eyes, basking in the warmth of the sun as it kisses my skin.

‘If I do this, and you keep your eyes closed, it will feel like we’re out at sea,’ Andrea says with a laugh as he rocks the boat lightly by wiggling his body.

‘Surprisingly effective,’ I reply. ‘Do you think you’re ready to try it in the water?’

‘We’ve finished!’ Liz screams with glee.

‘If you think you’ve done it, try it out,’ Rick calls back. ‘The winners are the first ones to successfully float.’

Andrea and I sit up quickly and stare at each other.

‘We just need to float first,’ I say.

‘Let’s do it,’ he replies.

By the time we get our boat to the shallow end of the pool, James is already lowering his and Liz’s effort into the water. They’ve gone for (what I imagine is) a typical life raft style – a super flat, rectangular thing.

Liz and James jump into the water and both try to clamber on, but the raft is having none of it. The more they try to climb onto it, the more it wants to tip. Then, eventually, it soaks up too much water, and it begins to sink. Oh, there is no salvaging that one.

‘Unlucky,’ Rick tells him. ‘You tried.’

‘Ours is ready to try,’ I call out as I approach the pool, Andrea walking alongside me, carrying our boat in his big, strong arms.

‘That’s… wow,’ Rick blurts, suddenly speechless. ‘You just made that?’

‘We did,’ I say proudly.

I’m giving confidence but I have no idea if the thing is going to actually float or not.

‘Go on then, try it out,’ Rick says. ‘But remember, you both have to float.’

‘I’ll get in first,’ Andrea tells me. ‘I’ll make sure it’s steady.’

‘You’re a gentleman,’ I joke. ‘Good luck.’

Andrea places our boat in the water and it does float, which isn’t a huge surprise given how light it is, but it stays upright too, which was the first thing I was worrying about.

‘Okay, va bene,’ he says to himself as he attempts to climb in.

I’m almost scared to look but, oh my God, he’s done it. He’s in and he’s floating.

Andrea cheers victoriously.

‘That is seriously impressive,’ Rick calls out. ‘But, to win, Robin needs to be in there too.’

‘Come on, Robin, get in,’ Andrea says to me.

‘Erm… you’re sort of in the middle,’ I reply.

‘Sì, it’s the best way to keep it floating,’ he replies.

‘Ah, well, better luck next time,’ Liz says.

Oh, I am not taking sass from a woman who is dripping wet.

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