Jaded

Matured

Suresh lay back on the daybeds, his face shaded, happily enjoying the warmth of the villa. He could hear the ocean from where he was, and he closed his eyes, thinking back to the beachside hotel he and Jade had spent a magic week destroying as they defiled every damn surface and most of the walls. Masturbating wasn't allowed in the villa, and even if she was sneaky, he knew Jade couldn't do it with her own hands. Her sex drive was also way, way too high for her to go more than a couple of days without climbing something .

So all Suresh had to do was make sure that something was him. The sooner she remembered how good they were together, the sooner she'd realise he deserved another chance.

"Hey... Suresh?"

He opened his eyes, squinting into the sunlight through his sunglasses, and saw Eddie looking nervously down at him.

"Hey, Eddie. What's up?"

"I was wondering if we could talk?"

Suresh sat up, and noticed Alfie practically hiding behind Eddie. He kept his eyeroll to himself, but gave a nod.

"Sure, what about?"

He already knew precisely what it was about.

Firstly, he knew it was about Jade.

Secondly, he knew Alfie would be looking to find out if the coast was clear, because God forbid he go and have an honest, adult conversation with Jade. Suresh couldn't decide if Alfie acted like a child or a grandpa, but either way, there were rubber ducks involved.

Third, Eddie would just be wanting to stick his nose in. He had some sort of compulsive need to know everything. The kind of kid who got left out of every secret in primary school, because he'd always go and tell the teacher. Hot, but unpopular, a true loser underneath it all. Which is why he was proving so darn useful to Suresh. Eddie was positively desperate for his approval, and that suited Suresh just fine.

Alfie swallowed. "It's... it's about Jade."

One for one.

Eddie patted Alfie on the back. "I think Alf here, and by extension all of us, were wondering what the deal is between the two of you. A lot of people would like to get to know her, but..."

Two for two.

Eddie suddenly backtracked. "Not me , of course. But, uh, Alfie said he was going to come and talk to you, so I thought I'd come and... join the conversation."

Ding, ding, ding. "What do you want to know, specifically?"

Alfie smiled. "What's she like? Like outside of here?"

What a question. He wondered if Alfie had asked it on purpose. A question like that could give a lot away. It was precisely the kind of question he'd been taught to ask in law school. Innocent. Open-ended. Generic.

Because the way he answered it would tell them far more than his actual answer ever did.

If he told them only bad things, it might imply that he considered them a threat, or that he didn't like Jade as much as he said he did.

If he told them some good, some bad, it might sound like he was trying to be polite, but then warn them away. Again, insecurity, and it wouldn't do.

So he smiled. "She's exactly the same as she is in here. She's a firecracker, she's wild, and she's probably the greatest girl I've ever met. Could flirt her way into North Korea, gets whatever she wants, and has the entire world wrapped around her finger. The man who ends up with Jade Petrunich is the luckiest man in the world."