her watch. She crosses her legs and nervously bounces them, resting her elbows on her knees, “Where are the guys? The bus will be here any minute.”
“I am sure they are on their way.” I assure her.
“Michael is late for everything.” She groans.
“Well as long as he isn’t late for the altar.” I chuckle. But Jessica shoots me a cold stare and stands up to pace around the lobby.
A few more minutes pass before, Michael, Eric, Matthew and Ben make their way into the lobby. Jessica dramatically winds up and proceeds to start bickering with Michael about his tardy entrance. I quickly look away, and pull a Travel Costa Rica magazine off of the table beside me. I flip through the pages and keep my eyes down, but Eric’s stagy entrance distracts me and causes me to look up. I watch him stumble through the lobby hunched over in a stretch for the nearest sofa. His hair is a mess, his clothes are wrinkled, and his face is a pale yellow. He moans when he makes contact with a sofa, and exasperatingly whips his arm across his eyes.
My breathing quickens when I finally lock eyes with Ben. He looks fantastic. His dark hair is poking out from under his backwards cap and his crisp clean turquoise t-shirt clings to his muscles. His dark eyes are soft and sullen, and his face is cleanly shaven. I gulp and look away, but I can feel him staring at me. He sits down beside me and drapes his left arm along the back of the sofa. I pretend to busy myself by searching for something in the distance, but he places his thumb and index finger on my chin and turns my face towards his.
“Megan.” Ben whispers with a hint of desperation in his voice.
“What?” I say keeping my eyes on the ground and fiddle with the fringe of my shirt.
A lingering moment passes between us, and Ben drops his hand from my chin and runs it through his dark hair. He hesitates, taking a deep breath, but as Ben tries to speak, Stephanie shouts, “What’s going on over there?” and suspiciously crosses her arms in front of her chest.
“Nothing,” I say and scoot back on the sofa. I lift my eyes to Stephanie, but I am worried she will be able to see everything all over my face.
“I was just telling Megan I was sorry I missed out on last night.” Ben calmly says.
Stephanie glances back and forth between us. She furrows her brow and un-crosses her arms, now completely oblivious. “Well, you did miss out on a good time.”
“It’s always a good time when boobies come out.” Matthew says and pokes Michelle in her coma-like state.
Ben leans back on the sofa, turns away from me and clears his throat, “Whose boobies?”
“We all went skinny dipping.” Stephanie laughs, “It was hilarious.”
Eric gives a thumbs-up from the sofa, and Matthew laughs and nods in agreement. Ben gives me a sideways glance, and even though I do want to clarify I was not amongst the skinny dipping crew, I don’t. For some reason, I have this silly immature instinct to let Ben wallow in the idea that I bared my birthday suit. Maybe part of me wants him to think that if everyone else has seen me naked, it somehow minimizes the fact we slept together.
“The bus is here!” Jessica shouts and waves us over towards the tour guide.
Ben pounces up from the sofa and leaves the rest of us behind to climb his way onto the bus. Jessica remains next to our tour guide as we all line up single file. I can hear her pestering him about making sure we are back on time for our dinner reservations when I slide past her and find my way into the wonderfully air-conditioned bus. I notice right away, Ben is sitting in the very back, gazing out the window. He shifts his eyes up to see me, but quickly turns them away. Old times would have dictated we definitely would have sat together. We would have played the, would you rather game, something we always did when we travelled on the subway or in a cab. Ben would always start by asking a question like, “Would you rather live in a boat, or in a motor home?” I would always laugh and wonder where he came up with all his questions. I even accused him of carrying around a journal and jotting down his