Page 47 of Dirty Daria

“I know, but I forget about it all the time. Then when you remind me, it’s like I’m learning about it all over again.”

I chuckle. Quinn comes across as simple, and maybe in a lot of ways she is. But she’s also really smart in ways most other people aren’t. Like with human nature and problem solving. She has a way of breaking things down into the smallest parts, making them easy to understand and, if necessary, fix. I admire that about her.

She leans back with a happy sigh, causing the hammock to rock slightly. “If I forget to tell you later, Dar, thank you for the best vacation I’ve ever had.”

I laugh. “We haven’t even been here a day. How would you know it’s the best?”

“I can just tell,” she says.

My phone chirps with a new text.

MACK: Feel like company?

ME: I have company.

MACK: Who?

ME: Quinn is here with me.

MACK: Not funny, beautiful.

ME: Why, you need a reason to feel jealous?

MACK: I thought you said it was just you and Quinn?

ME: Of our room, dork. It’s bound to be MUCH nicer than yours.

MACK: Oh. Yes. I do need a reason to be jealous.

ME: Haha

MACK: And to see you.

ME: Everything okay?

MACK: Just miss your face.

ME: You just saw my face for twenty hours on the plane.

MACK: What can I say? It’s a nice face.

I grin to myself.

Quinn bumps me with her shoulder. “What’s that look for?”

“Mack and Reed are going to stop by to see our room. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” She smiles big and swings her legs back and forth under the hammock like a little girl.

ME: Villa 27. See you soon.

23

Mack

Lucky for us, the hotel has an “economy” room left when we check in. And we have to share. Unlike on TV, we don’t have someone who handles all our travel plans for us while we’re whisked away on a private FBI jet. We travel commercial, make our own reservations, pay for it all ourselves, and submit for reimbursement later. But in a resort like this, even an economy room is nicer than most places I’ve ever stayed in.

I know that Daria got herself and Quinn a villa over the water, and Quinn was beyond excited about it when she found out. For whatever reason, David and his wife are staying in the main hotel, in a penthouse. Which works out well since no way could Reed and I have expensed a private villa to be closer to him. We’ll be lucky to get fully reimbursed for this room as it is.