Page 16 of Backhanded Compliments

“What?” Kacic snaps. Her shoulders cave, a protective gesture that Juliette looks away from.

“It’s that way,” she says, jerking her chin to the winding path into the trees.

Kacic heads off, arms wrapped around herself as if she’s freezing.

Juliette finishes her limoncello, now too warm for her taste. Itswirls in her churning stomach like a typhoon. There was something wobbly in Kacic’s voice, something Juliette hasn’t heard before.

She should leave Kacic alone.

She should go take a shower and wash the sand, sweat, and sunscreen off.

Muttering to herself, she grabs another tulip sipper from the kitchen and pours two fresh glasses of ice-cold limoncello. She continues to mutter to herself about the stupidity of this as she treks down the sandy path to the beach.

The trees shiver and whisper to each other, the lapping waves gossiping right back. The path curves away into a ridge that plunges into a dune and a stretch of uneven shoreline.

Kacic sits on the beach, about halfway to the frothy waves. A crescent moon splashes silvery highlights on the water, and her white hoodie is a beacon against the night.

Juliette jogs down the dune with ease, the sand cupping her and rolling with each step. Kacic doesn’t look up as she skids to a halt next to her. She’s wrapped her arms around her knees as if she can crunch herself into a tiny ball and disappear into the sand.

“Welcome to Naples,” Juliette says, holding out the limoncello.

“What’s this?” Kacic asks, glaring incredulously at the glass as if it’s going to bite her.

“A drink. Take it.” Juliette shakes it in front of her face. The drink splashes along the rim.

Kacic frowns but takes it. “Damn, you’re bossy,” she mutters, staring down at the liquor.

With a huff, Juliette flops down onto the sand next to her. Nowhere near close enough to touch, but angled so she can see Kacic’s face. It’s too dark to make out many of her features. Just the silhouette of her face, the curve of her cheek, the little button of her nose, her tongue as she licks her lips.

“Drink it,” Juliette demands, setting her glass into the sand. “Slowly!” She grabs Kacic’s wrist without thinking as she makes to drink it like a shot of vodka.

An electric jolt rushes through her, lightning-bright, and heatscorches across her skin. She drops Kacic’s hand as she flinches away.

Kacic freezes, like a deer caught in headlights. Her breath comes in uneven pants, as if she can’t expand her lungs fully for fear of breaking.

Juliette flexes her hand, hating how dizzy she is. For a moment, the roller coaster twists of her stomach that had started with Kacic’s arrival had halted. It’s the first time she’s ever touched Kacic outside of a tennis court. “It’s meant to be sipped,” Juliette says, her voice too strangled for her liking. She picks up her glass, letting it cool her warm palm.

Kacic doesn’t look at her as she slowly lifts the glass to her mouth and sips. Her throat bobs and Juliette licks her sun-chapped lips, a strange heat gathering in her stomach like a storm.

The moment breaks when Kacic recoils back from the glass and screws her eyes shut, tongue darting out as she almost spits the liquor back out. “Lemon?” she accuses.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Too good for citrus?” Juliette snaps, defensive.

Kacic grimaces and sets the glass into the sand. “I hate lemon.” She unscrews her water bottle and chugs half of it, then shudders and smacks her lips like a drama queen.

“Whatever. More for me,” Juliette says, finishing her drink in two long, slow drags. She grabs Kacic’s glass and takes a sip. It only occurs to her then that her mouth is lying where Kacic’s had been a moment ago, but she shoves the thought away. Kacic may have ruined her night but she will not ruin a perfect glass of limoncello.

“How many of those have you had?” Kacic asks, a judgmental note to her voice that makes Juliette seethe.

“A couple,” she says defiantly, grateful her voice doesn’t slur.

She should be pleasantly tipsy. She should be going out into Naples and finding a young, hot thing to bring back to her room and make love to in the salty air.

Instead, she’s on the beach with her biggest rival and soulmate. The soulmate she never chose and doesn’t want. Juliette grits her teeth, her face blotchy with angry heat. “Why did you come tonight?”Juliette snaps, turning to face Kacic fully. This is her fault. She ruined Juliette’s last night of freedom, and she deserves to know why.

There is another kind of heat boiling low in her stomach. This is the longest she’s ever been near Kacic, and something inside of her coils tight at the thought.

Kacic shrugs. “I have nowhere else to go,” she says. If she was aiming for nonchalance, she misses by a mile.

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