This time, I'm serious

No surprises

Bruno sat on the loungers, chatting with Cora. They were watching Juliet and Kobi have an argument down by the pool.

"She's pretty hard on him, hey?"

Bruno nodded. "Honestly. It's like they seek him out."

"Who?"

"Women like Lexi and Juliet. Who aren't really all that interested in getting to know someone like Kobi as a person, they just want someone they can treat like a doormat"

"Isn't he your mate?"

"Yeah, I'd say he's my best mate in the villa. I just hate seeing him constantly get walked on. I know what it's like, and it's not nice."

Cora reached over from her lounger and patted his arm. "Quiet. Doormats don't talk."

He laughed loudly, but felt more than a little bit nervous. He was so glad Jas hadn't seen them that morning. He'd been miffed about her snuggling up with Tom, but he imagined she'd be far more annoyed knowing how he'd touched Cora.

Cora was being unbelievably cool about everything. She was unbelievably cool. He was a little in awe of her. She just let things roll off her. He remembered, though, how insecure she'd gotten on their first date. Where she'd compared herself to Jas. How awful he'd felt for her.

He was fun on the surface, too. But underneath, it was fuelled by a crushing, overwhelming sense of needing people to like him. Rejection hurt . When she'd admitted that she felt it too, he felt a connection with her. Realistically, she was pretty perfect for him.

Smart as a whip, funny, carefree, and very hot .

Bruno froze. Shit... did he like her?

A part of him had to have known that it was Cora, this morning. He was still pondering the implications of it when he saw Jas leave the villa with Tom.

He watched as they walked down to the daybeds, happily chatting, off in their own little world. It hurt a little that she didn't even notice him.

From the pool, Najuma waved at her, calling something out. She lifted up a piece of toast from her plate. Even from far away, Bruno could tell that Tom had cut it into the shape of a heart.

Urgh. That hurt .

"The more you watch them, the more it's going to hurt."

Cora's voice punctuated the silence.

He sighed, and lay down. Cora got up off her lounger, slipping on to his, and lying down, facing him. It was nice. They could talk quietly, lying in the sun, and just escape the villa into their own little world for a bit.

"Let's talk about something else," he said. "Like, would you like to continue our discussion about why cows are the superior barnyard animals?"

Cora raised her eyebrows at him. "Um, that is absolutely not what we were discussing, we were discussing why sheep are better than cows in every way, not least because they are fluffier ."

They giggled about cows and sheep for a while, before Cora pointed at a cloud in the sky.

"See! Look. definitive proof, sheep are better than cows. It's written in the sky."

"Where? Where does it say that?"

"Right there, that cloud. It looks like a sheep"

He shifted on to his back, Cora snuggling in under his arm.

"No, hun, you're mistaken. That's definitely a cow in a Marie Antoinette wig."

Cora laughed and pointed to another one, giggling. "Okay, smartass, what about that one then? That's definitely a sheep"