Page 47 of One Hot Summer

We all stood up to say goodnight to each other, with more hugs. I loved this family. I began clearing away the plates, but Miranda stopped me, telling us both to enjoy our first evening and to leave the used plates and glasses out to be cleaned away in the morning.

“Fancy a skinny-dip?” Zack whispered, as soon as his parents were out of earshot.

“What’s gotten into you?” I blushed. “You’re never usually this daring. How much wine have you had?”

“Not a lot, I hate the stuff. Come on, no one will see. Their room faces the other side.”

And so, filled up on expensive wine, I stripped down to my birthday suit and my thirty-one-year-old boobs and I joined my naked boyfriend for a quick dip in the pool.

By the time we climbed into bed shortly afterwards, I knew I was ready for a long and deep sleep. I checked my phone first, and there was a message from Sarah. No words, just a photo of Bing, curled up asleep in her new armchair, looking quite at home. Zack got in next to me and I showed him the message.

“Have you spoken to her yet?”

“No.” I put my phone on the side table and laid down, sinking into the pillows.

“Just let things cool down whilst you’re here. Try and talk to her when we get home. Best to do it face to face anyway.”

I realise I’ll have to talk to her at some point. After all, she does have my cat in her care. But what on earth would I say to her? Do I apologise for storming out? Is she in the wrong? I don’t need to think about it yet. I have two weeks of living in paradise ahead of me. My relationship with Sarah is a problem for another time.

It was a relief to tell Zack about it on the plane. Luckily, he understood why I was so upset, and didn’t feel worried that I might still have had feelings for Dan. He said it would all blow over soon enough. I did hope so. I needed to brag that I’d just swam naked in my boyfriend’s parents’ pool and had sex on a sun lounger, and there was only one person in my life who would appreciate such gossip.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Zack had asked if I wanted to visit the local town after breakfast. It seemed like a great idea – it looked lovely as we drove through it yesterday – however, it turned out to have been a very bad idea walking the short distance into Agios Nikolaos. The sun was hot, hot, hot and my feet were now dead, dead, dead. My trusty little handheld fan was now clinging on for life, but doing a good job keeping a constant breeze on my face, but my poor feet would need a cool soak later on. Or right this second.

“I should have worn my trainers,” I said. You’d have thought I’d have learned after Rome. Sandals are not for walking long distances.

“We can get a taxi to take us back when we’re done,” he promised. “And I’ll give you a foot massage too, how does that sound?”

“Sounds perfect.” I smiled. I let go of his hand and slipped my arm around his back, and he did the same to me. Affectionate, yes, but it also meant I could lean on him a bit. I didn’t want to kick off this fantastic holiday by moaning. My poor feet though…

Once in the centre of the town, we walked over a small bridge, which ran over a sliver of sea. The bridge led to a small lake, which had bars and restaurants circled around it and was overlooked by a rocky hillside with various random religious shapes carved into it. And cats. Lots of cats that were clearly feral, yet seemed much friendlier than my pampered Bing.

As I looked out over the edge of the water, I could just make out large groups of fish sitting under the shade of the bridge, almost teasing me to join them where it was nice and cool. It was only ten o’clock in the morning, but it was scorching. I was pleased I’d chosen to wear factor-fifty suncream for the first day of the trip. I looked further into the small lake, but I couldn’t see the bottom. Although the sea itself was turquoise, this small body of water was almost black. We called into one of the restaurants for a drink and the waiter told us how locals believed the lake to be bottomless. Apparently, it was said that one of the Greek goddesses used to bathe in it at night.

We rehydrated ourselves, sipping on freshly squeezed orange juice, and rested our feet before setting off again and taking in more of the town. We walked hand in hand as we admired the small independent shops. One of the shops actually led down into a cave, where a little old Greek man was selling his handmade wooden souvenirs. He sat in the corner, chiselling away as we browsed. I fell in love with the shops selling handmade jewellery. Zack told me to pick something out so he could treat me, but I couldn’t make up my mind.

“There’s no rush,” he said, with his arm around me. “We have loads of time here yet.”

We set off again and held hands as we walked past the cruise ship stationed at the marina, a different one to yesterday. Around the coastline, all I could see was blue. It was difficult to see where the sky ended and the sea began. I could understand why Zack’s parents would want their holiday home to be there. It was wonderful.

“Let me know when you’re hungry,” Zack said as we sat on a bench watching a man sitting with his legs dangling off the pier, a bucket on one side of him and bait on the other as he firmly held his fishing rod. “We can find somewhere to eat. You have a lot of places to pick from.”

“I know where I want to eat,” I said confidently, still watching the fisherman.

“If you’re waiting for Achilles to snag a fish, you could be waiting a while.” Our Greek fisherman was not having much luck.

“Dammit. Well, my second option was back near the lake. Did you see the restaurant that sits on the sea edge? It looked good.”

“I’ve been there, you’ll love the pizzas.” He stood up and pulled me up with him. “I’ve been there a few times with Chloe. She and her parents don’t get on very well, and whenever they pushed her a bit too far, we’d escape down here and grab a bite there. It’s a great place.”

I felt a pang of jealousy hit me right in the gut. I’d not met her yet, and already I was beginning to hate her. I just needed to keep reminding myself that he brought me here with him. Even though he knew she would be here, and he could have left me at home, he brought me. I needed to stop being silly. This wasn’t the same as Sarah’s situation with Max The Wanker.

It was just after twelve o’clock when we arrived at the restaurant, just in time for lunch. The tables were sheltered with a huge canopy so we could enjoy our food without feeling like we were on a grill. There were fans scattered about too, blowing cool air from the sea breeze onto us, which was nice.

We both ordered iced water and asked for a few minutes to look over the menu. I looked up at Zack sitting across from me. He was reading his menu, but glanced up and gave me his mischievous grin.

“What are you thinking?” I flirted with him, tickling his leg with my foot.

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