IF I CAN'T HAVE YOU

Chapter 8 - Never Be The Same

He loaned Camila a t-shirt and she ran swiftly to her own bure, coming back in her yoga gear, with her mat and water bottle, and her hair neatly braided. He winced at the sight of her neck, but then he recalled the sight of his own neck and chest when he had dressed while she was gone. She had definitely enjoyed her revenge.

They walked hand in hand up to the yoga studio and didn't make eye contact with anyone while they did the class, but they could feel the others staring at them and it was so hard not to laugh. At the end of the class, he stood to find the older couple were heading for Camila, sending dark glances his way. He quickly made his way to her side.

"Oh, you know Shawn, don't you? Shawn and I have known each other since we were about sixteen, it was a total surprise to bump into each other here! We had dinner outside last night and the mosquitos! Oh my God, we got bitten all over!"

"Mosquitos?" the woman asked uncertainly.

"Huge," he agreed. "And we're both allergic, so we're a mess today."

"Anyway, see you tomorrow!" Camila said, taking his hand and dragging him back towards their bures.

"Mosquito bites?" he laughed.

"Really big ones apparently."

They laughed and ran the rest of the way and somehow wound up back in bed, since neither of them had anything else scheduled for the morning. They had lunch delivered there as well, and had a swim in the ocean, or more like a paddle since both of them had a deadly fear of being eaten by sharks, then rinsed off in his private pool before he had to leave for his therapy appointment, and Camila had a hula class. He would much rather be watching that then hearing what Akari was going to say today.

He walked in, trying to pull the neck of his t-shirt up to cover the hickeys on his chest.

"Don't bother," Akari said drily, not even looking up from her notebook as she scribbled furiously.

"What...I..." She looked at him over her glasses with her eyebrows raised.

"Really Shawn? Your giant mosquito story is the talk of the resort this afternoon."

He sputtered a little but didn't say anything and she tried to hide her grin as she finished her notes, then put the pen down.

"Well, what would you like to talk to me about today?" she asked.

That threw him, he was expecting her to get stuck into him about Camila.

"Maybe about how you're coping with the stress of all this touring, this feeling of being out of control, and what you can do about that?"

He looked confused and opened and closed his mouth like a whale catching krill.

"Unless there is anything else you'd rather talk about?"

"I thought..."

"You thought I'd want you to explain what is going on with you and Camila?"

"Well, yes," he said weakly.

"Go on then," she said, waving her hand. "I'm all ears."

"I...." what WAS going on with him and Camila. He smiled thinking about her, she was probably swinging those sexy hips of hers in a grass skirt and bikini right now, he wished he could see it.

"Shawn? Snap out of it." Akari shook her head, smiling.  "So have you ever been in love like this before?"

"In love? I'm not...."

"Don't try to sell me the mosquito story, my friend, and I'm not buying you're just good friends either."

"Well, we are good friends, we just..."