Lies We Tell

11 : All Coupled Up

The rest of the islanders were already gathered, discussing their dates, when Lucas and Zahra stepped onto the lawn. Noah and Bobby were passing out drinks to everyone while Hope was talking.

"It was gorgeous," she was saying. "The view of the water was just beautiful, wasn't it babe?" She turned to Noah, touching his arm.

As Lucas and Zahra drew close, Noah offered them drinks. His fingers brushed against Zahra's and his gaze lingered on her. "Gorgeous," he echoed.

Zahra's breath caught-- that look from Noah was intentional, and it confused her. Before she could read into it, Bobby grabbed her and pulled her deeper into the group. "Zahra, you're back!"

She laughed, trying not to spill her drink at his sudden enthusiasm. "Hey, Bobby. How was your date?"

Bobby opened his mouth to reply, but Marisol cut him off. "We had a good time, right Bobby?" She pinned Zahra with an unwavering stare. "How was your date, Zahra?"

Zahra matched her stare, trying not to get too irritated. "It was great. Interesting."

"She means to say hot," Lucas interjected, sidling up next to Zahra. He slid in close, bumping her hip, and slipped his free arm around Zahra's waist to pull her in. A chorus of cheers and laughter rang through the other islanders as he lifted his drink in the other hand. "The details? Those I'll never tell."

Marisol's chest heaved, and her smile grew tight. "That's great." Her tone conveyed anything but her approval, which made Zahra hide her satisfied grin behind her hand. As she turned away from Marisol, she caught a wink from Lucas, which made warmth flicker through her.

"Don't worry, babes," Lottie said, grinning wickedly. "Priya and I will get those details from Zahra ourselves."

The islanders erupted into another round of laughter at Zahra's answering blush. "You're all little shits," she said through her own laughter. "Enough about me. I want to hear about these other dates. Lottie?"

As Lottie launched into her date with Gary, the attention gravitated away from Zahra and Lucas. Marisol, of course, was the last to look away, but she finally did. Zahra thought that once all eyes were off them Lucas would let go of her, but he didn't. His hand stayed planted firmly against her hip, and her side remained flush against his. That, she thought, was the most satisfying part of it all.

<><><><><>

The boys were hard to see through the flickering flames at the firepit. They were lined up in a row at the edge of the deck, hands at their sides or behind their backs, while the girls sat along the curved bench. The recoupling was only moments away, and Zahra was a wreck.

Since her date with Lucas earlier, she'd started to let herself play around with the idea of being coupled with him. He seemed into that, too, and barely gave any of the other girls the time of day, which was a huge confidence booster for Zahra. They'd had a good time-- and what a kiss-- so Zahra was excited to see what happened next.

But she was still cautious, and still very worried about Marisol. She hadn't missed Marisol trying to graft on Lucas today, which failed when he politely excused himself. She noticed all of the side glances, the extra charm, the keen interest Marisol showed towards Lucas. She had never been as receptive towards any other boy like that except for Rocco, and just look how that ended for Zahra. Plus, Marisol clearly disliked her, which Zahra equally reciprocated, so any chance she had to upstage her, the law student was going to try. Knowing that the only thing that could stop her was Zahra's turn coming before Marisol's had Zahra completely on edge.

Through the fire, Zahra could see Lucas leaning slightly, almost like he was trying to see around the flames. Beside him, Zahra could see Bobby lean in towards the physiotherapist, and they exchanged some words before Lucas straightened back up. Disappointment filled her for a brief moment-- she'd been hoping he was leaning to look for her, maybe to say something, and Bobby stopped him.