Page 31 of Paradise

“So,” Sara says, folding her menu and placing it down on the table before she grabs onto my dad’s hand on top of the table. “We’ve decided to switch hotels.”

After a long shower and an hour-long nap, our parents invited me and Carson to lunch. Nothing special—we’re at the restaurant in the resort, and we left Hayden and Levi to fend for themselves.

“Oh?” I say, swirling the straw around my soda. “Why?”

Carson is playing with the hem on my shorts under the table, the tickling sensation pulling my attention from searching the menu for something to eat. I slap his hand when he starts walking his fingers up the inside of my thigh, and he laughs under his breath.

“Well…” Sara continues. “When I saywe, I mean me and your dad, you guys are staying here.”

“I’m not following,” I say, and Carson rubs circles on my leg with his fingertip.

“We want some privacy, to have a real honeymoon,” my dad adds. “You guys will stay here for the rest of the trip,behaving, and we’ll meet you at the airport next week.”

“We’ve barely seen you the whole trip; I don’t think you need to move hotels for some privacy.” I laugh, and Carson pinches the inside of my thigh. “Ow!”

I look at Carson, and he shakes his head, basically telling me toshut up and let them go.

I roll my eyes at him, and he pinches me again.

“Well, if you think we need to stay here with you guys, we will…” Sara says, and Carson cuts her off.

“No. It’s fine, Mom. Go have your honeymoon, and we’ll see you at the airport.” He smiles that golden, mama’s boy smile he’s coined, and I snort.

I catch my dad’s gaze from across the table, and he narrows his eyes. “Are you guys going to be okay? I’m a little worried.”

I know then that this isn’t his idea, it’s Sara’s. She’s the more trusting one. She knows her son is a secret good kid, and she knows me well enough that she’s comfortable leaving us here. I nod at my dad. “We’ll be fine, Dad. Really.”

Sara smiles, and I smile back. “You guys deserve the honeymoon you never got.”

“We do,” Sara says, looking at my dad with stars in her eyes.

“When are you leaving?” Carson asks, rubbing circles on my thigh again with a shit-eating grin pulling his lips.

“We’ll leave after lunch,” his mom answers, narrowing her eyes and pursing her lips. “There are rules, Carson.”

Carson dips his head at her. “Which are?”

“No leaving the resort,” my dad replies. “No charging crazy amounts of food to the room service, no causing trouble, no drinking.”

“Done,” Carson answers. “Anything else?”

“No. Just be on your best behavior,” Sara adds with an eyebrow lift, and Carson laughs.

The waitress comes around then, and I scramble to look over the menu while everyone else orders, a butterfly shaped balloon floating around my belly as excitement fills me at the thought of them leaving. I order the first salad I come across, and then slide my hand into Carson’s under the table, catching his gaze. He grins at me, and I know he’s feeling just as excited as I am. Even though we’ve barely seen our parents this whole week, it’ll be so great to know we’re not going to run into them in the resort or anything.

Carson squeezes my hand, making me smile back.

We fall into conversation while we wait for our food, mostly about Levi almost dying earlier, and Sara’s face goes white as a sheet as I tell her the story. She cares for Hayden and Levi like they’re her own, always thinking of them alongside Carson. I think she would adopt them if she could.

“Is he okay?!” Sara gasps when I’m finished with the story, and as the waitress starts handing out our food, I wave my hand in dismissal.

“He’s fine.” I shake my head. “Thought the whole thing was a blast.”

Sara shakes her head with me as she sighs. “Of course he did. Maybe take him to the on-site doctor they have here just to make sure, okay?”

I nod, grabbing my fork to dig into my salad. “I will.”

We eat in silence, but I don’t miss the fact that it isn’t uncomfortable silence—it feelsnormal.Like a real family, on a real vacation, eating a real lunch together.

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