Page 44 of A Discovery: Love and Other Things

James switched off the flashlight and pelted it onto the dirt in front of him. I watched as the other man spoke a slew of words, his expression unimpressed. The wrinkles that had already settled on James’s forehead for the day deepened. He flicked open the buttons of his sleeves and roughly rolled the fabric up to his elbows and then crossed his arms over his chest. He was pissed.

Mo stood between James and the stranger with his hands on his hips, his sweaty face bouncing between the two men like he were watching a table tennis match.

“Who do you think that is?” I asked Angela.

Instead of answering, she pulled on my arm, dragging me away from the rest of the team. “Where the fuck were you last night?”

Fuck. I supposed my actinghadn’tbeen good enough to fool her.

When in doubt: deny, deny, deny.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I was asleep right next to you, you stoned sleeper.”

She scoffed. “Don’t twist this on me and my love for sleep. Your text was bullshit. ‘Going to the store for tampons. Don’t wait up’?! Bitch, we’re on the same damn birth control cycle and not due for Aunt Flo until a month after our return flight! If I hadn’t passed out from exhaustion soon after my shower, I would have notified the army over your lame ass story!”

I grimaced. I knew the text I had hastily sent her before rushing over to James’s place had been poorly executed, but I’d been in a hurry and needed anything to keep her quiet for the time being. I should have spent more than two seconds thinking up an excuse.

“The Egyptian army? You’d call the Egyptian army because I wasn’t in our room? Isn’t that a bit dramatic?”

She wasn’t buying my attempt at de-escalating her overreaction. “Where were you, Sanura Taha?!”

I was suddenly aware of how dry my mouth felt as my eyes darted over to James, who was still preoccupied with his guest. The irrational hope that he’d look over at me and save me from Angela’s interrogation twisted in my chest like a screw. Now would be a great time for him to shout for me to help with a menial task like sorting his pens by color.

“Shut up!” Angela exclaimed.

My eyes flashed back to her. “What? I didn’t say anything.”

But she was staring where, or rather at whom, I had been looking moments ago.

I froze, my eyes wide.Shit.I shook my head and waved my hands frantically in front of her to keep her quiet, but it didn’t work.

Words spewed out. Hands flailed in the air. “You?! Andhim?! When? How? What?!”

I grabbed her wrists and gripped them tightly. “Shhh! I’ll answer all your questions, but please, keep it down!”

She pressed her lips together, her cheeks puffing out like she was ready to vomit more incoherent words at any moment.

“You cannot ever repeat any of this! Swear to me on your last-season Gucci boots.”

Her eyes grew two times larger above her puffy cheeks. “The ones with the gold double-G buckle and quilted strap?!”

“Swear to me, damn it!” I whisper-yelled in her face.

She exhaled the air she had been holding in, sending my hair flying around my face. “I swear on the House of Gucci.” She was ever the fashionista, and ever the Lady Gaga fan.

I took a deep breath before starting, wishing I could take five more and down a shot of tequila, too. “Yes.”

Angela let out a gasp but then quickly covered her mouth with her hands after catching my severe glare.

“It just happened and I don’t know what it means, but you can’t say anything. Pretend this conversation never existed.”

“Fuck,” she breathed out. “You and our professor?! What the hell?! What if he gets in trouble? No, wait, what ifyouget in trouble?” She pressed a hand to her heart. “Oh, fuck, I’m going to have to bail you out of Egyptian jail just like your mom warned. But this time for being loose!”

“I’m not loose!” I protested.

“I know that, but the ministry won’t see it that way!”

“You need to calm down. You’re going to draw too much attention to us!”

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