Page 46 of Fake Dating Adrian Hunter
“Oh, yes. Definitely.” His teasing grin returns. Despite all my hard work of climbing onto the board, Adrian splashes my face and capsizes me.
I go under, fully submerged, but instead of surfacing straight away, I swim for Adrian and jab his ribs.
He jerks back and I hear his muffled voice from beneath the water, “Oh, you’ll pay for that, Vee.”
When I surface, he wears the most sinister grin matched by dark eyes. He’s out for blood. An exhilarated shriek leaves my mouth as I paddle away from him, but Adrian is faster and grabs me from behind. He effortlessly lifts me over his head and tosses me through the air, sending me plunging into the water. I’m pretty sure a nip pops out of my bikini in the process. I fix myself before surfacing and shake with laughter.
Adrian launches for me again. I hold my hands up in surrender, knowing I can’t out-swim him. “Stop! I nearly lost my top.”
That only makes him advance faster, but I’m not going down without a fight. Once he’s caught up to me, we battle it out. I’m tugging at his swim trunks, attempting to pull them down (it’s my only defense). He’s trying to get a sturdy grip on me so he can throw me into the air again, probably hoping I’ll lose my bikini top for good this time. And dammit, he’s winning. He’s got an arm around my waist. All he needs now is to bend down and grab my legs.
But suddenly I’m howling and not with laughter. The smile is ripped from my face as a blinding pain strikes my leg. “Cease fire! Ow!”
Adrian instantly lets go of me. “What happened?”
“Something stung my leg. A jellyfish, maybe? Am I going to die?”
He searches the water around us. “I don’t see anything. I’m half-expecting you to start laughing any second. You’d really regret that— Oh, FUCK!” Adrian clutches his stomach. “It got me too.”
“It heard you calling my bluff and had to restore justice.”
“How are you able to make a joke right now? Fuck, this hurts. We need to get out of the water.” He grabs my hand and starts swimming toward the shore.
“What about the board?”
“Leave it.”
“I thought you said we didn’t need to wear wetsuits in shallow water.”
“I made that up.”
“Youwhat?” I yell. “I trusted you, Adrian, and now we’re going to die.”
ChapterSixteen
As it turns out, being stung by a jellyfish is all the rage among the passengers aboard the yacht, until Ernie laughs at everyone’s concern and informs us bluebottles aren’t dangerous.
The sky is all tones of pinks and oranges as we sail back to the resort. Everyone is mingling on the back deck of the yacht with a cocktail in their hand, enjoying the music and wind in their hair while they discuss their day’s adventures. I, on the other hand, have an icepack strapped to the sting site on my leg and am dosed up on painkillers, stuck in a boring conversation with my parents about their afternoon hike on Whitehaven Beach. Don’t get me started on how furious I am with Adrian.
“Honey, the view from our hike was magnificent. You and Adrian really missed out by staying in the water,” Mom says. “Seriously, what were you two thinking by not wearing wetsuits?”
“Adrian said we would be safe in shallow water.”
Dad laughs. “He probably wanted to see you in your bikini. Speaking of Adrian, where has that man of yours gone?”
“The restroom,” I say, but it was well over ten minutes ago that he left. I scan through the crowd of passengers for Adrian. When I find him with Isabelle, my anger only increases.
They’re sitting on a couch together. She’s close to him. Closer than an ex-girlfriend would dare go. I have to remind myself that this was the plan all along, for Adrian to reignite his love with Isabelle. But the sight of them together makes me sick. I don’t want him anywhere near her. I don’t want them to be happy together. I want Adrian to myself. After all these years, I just got him back, even if it is only as a friend. I’m not ready to lose his attention all over again. At least give me this week with him.
When I take a closer look at them sharing the couch, all the anger inside me morphs into concern. Adrian is pale and miserable, clutching an icepack to his stomach. Isabelle’s tending to him, resting a palm on his forehead to gauge his temperature.
Adrian gives an apologetic smile the moment he sees me looking his way, as if hoping I’ll forgive him for lying to me about the wetsuit. It’s done already. I couldn’t ever be mad with this guy again. Not when he looks like death. I don’t even excuse myself from the conversation with my parents before pushing through the crowd to join Adrian at his couch.
“How are you feeling?” I kneel in front of him.
“He’s not well,” Isabelle answers.
“I’m fine, Vee. Go enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about me.”
