Play No More (Player Next Door sequel) ✓

56 | All Things Luke

'When Millie's life changed from a straight 4 to a curved 9' Thank you @sab0.169 for the poster!

Chapter 56: All Things Luke

There was nothing perfect about this setup. I was standing in a wetsuit with a pair of flippers and a mask that made me talk funny. Meanwhile, Bianca had gone off with my boyfriend to explore the underwater wildlife on a magical aquatic adventure.

"Raise your left arm if you don't know how to swim," the instructor told us.

We were standing knee deep in sea water, with the sandy beach behind us. I looked down the line at Cearra, Austin and Oma. At least Cearra was getting some personal time in with Austin. They kept talking in between the instructor.

"Here, you have the strap on backward," Austin offered to help adjust her mask, "Does that feel better?"

Cearra nodded and pressed her hands over the band, "A lot better, thank you. How's yours?"

"Mine's fine," he said, looking down at the water he wanted to swim in.

I tried to ignore the pang in my heart. Why couldn't we still be like that? Luke-

"Can anyone name any fish?" the instructor asked us and caught me staring at Austin and Cearra, "Millie?"

"Goldfish?" I ventured.

"No. Grouper and sunfish are two examples of fish you will see in these waters. Let's talk briefly about what to do if you see a shark," he said, "Now it's more likely to happen to your expert diving friends than here on the shallow end, but still worth a short safety briefing."

Our expert diving friends... what a joke. I could just imagine Bianca holding onto Luke for dear life at the sight of a friendly shark minding its own business.

**

We arrived home long before the 'expert diving' group. If they're so expert, why aren't they quick?

Back at Chad's villa, dinner was being prepared by a chef tonight. The raw food was already on display on his prep table. I sat at a bar stool by the kitchen island to watch the chef work. I also stole a walnut.

I had 101 questions about cooking that I wasn't shy to ask. My first question: What does sweating an onion mean?

Suddenly, a chair scraped back, and Oma sat down next to me. She placed her waterproof camera on the counter and asked, "Is everything OK, Millie?"

I was having a great time until the reminder. My happy mood bubble popped as quickly as it had inflated.

"OK is a good way to put it," I answered, watching the chef braise veal, "Not great, not terrible, but OK."

"Have you spoken to Luke about last night?" she asked, "The guys were fishing this morning-"

"They went fishing?" I asked, shocked by how active they've been. They'd also gone to the gym and scuba diving and all this after clubbing until 4AM.

"No, I mean they were fishing for information," she explained, "Luke didn't want to say anything, but I think he was a bit shaken by last night."

"How do you think I feel?" I retorted.

"I think it's been a rough morning for you," she sympathized with a slight smile, "But you were wild last night. Bianca has a photo of-"

"Not another photo," I groaned. I'm being forced to live and relive my worst nightmares on this holiday.

No wonder Luke's avoiding me today. How do you stay attracted to someone after you see their bile?

"I think he's been giving you space," Oma said comfortingly, noticing how my expression had changed and guessing that I was thinking about Luke. "Last night was rough on both of you and today can't have been the right time to talk things through."