Chapter 9

"And I thought our view was ridiculous," Eva said, one arm looped over the back of a wide chair as she and Nadia watched the sunset through the opened sliding door. A fresh ocean breeze rustled the curtains. A yacht parted the waves as pink and purple skies descended upon the south side of Oahu. "This would make my mother feel inferior. Can you imagine?" Eva turned around, settling into her chair while Nadia remained supine on the thick arm that supported her whole body. "She'd sell the condo on Waikiki in a heartbeat if she could impress more of her friends with a place like this."

"Let's be real," Nadia muttered in return. "The Waikiki condo you guys visit once or twice a year is already a lot."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Nadia rolled her eyes but said nothing. You say that, but do you understand how superfluous your life has always been? In the realm of the world, the Waikiki condo was "humble," with its mere two bedrooms and a kitchen that wasn't staffed 24/7. Throughout America, plenty of families made do with less than a thousand square feet and staff on hand. Yet that wasn't selling the condo on its full merits. The property cost over a million and a half dollars, had one of the best views on Waikiki, and was a veritable "panty dropper," which was what Eva sarcastically called properties like the Waikiki condo, the Aspen ski cottage, and the private island.

Don't get me started on the private island.

Shadows moved across the balcony. Soon, six people reentered the penthouse apartment, their laughter loud and the promise of cocktails on everyone's lips. Eva and Nadia were the only ones who opted to stay inside while Belle gave everyone else the full tour of the property, including the most fascinating corners of her "sunset terrace," as she called the space beyond her sliding glass door.

"Oh, my God," exclaimed a short and thin woman who was almost Belle's twin in the style department – only she had bright, platinum blond hair instead of pink. "You made out soooo good in the divorce! Does your ex-wife have any other great properties? Asking for a single friend looking for her next good divorce."

Belle politely laughed as she opened a bottle of vodka in her bar and went to work making a round of martinis. "Shelby, sweetie, you're barely thirty-three. Save the fourth divorce for someone worth your time, because Yui is not it."

Eva almost spat out her water when she and Nadia heard "fourth divorce."

Shelby Parker was a character by herself, though. Nadia quickly learned that the five-foot-nothing lady with a flat chest and tiny butt had been married to two men and one woman during her tenure as "Maui's Most Chaotic Bisexual," a term she used to describe herself with pride. Beside her, the other new face at the party was Kelly Sugimoto, a half-Japanese former model who was quieter than the other guests but never made it five minutes without earning a stare from Nadia, who was always caught checking out those slender legs as they poked through a brown sarong and that long neck adorned with a string of pearls. She had never been married, but Eva had it on good authority that Kelly was a serial heartbreaker who courted drama in every semi-serious relationship. Whether she cheated or was cheated on was a coin toss, though.

When Nadia quipped that Eva had probably slept with her at one point too, she was met with a click of the tongue, but no words. That usually meant, "Maybe? I've seen her around. If we did it, I was drunk and don't remember." All Nadia could do was take her wife's word on it.

Rebecca, Caitlyn, and Jane rounded out the guests at that night's party. Everyone, including Nadia, was dressed in the manner of Belle's invitation, which included bathing suits paired with loungewear. In Nadia's case, that meant her brand-new bikini with a sheer but loose T-shirt and a pair of cotton shorts. Nadia, however, wore her bikini top out and proud, along with a pair of white denim shorts that showed off the bottom of her ass when she turned around. The heavy gray overshirt was left unbuttoned. Everyone – from ex-girlfriend Belle to lip-licker Kelly – openly stared at all of Eva's naked skin. Even Caitlyn and Rebecca were both caught checking out Nadia's wife whenever Eva got up to accept a watered-down cocktail or to hunt down the bathroom when the drinks inevitably went through her.

"What?" Rebecca whispered the second time it happened. "She's a fuckin' knockout."

Nadia knew. She had groaned to see her wife's outfit long before they left the condo.

"Do you have to wear something like that?" she hissed when they took their turn out on the balcony. Eva had been speaking with Belle, who soon retreated inside to refill the snacks on the living room coffee table. That was Nadia's chance to soak up the evening breeze while unleashing her frustrations on her wife. "I mean… really…"

Eva leaned against the railing, her midriff on full display and her long legs giving Kelly a run for her modeling money. "Yes. I really do have to wear something like this. I do it to drive you crazy, babe." She flicked the sleeve of Nadia's baggy shirt. "Like you wear this to drive me crazy."

"Believe it or not, that's not the case at all."

"Uh-huh." Eva's arm curled around her wife's midsection. Her hand instantly squeezed Nadia's ass. "Tell me more about how you don't do a damn thing to drive me bonkers with lust."

"‘Bonkers With Lust' is going in the ‘memoir title contender pile,'" Nadia muttered. She did not remove her wife's hand. "Believe it or not, everything I do isn't about you."

"It could be. Just believe enough."

The glass door opened wider. Belle returned, her bubblegum pink bikini barely covered by a baggy yellow one-piece with a plunging neckline. Nadia hated to admit it, but that cleavage caught her eye. It's a big and bulbous necklace, all right? Puka shells clattered as Belle tugged on her necklace and rubbed multiple shells between her fingers.

"Ugh, this view never fails to make me grateful for my divorce." Her eyes lingered on the dark skyline before turning her attention to the married couple. "Are you girls having fun? You should come in if you're not. We're about to fire up the hot tub."

"I don't remember seeing a hot tub," Eva said.

Belle held her vape pen up to her mouth. Soon, the scent of apricots hit Nadia's unsuspecting nose. "Because it's in my bedroom, silly. There's enough room for five people. That's where my parties always end up."

"What about the guests who can't fit?"

"As I said," Belle's playful wink did not escape Nadia's notice, "it's in the bedroom. Lots to do in there if getting wet the literal way isn't your style."

Nadia looked away before she embarrassed herself. Eva laughed. "What do you think?" she asked. "Shall we duck into Belle's bedroom and pretend we care about the hot tub when really we want to see the scenes of her marital crimes?"

"Please," Belle muttered behind her, pink hair a somber shade of dark red in the night. "There weren't that many in there. One of many reasons I got divorced." Her tune soon changed when she made eye contact with Nadia again. "Which is why you guys should come in. Bless my bedroom. I want my next go-round to be way more successful than the first."

"Thatta girl." Eva turned down the opportunity to take a hit off Belle's vape pen. Nadia soon shook her head as well. "Forever love is the shit that makes life the best."

She said that while looking at her wife. Nadia sheepishly looked away from them both.

"Well… I'll leave you two be." Belle stepped away. "Come on in and join us in the bedroom, though. I promise. No hanky-panky allowed until ten."

"I can't tell if that's a joke," Nadia said when Belle went back inside.

"Yes and no, knowing Belle. She's one of those ‘haha, no, but what if?' kind of women."

"Like you?"

"Honey, please. Do you not know who you married? I'm always clear about my intentions. I merely go after women who like to play hard to get and indulge in sexy mind games. You would know. You're the expert at both."

Nadia was almost offended, except she had no room to argue.

She and Eva were soon driven inside by the chilly winter breeze that inevitably kicked up. Hawaii may be warm even in the winter, but if you're barely wearing anything like us, it can get a tad cold if you're standing still. Nadia followed her wife inside and was the one to ensure the sliding glass door was closed. A soft "click" sounded the moment a bottle of champagne was uncorked in a back room.

"Oh, yeah. Party's started," Eva said.

Nadia knew they were going into the back room once she realized the den was empty. Eva led the way as if she knew the layout of her ex-girlfriend's home. I know that's impossible, but… Nadia couldn't help it. Whenever she saw Eva and Belle near one another, possible pictures of what they looked like "together" appeared in Nadia's head. She wondered if Belle had the same thoughts about Eva and her wife. Is she jealous of us at all? Does she not care at all? Nadia was terrible at reading women at that level of success and wealth. So many of them had perfected poker faces unless they wanted something out of someone else – then it was manipulation tactics until Nadia screamed.

So far, there was no screaming at this party. Of any kind.

There was laughter, though, as well as hoots of surprise as hot tub jets fired into life. Not sure what I expected, but this isn't quite it. The hot tub was, indeed, smack dab in the middle of Belle's spacious bedroom. While the king-sized bed was on a raised dais, the tub took up so much real estate that the tiles surrounding it cut right into the cream-colored carpet that must have been a nightmare to keep clean and mold-free. Then again, Belle pays someone to keep this up to snuff. Already, water splashed against the carpet as Shelby slipped into the tub, a glass of champagne sloshing above her head.

"Oh, my God." Shelby's over-the-top moan sank with her into the jetted tub. Her glass of champagne hovered over the edge until it was placed precariously on a tile. "You didn't tell me that you got new jets put in! I swear this one is right on my lumbar!"

"It's a sweet surprise." Belle swept past her other guests. Everyone but Kelly paid her some attention. "Anyone who wants in is welcome! Clothing optional! You guys know the rules." She stopped before Eva and Nadia. "Maybe everyone. No hanky-panky unless everyone's in on it, you two. Same with touching without permission. Leering's fine, though. We're a bunch of pervs in the end, after all."

Nadia was speechless, but not surprised. Eva, on the other hand, took a step toward Belle and said in her lowest voice, "Some of us bigger pervs than others, right, Belle?"

A coy look was all Eva received in return. Caitlyn had set the standard behind her when she pulled off her golden sarong and freed her chest from the bikini top that had been pulling against her neck for the past two hours.

"Showing them off then, love?" Jane called from the window, where she sat with Rebecca. "For the whole bloody room to enjoy?"

Caitlyn shrugged before stepping into the hot tub, topless as she occasionally was during wild nights at the club. "She said clothing optional."

"At least keep your knickers on. Some things are sacred."

Caitlyn stood in the middle of the tub. Shelby wasn't only leering at Caitlyn's breasts – she was openly agog as if comparing her flat chest to what jiggled before her whenever Caitlyn slightly moved. "Like you wouldn't be as bare as a baby if it were you! What are you waiting for, anyway? A formal invitation written on parchment?"

"Delivered by Royal Mail, if you would."

With a flip of her hair, Caitlyn settled into one of the seats, her chest soon submerged beneath bubbly water. Eva bent down toward Nadia's ear and asked, "Wanna get in? There are two seats left now that our gracious hostess is settling in."

Nadia hated to admit that a hot tub sounded great. However, she wasn't sure she wanted to remove her shirt and sarong, and she definitely wasn't comfortable being surrounded by naked women, even if some of them were strong acquaintances or friends. I can't help it. I get anxiously prudish at times. Especially if Eva was in the room. Especially if around any of Eva's ex-girlfriends!

Because much like Shelby couldn't stop staring at Caitlyn's double-ds, Nadia couldn't help but compare herself to everyone her wife had ever dated. She says she thinks I'm hot, but so many of her exes are way thinner than me. Thinner, cuter, and more outgoing. Like Belle Cherise, who Nadia swore winked at her when she was about to get in the tub.

"Water looks fine," Eva said.

"You get in if you want." Nadia sipped the champagne that had been brought to her when she walked into the room. It wasn't her favorite drink, but she had to do something with her mouth. "Think I'll wait."

Eva's hand traced the line of tiny moles leading from Nadia's knee to her inner thigh. "All right." She snatched her hand away. "You know you're obligated to have fun, right? We're in Hawaii. You're not allowed to sit over here staring out the window."

"Maybe that's my idea of having fun."

"I know you too well. Believe it or not, you like to be in the thick of things."

Nadia almost laughed so loudly that her voice overpowered the hot tub jets. "Says who? You? I hate being the center of attention."

"I never said you liked being the center of attention. I said you like being in the thick of things. There's a difference."

"I still think you're full of it."

"Come on." Eva nudged her wife. "You're not as introverted as you pretend to be."

"You know I think that whole thing is a bunch of BS, too."

"Says the woman who gives me a hard time for wanting to be around other people."

"Not because I think you're some exhausting extrovert. Come on, give me some credit, huh? I give you a hard time because you like being the center of attention."

"Yes, yes, we have a common goal for opposing reasons. I like it when people talk to me. You like observing other people. How many times have you benefited from me throwing myself into the middle of a room and giving you endless entertainment to feast off for a whole week?"

"You're nuts."

"I think you want to get in that hot tub." Eva's lips were close enough to kiss Nadia's ear. "With my ex-girlfriend and her buddies."

"Therrre it is."

"What?"

"At least you're not dancing around the fact that your ex-girlfriend is here. Or that this is her house."

"Or that you're jealous, jealous, jealous."

"You love it." Nadia sipped her champagne. "You live for me being jealous."

"Not as much as you might think. In a perfect world, we'd all get along swimmingly. I mean, Belle's not jealous of you. She moved on quite well after me like I moved on from that month-long whirlwind romance that happened long, long ago."

"You're not helping."

"I'm doing great, Nads."

Nadia stared into the fizzy liquid that danced in her flute. "What's your game here, Eva? You're up to something."

"Is that the jealousy talking?"

"Calm the jealousy talk."

Eva grinned. "I'm not up to any games, babe. I simply think you'd have a great time if you let loose in the hot tub. Take this off…" She flicked Nadia's shirt. "And this." She tugged on the sarong. "You can keep the bikini on, but I wouldn't be mad if you were topless. I'd love it."

"Because you want to show me off."

"Because I love any good excuse to stare at your naked body. I don't care how many other people are doing it with me."

Nadia rolled her eyes but couldn't prevent the smile from teasing the corners of her mouth. Not even when she hid her bubbling smile behind her champagne glass. "You think I'd add something to that babe soup, huh?"

"Babe soup? Shit, Nads, you said it, not me."

"I walked right into that one, yes." Nadia stared out the window before her, beguiled by the lights twinkling on the Pacific horizon. Somewhere beyond that horizon is a whole different world. It wasn't the same to think about this now as back home, where the Atlantic wasn't too far away. Every time Nadia was somewhere new, she thought about that place's neighbors – the states, countries, and untamed wilds that changed with the seasons or always stayed a tropical paradise, like Hawaii.

What was beyond that horizon? New Zealand? Indonesia? Antarctica? I need a map to figure it out. No matter where, she was sure that Eva could get into trouble there.

Nadia would have sighed to think about it, but wasn't that one of the reasons she married the woman who loved to see her naked?

"I think I'm too shy," Nadia finally admitted. "You know I've gained weight since we got married."

"Literally nobody cares," Eva muttered back.

"I care."

She had Eva there, not that Nadia enjoyed it. "I wish I wasn't so down on myself lately, but I think this bikini culture is killing me a bit. At least back home I can wear pretty sweaters at this time of year."

"Your sweater collection is legendary, this is true."

"Eva…"

"Look." Eva's arm draped across Nadia's lap, fingers tapping against her wife's champagne glass while their lips were damnably close enough to kiss. "You know I think you're the hottest woman to ever get undressed in front of me. That hasn't changed since the moment I fell in love with you. I fuckin' love curvy girls."

"You also love thin girls."

"I fuckin' love girls."

Nadia laughed to hear that exasperated tone in her wife's voice. "You love having my bodacious thighs crushing your face when you go down on me."

"Ugh." While voices raised in humor, Eva's face crashed into Nadia's lap. "Yes."

"Plus, you love it when my hormones make it so my boobs are so big, they can't be contained in any bra you buy me."

Eva's head lifted. "I still don't see the problem with that. You're the one who wants to look ‘professional' for work. I say, let the ladies bounce free. You've got the areolas of a porn star, hon."

"You think that's a compliment, huh?"

"Honey, I've dated actual porn stars. Trust me when I say that not only is it true, but it is a compliment coming from me."

"So, I haven't dated ‘actual' porn stars. Before you, it was mostly women like me, and some guys we don't talk about."

"Did any of them make you feel as sexy as I can?"

"Isn't that part of the problem? I don't feel sexy at all."

"Which is why you should show off some of the goods."

"How is that going to help? I think it would make me even more self-conscious."

"Because I don't think I can claim to have known you for the past six or seven years without knowing you." Eva was mildly distracted by water splashing out of the hot tub. By now, Kelly had finally joined, topless. Ugh. Nadia had to look away. She's perfect.

Eva picked up on her wife's reaction.

"You like some outside validation. You've already locked me in." Eva's knuckles grazed against Nadia's thigh but did not proceed forward. "I mean it. Because no matter what happens to you, I think you're fucking gorgeous. Besides, physical attraction is only, what? Half of what goes into me wanting you? I love that you don't take my shit or throw it right back in my face. You've never been afraid to be your real self around me. You're grounded, but also have hopes and dreams. You're one of the sweetest women I've ever dated, let alone married."

"I'm the only woman you've married."

"You made it that far, huh? Because I'm not divorcing you. This shit's for life."

"I catch you looking at other women."

"I'm married, not blind. Besides, you check out other women, too. I saw you staring at Caitlyn's rack."

"It's a nice rack."

"Babe, it's a great rack. Woman has beauty queen crowns for a reason."

Nadia gestured to her own chest. "You think I can compete?"

"I know you can. I bet if you get in that hot tub in nothing but your sexy bikini, Shelby Parker will be ogling you, too. I've known that girl for one hour and she loves herself some curvy goddesses. That's the look of a woman who wants to drown in the cleavage of both ends."

"I can't say she's my type."

"I don't think that's the point. It's about getting attention. I know you like attention in the right circumstance. Why else do you sometimes go to the club with me while wearing those sexy dresses? You like showing off your goods."

Nadia sighed. "It's been an age since I did that."

Eva's mouth nibbled at the back of her wife's neck. "No time like the present," she muttered against Nadia's skin.

After another moment's consideration, Nadia forced herself forward, feet balancing against the carpet. "Fine." She handed Eva the glass of champagne. "Here I go."

"Wait, really?"

Nadia had to do it before she lost the nerve. For while Eva always knew how to gas her up for a few seconds, those seconds inevitably ended, and Nadia was back to living in her head. Yet while she bypassed Jane and Rebecca sitting by another window and approached the hot tub with its other women, both half-naked and clad in two-piece bikinis, Nadia drank in a deep breath for courage and carefully avoided her reflection in a large mirror when she stood by the only seat left in the star-shaped tub.

"Room for one more?" she asked everyone, although her attention was on the hostess in her bubblegum pink bikini.

Belle Cherise folded her arms over the edge of the tub, gazing up at Nadia while the jets rippled around her. "We can make as much room as we need for you, Mrs. Warren."

Nadia's hand fell on her hip, thumb pushing up her shirt and shoving down her shorts. "I go by Gaines, personally." She briefly acknowledged Caitlyn, who glanced at her partners by the window before giving Nadia her focus. "Seems that I only know a couple of people in this tub." Before Nadia lost all nerve, she pulled down her shorts and kicked them behind her. Her shirt was baggy enough that it covered her pelvis, yet she knew that Shelby already stared at her and Kelly pretended to be enamored with her nails. "I'm looking forward to meeting the rest of you."

Caitlyn offered a smile. "You know me. I can assure you the water's quite fine."

Nadia's shirt ascended her head. Every eye in the room was on her as she stepped into the hot tub, acclimating to the intense heat one inch of her body a second. It was enough time for people to get an eyeful of what that blue bikini did for her frame. I feel like I'm about to burst out of my swimsuit. That sensation intensified as the water made the material suck to her skin.

But she wasn't allowed to care anymore. Nadia was in the hot tub, clad in nothing but a sexy bikini her wife had bought her earlier that week.

When in Hawaii…

Perhaps she should have been concerned about how easy it was to acclimatize to the water, but by the time Nadia pulled her hair up into a loose bun to keep it from getting too wet, she had already lost track of Eva. That's what should concern me more. Yet the water was fine, and Nadia's muscles relaxed. Conversation drifted into her ears. She was offered another glass of champagne, which she turned down. Shelby asked her where she got her "fantastic bikini" and Nadia was inclined to talk about the shopping experience. Within minutes, she was one of the girls.

As usual, she was not concerned about the right things.