CHAPTER 9

“August” – Taylor Swift

IF THERE’S ONE THING I’VE learned about myself on this trip, it’s how much more deprived I am of physical activity than I previously thought.

While Luca and Enrique make their way to climb up the third hill we’ve come across so far, Sofia and I struggle to catch our breath.

To my extreme delight, I recognize the starting point of our hike shortly after, preparing to celebrate as if I’ve just won the gold at the fucking Olympics.

Enrique goes to fill up his water bottle, and I declare to Luca through my heavy panting, “I have a feeling this will be the best smoothie I’ve ever had.”

He nods while taking a sip from his Hydro Flask, the flex of his Adam’s apple blinding me more than the sun. Then he closes his eyes slowly, before pouring some of the ice-cold water onto his hair .

I swallow the small lump that’s now formed in the back of my throat, trying not to gasp. Though, it’s hard not to, while his toned chest continues to expand through deep, shaky breaths.

I feel my nipples tighten through my tank top when the sweat gathering down his torso glides past his hipbone.

When Luca opens his eyes again, I immediately blink a few times, pretending like I wasn’t just rudely glaring at his skin. “I wouldn’t be thinking about it just yet,” he says. “We still have two more miles.”

My jaw drops. “You must be joking.”

“How did you know?” he says, feigning a look of surprise. “Here, I have your smoothie in my pocket.” He pretends to rummage around his pocket before walking away.

Refraining from rolling my eyes, I notice Sofia and Enrique get a head start, now groaning that we are in fact continuing. I quickly walk over to reach Luca again and say, “That felt like a few miles already though, no?”

“That was just a circle,” he points out.

“A very long circle…”

“You mean diameter ,” he corrects smugly.

“No I mean—” I pause before flipping him off, while also taking the chance to walk past him.

Of course he catches up to me in no time. “That was pretty good. Have you been rehearsing?” he teases.

I glare at him as he continues to walk ahead of me with this pleased look on his face for successfully managing to piss me off yet again.

I wasn’t planning on taking my shirt off. But it’s basically a thousand degrees right now, so without hesitation, I lift up my tank top, before placing it underneath the elastic band of my sports bra .

If Luca looks over at me, he does it so quickly that I barely get a glimpse of it. Yet I sense that he did by the way his posture seems to have straightened up all of a sudden.

The thought sends more shivers down my warm spine, trying my best to not look as parched as I feel, while we walk along the trail for the second time.

As if it’s not already difficult to breathe, Enrique finally walks up to me.

It’s hard not to look just as mesmerized by Luca’s toned back, though.

It’s not my fault that he’s also walking right in front of me.

I’m sure that being in close proximity with two men that I’m physically attracted to wouldn’t feel as beguiling if they also weren’t both covered in sweat.

And now the first thought that pops into my head is Luca’s advice from last night.

This is my chance to make the first move. Or make a complete fool of myself. The latter is probably what the situation’s leaning toward. But I’ll never know if I never try.

When I notice some of Enrique’s hair’s sticking up slightly, I find the perfect excuse to channel my inner charm (or something like that).

Taking my borderline trembling hands, I brush the side of his hair when my eyes meet his. “Here,” I say.

Here? Really? I couldn’t have thought of something better to say than that ?

My charm somehow gets even less charming, the moment his almond shaped eyes flicker to my lips. “You have really fluffy hair,” I confess, now with wide eyes.

What the fuck did I just say? Apparently, I also don’t know how to compliment Enrique without sounding like a complete moron .

He narrows his eyes at me amusedly. “Fluffy? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

It’s nice to see that he’s not completely repelled the way I’d be if someone said that to me.

“Oh. It’s great,” I clarify with burning cheeks. “The texture is just super soft.”

I don’t get it. I know what I want to say to him, but when I start speaking, I realize how jumbled everything sounds after the fact.

Luca must second the notion when I notice his puzzled expression from my periphery. Although, it’s clear to me that he’s masking the more amused one underneath, hoping that I don’t sense it. But when I see past it, I feel even more embarrassed.

While he reassured me that there’s no wrong way to approach this, I feel like I’m doing every single thing wrong. Letting go of Enrique’s hair, I decide to keep my hands back to my sides unless I’ve planned my next move accordingly.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Sofia thankfully says, “Okay, Jasmine and I are choosing what to do next.”

“Absolutely,” I agree enthusiastically.

Luca’s brows furrow at his sister. “Weren’t you the one who told us a week ago to come here? Something about ‘nostalgic memories from a few summers ago?’ Oh and how the view of the ocean here isn’t comparable to anywhere else? And—”

“You made your point smartass,” Sofia interrupts. I love how she answers him the way I want to, almost making me forget about my embarrassment from a moment ago.

“What about a bonfire?” I suggest.

Sofia gives me a smile. “Relaxing by a fire on the sand sounds perfect, but sadly the only day we’re allowed to have a fire on the beach is on June 23rd that’s called La Noche de San Juan . ”

“But we have a lounge area at the resort that’s right by the shore,” Enrique offers. “And since it’s a private beach, I could reserve it just for us for tomorrow night. There’s plenty of lights there so we could just pretend it’s a bonfire,” he adds playfully, his dimples brightening up his face.

I smile warmly at him. “That’s perfect. Thank you.”

“I can get there a little earlier to set up our things,” Luca says.

“I can help,” I offer.

“That works since we’re not going to be working with an actual fire,” he says, his lips curving to the side.

If we were in private I would flip him off again. Instead I just scowl back, while Enrique adds, “Okay sweet. I’ll tell a few others to join us as well.”

The sudden modification in the plan isn’t one I expect, noting another moment that could have possibly given us more time to spend with each other had Enrique not added more people to it.

Sofia’s smile distracts me from this, when she glances over at Enrique and me knowingly. “Okay,” she says, “Luca and I will meet you guys at the end. We wanted to check out this one trail.” Something about the look on her face tells me she suggests this so that Enrique and I have a chance to be alone.

Grateful for her help, but also wondering what in the world I’m going to say now that they’re gone, my chest starts to tighten again.

I take a deep breath, reminding myself that when I’m more in my head about things, they usually don’t turn out great. And conversely, end up exceeding my expectations when I don’t try as much.

So when I look at Enrique and he notices, I take that as a cue to reach out toward his hand. I don’t particularly feel bolder, but who knows if I ever will ?

Despite the doubts running through my mind, not to mention shaking hands, I brush my fingers over his. My effort to push myself pays off when he takes the initiative to intertwine his with mine. He glances at my lips briefly to which I almost forget how sweaty we both are, playing it coy with a simple smile on the outside. While beaming on the inside at the realization that I’m holding hands with a guy in a romantic setting for the first time.

It's then that I remember Luca’s hand holding mine when he taught me how to surf, reminding myself how that was just purely professional. Though my heartbeat was just as loud then as it is now. Maybe even more.

Enrique’s voice quickly pushes out the distracting memory. “Do you like steak?”

“Yeah, why?” I reply eagerly, my mouth also drooling at this point. “Are we going to have some now?”

He chuckles. “No. I was thinking of making some for tomorrow night.”

“You cook?” I say, my brows raised, realizing I haven’t asked Enrique all that much about him. And then suddenly feel a bit guilty for that. Although, he technically hasn’t asked much about me either.

“Yeah. I love to cook,” he confirms. “Do you?” Judging by the way his eyes glimmer suddenly, it also seems like this is a topic he could go on and on about. And that alone makes me smile.

“I like cooking,” I admit. “But I don’t think it particularly likes me back though.”

He smirks. “Maybe it’s just playing hard to get. Keep doing it if it’s something you enjoy.”

“Good point,” I say, appreciating his encouragement, but also wondering if he’d still say this if he saw the half of my clumsiness. “I’ve gotten one recipe down by heart though,” I add .

His eyes widen with intrigue. “Really? What?”

“I don’t mean to brag, but I think I make the best grilled cheese there ever was,” I reply.

He laughs at my seriousness. “That’s a pretty bold claim to make.”

“Laugh all you want. You’ll know what I mean once you try it.”

He tilts his head to the side. “Does that mean we’re having a cooking date soon?”

My heart flutters. Even though I assume we’ve gone on at least one date already, Enrique’s never referred to them as one until now . My nonchalance slowly withers away, my wide smile peeking through, learning that this wasn’t just all in my head. “Only if we get that smoothie soon,” I tease.

“Done,” he says with a smile. “The juice bar that we’re going to has the best banana peach smoothie.”

My eyes light up. “I love bananas,” I reply with my last few brain cells functioning at the moment.

There’s absolutely no reason for me to have said that in such an awkward way other than I’m holding hands with my crush who I think I might be dating now, while we’re on what feels like a 30-mile hike, all on my lovely period.

I’m relieved that Enrique seems to have moved past our awkward first kiss. But as we continue to walk, a tiny wave of melancholy hits me, my smile now fading a bit. Remembering the pain I was in earlier, a small part of me feels a little disappointed that he hasn’t asked me how I’m feeling since yesterday.

Quickly brushing it off though, I remind myself that he’s just busy, his mind preoccupied.