Page 10 of In Too Deep

Oli’s pupils go wide, swallowing the glowing amber of his irises even as they catch fire. But he doesn’t respond to my jab; the smirk he gives me tells me he will absolutely be following through with that plan later.

“Did you see what they put up for us?” Eli interjects, sliding a small plate to me, which I catch deftly and start to fill with fruit and cheese.

Eli gestures to another overnight addition. An artificial palm tree, made of the same sort of plastic fringe you’d normally see fake pine trees made of, wrapped in twinkle lights with little red and green baubles hanging from the fronds. A pristinely wrapped gift sits alone under the tree, most likely put there by the same people who erected the tree and provided the food.

“That’s so sweet of them.” I smile fondly.

“We were going to put our gifts under it before you woke up, but I wanted you to see it like we did before that,” Eli says, leaning forward toward me over the island.

I shouldn’t be surprised that they also got me presents on top of organizing this vacation, but I still focus on each of them in turn, waiting for someone to speak. Eli is just smiling like a kid on, well, Christmas, Spencer’s smirking, and Oli is still looking at me like he’s ready to pounce the moment I take my last bite. I sigh and shake my head, still at a loss for words.

“We’re going to spoil you whether you like it or not, sugar,” Spencer says with a shrug.

Or notis the more likely outcome. At least I know it should be. I should be denying the gifts and attention, playing it cool and not giving in. But instead, my instincts are just tickled pink and would have me prancing around like a prized pony if I let them win. So, I just take another bite of strawberry and walk away, heading toward one of the lounge chairs by the pool.

That’s a problem for me to address when I’m not on a tropical getaway. I can ignore the growing pile of things future me has to deal with. Especially when present me has sun to soak up and relaxation to be enjoyed.

When Eli suggested atropical getaway for Christmas, I’ll admit that I wasn’t entirely sold on the idea. We wouldn’t have time to do any sightseeing, and going out in public together is always a risk. But having this whole villa to ourselves, and the private beach beyond the garden gate, has totally erased any worries I’d had when we booked it.

We finish our breakfast and clean up the leftovers, the four of us working in harmony without needing to speak. Tori heads toward the pool first, sitting back in a chair to soak up some of the sun’s warmth. Looking like a vision with her hair loose around her shoulders, she’s practically glowing with happiness.

“This might be the most relaxed I’ve ever seen her,” Eli mutters to me as we admire her from under the cover of the patio.

Smiling slightly, I nod. It still amazes me that I’ve been granted this second chance with Tori, and seeing her happybrings me a type of joy I didn’t know could exist. Oli strides toward the second bedroom, returning a moment later with a mesh bag of towels and other unidentifiable lumps.

“Want to go check out the beach?” he asks, loud enough for Tori to be included in the conversation.

She sits up with a grin, nodding eagerly before leaping up from her chair. I chuckle and lope after her as she books it toward the gate, with Eli and Oli following. My eyes drift across Tori’s back, following the lines of her curves until I reach the hem of her sundress. It’s short, much shorter than anything I’ve seen her wear before, and the fabric bounces and flows with her steps, occasionally granting a peek at her bright blue bikini bottoms. I force my eyes away before I embarrass myself by popping a tent in my swim trunks.

Setting up camp on the beach is easy when you have all the space in the world to spread out. A massive beach blanket goes down under the towels, providing a protective layer from the sand. We found a pile of umbrellas at the foot of the stairs, and we’ve staked two down to give ample shade. The lumps in the bag turned out to be sand toys, like buckets and little trowels, and Oli sets them near the edge of the blanket.

“You gonna build me a sandcastle, Ace?” Tori giggles when she sees them.

We all look at her, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on edge at the clear challenge in her voice, underscored by her wry smirk. I glance at my teammates, and it’s like a switch flips. All of us scramble into motion, grabbing as many sand toys as we can before we take off toward the shoreline. Tori’s laughter follows us as we begin frantically scooping up wet sand.

“Set a timer, sunshine! May the best castle win!” Eli calls out, plopping down and starting to build.

Tori lets out a cackle before shouting that we have twenty minutes. I don’t even glance over at Oli or Eli as I focus. I havean advantage, growing up close to the ocean my whole life. Mom had a camp on the lake until Katrina took it out, and she liked to take long weekends there during the summer. While the beaches weren’t made of soft white sand like this one, I know more than the basics of making structures.

“Who are you building that shack for? A sewer rat?” Eli snipes from my left, laughing at his own joke.

“It’s not the size that counts, but how you build it,” Oli fires back through gritted teeth.

“Hey, Tori! Does size matter?” Eli shouts.

“In sandcastles? Or are we talking about something else?” I can hear the amusement in her voice.

“Oh, sandcastles, of course. I don’t know how you could infer that I was talking about — Hey! That’s cheating!” Eli starts, then cuts himself off.

I glance upwards and see water cascading down Eli’s frankly massive mound of sand, Oli snickering to himself as he returns to his creation on my other side.

“Sorry, my hand slipped,” Oli says innocently, setting down the half-empty bucket of water beside him.

Shaking my head, I smile to myself as I shape the outer wall of my sand fortress. Eli retaliates by “accidentally” stepping on one of Oli’s towers as he “loses his balance” on his way to the water to get a bucket of his own. They go back and forth, each sabotage attempt less subtle than the last, but that suits me just fine. I have to shield my structure from a volley of kelp at one point, but as long as they focus on each other, the more work I can get done before Tori calls time.

“All right, boys. Step away from your castles. I’m coming over to judge,” she says as she silences the klaxon blaring from her phone.

I sit back with my hands in the air, admiring my work. It’s not huge, but it’s got a main keep with a pair of towers on the sides,little pebbles acting as windows, and a large shell as the main door. I even managed a decent moat and driftwood bridge, but I ran out of time to add the water.

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