where Dex is waiting with the passenger door open, Ada and Max already in the backseat.
“Hey baby,” Dex says to me, smiling broadly.
“Hey,” I tell him. “Fancy seeing you in this body. Got to say, I missed looking at you.”
“Same goes for me.” He leans in and kisses me. I grab his collar, holding him tight, our kiss deepening. Even our kisses feel different now, so much more intimate, so much better.
HONK!
We both jump and turn in annoyance to see Ada leaning forward through the seats, her hand on the horn. “We’re going to the bar!” she yells at us. “Then you can get a room!”
I laugh, getting in my seat and buckling up while Dex closes the door.
I turn around and look at Ada and Max sitting beside each other. “Okay, Maximus, since this is your first time being among mortals in years, you should pick the bar.”
“Hell no,” Dex says, getting in the driver’s seat. He adjusts the rearview mirror and scowls at Max in it. “He’s got awful taste in music. It’s going to be country or some redneck shit like that.”
“Then I’ll pick the bar,” Ada says, bringing out her phone.
“You also have awful taste in music,” Dex tells her, starting the car.
“Then you pick it Dex,” I tell him.
“No, he’s going to pick some weird dive bar,” Ada grumbles. “All the men in there are so gross.”
“I’ll think of something,” Dex says, pulling the car out on the road.
We drive through rainy Seattle.
“Hey guys,” Maximus says after a minute. He leans forward, his head between us. “I reckon I’m homeless for the next while. Can I sleep on your couch?”
Dex and I exchange a look.
Twenty-Three
“You’re going to turn into a lobster. What kind of Italian are you, anyway?”
A shadow passes over me and I lift my head to see a Mai Tai dangling in front of my face.
I lazily pluck the drink from Dex’s fingers and manage to bring it to my face with minimal effort, my lips wrapping around the straw. Damn, I’m addicted to this shit.
“I have SPF 50 on me,” I remind him, as if he doesn’t recall slathering it on me every hour.
“Maybe we should raise this,” he says, going to the back of the wooden lawn chairs and lifting up the half-moon canopy.
“Suit yourself, I’m going in the water soon,” I tell him.
This is literally all we’ve been doing for the last few days. We go back home to Seattle the day after tomorrow, and I’m only now finally feeling like we’re on vacation. Next time we come here, we’re going to have to stay longer.
Kauai has been beautiful. We’ve been staying at the Sheraton on the south side of the island, which has the perfect crescent-shaped beach with clear warm water, soft sand, fun waves, and snorkeling too. We rented a Jeep (and now Dex wants to trade our Highlander in for a big black Jeep, which I’m not opposed to since it’s a pretty sexy car), and we’ve done a lot of the touristy scenic stuff, like checking out the waves on the North Shore, or looking at waterfalls, or hiking the canyon.
But mainly we’ve just been here at the hotel, either by the pool or renting one of these cabana loungers on the beach. It’s so cool, you have a menu and you just put up a flag beside you and someone comes and takes your order and brings you drinks whenever you like. It’s amazing.
Okay, obviously my experience with resorts and tropical vacations have been pretty nil, since I get overly excited about the littlest thing, but still. This has been my idea of heaven and I’m kicking myself for not suggesting something like this sooner.
Thank god for Dex, who is always thinking ahead. He’s been enjoying himself immensely. I think his favorite part is how tanned and brown he’s gotten and the fact that when he walks around the pool and the beach in just his swim trunks, his body all oiled up from the tanning lotion, he’s got every head swiveling, men and women. The jerk has turned this resort into his own little catwalk.
I stare up at him and smile as he brings the canvas forward, covering me from the sun.
Yes, then there’s me. Cautiously pale. I’ve been slathering myself in the goopy stuff and it’s only in the last two days that my skin has been getting the slightest hint of sun. And no, I haven’t burned myself yet.
Dex sits down next