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Buzz buzz.

Or just as soon as I talk to Camila.

Mila

Listen, I’m not trying to be needy, but you’re in another country and I haven’t heard from you since you landed. You gotta give me something.

Taylor

YCBNWMA

Mila

Your cake bounces N’ wriggles, Mila. (silent A)

Taylor

You can be needy with me always.

Is there such a thing as a silent A?

I don’t bother to wait for her response before hitting the FaceTime button. Her glowing, bronzed, goddess-like face fills my screen in less than half a ring. She smiles, waving a silent hand and holding up her index finger. She moves like a creature of the night, sneaking out of her bed, and I spot her bare-chested husband sleeping behind her.

“Okay, sorry. Hi!” she beams, dropping onto the couch.

“Good morning, I assume. Is it morning there?”

“A little after seven.” She waves her hand in front of her face like this isn’t important. “So, tell me everything!”

“There’s not much to say. I slept the entire first day, and?—”

“The whole day?” she interrupts.

“The. Whole. Day,” I emphasize. “I woke up last night, starving?—”

“Of course.”

“Right. Well, apparently I should have checked the town’s bedtime when deciding where to travel because everything was closed.” I pause at the memory of whispered words and the deep caramel eyes that flirted somewhere between heavy gazing and understanding.

“Taylor?”

“Sorry, what?”

“I said, so what did you do?”

“Oh, the hottie from the front desk.” I pause when Camila’s one-hundred-and-twenty-pound St. Bernard pops up next to her. “Flaco!” I call and he begins trampling over my much smaller friend.

“Okay, that’s enough. Get down. You know your dad will be mad if he sees you up here.”

“I’m sure he never notices any of those long black hairs on his couch.” But the joke doesn’t land.

“Enough aboutthose boys,” she says, her eyes lighting up. “Back it up to the Front Desk Hottie.”

“Well… he helped me get some food.”

“Which is like your love language,” she cuts me off, downright giddy.

“Okay, relax. I made myself eggs and toast and that was it. I went back to bed.”