Page 4

What He Is

T

he cave grew darker, back to its normal state, with each set of lights that departed. They vanished in groups, disappearing beneath the water’s surface, carried away from the secretive cave by the bodies they were attached to. Each time it occurred, the shadows along the walls and ceiling reclaimed ground, eager to retake the cave in its entirety.

With the penultimate set of tourists departing with the group’s guide, Liam and four others were all that remained. The water stirred as they disturbed it, preparing for their departure in the next few minutes. The sound of these shifts in the cool water, a clearing of the throat, and conversation echoed throughout the small cave. Soon, they would also come to an end, allowing the cave to slide back into darkness and silence in the same breath.

“The plan’s still to go swimming at one of the nearer coral reefs after lunch?” Tess asked.

“That’s right,” Avril said, floating on her back, the light attached to her forehead illuminating part of the domed ceiling twenty-five feet above them. “There’s another resort just a short boat ride south of us, so we can swing by there, get some lunch, then go bask in the ocean with the fish.”

“When should we get back to our resort?”

“Early enough for your important dinner date,” Avril said, lifting an arm from the water and waving it flippantly.

Victoria and Anna both glanced at Tess, possibly unaware of Liam and Tess's plans for tonight. A moment later, at least one of them confirmed it.

“Dinner date, Tess?” the second professor in their group asked.

Tess didn’t appear concerned as she answered. “Liam and I have made plans, like he and Avril did yesterday.”

“Don’t undersell it,” Avril said, grinning in her maverick way. “I just got wined and dined at the resort restaurant. You two are going all out tonight. Dressed to the nines, alone on some romantic beach, candlelight flickering across the faces of two star-crossed lovers. Greedy, greedy, greedy.”

Tess eyed Avril in the way a pirate captain eyed the crewmate they were about to toss overboard. “Don’t misrepresent things. You’ve made plans for the same dinner, just at the end of the trip.”

“So I have,” Avril said, still grinning.

“What dinner is this?” Anna asked, looking between the two women.

“The resort I picked for us is super popular for honeymooning couples,” Avril said, finally straightening out and beginning to tread water. “They’ve got a bunch of secluded beaches—Lovers’ Beach, Champagne Beach, so on and so forth—that a lovey-dovey couple can set up a private picnic date on. Lunchtime, dinnertime, anything in between. That’s what we’re talking about. You didn’t know?”

“No,” Anna said, scowling at her best friend. That made two votes to toss her overboard. “I wish you had told me about it sooner.”

“Why’s that?” Avril asked in a leading manner.

Anna blushed and kept scowling.

“Don’t just blame her,” Victoria said. “There was someone else who could have shared this information with us.”

A pair of icy blue eyes swept toward Liam, who hadn’t been expecting to find himself thrust into the conversation. He opened his mouth, then let it hang open for a second.

“Me?” he eventually said.

“Did you just find out about these romantic dinners today?”

“Erm, no.”

“Then yes, you.”

Liam rubbed at the strap of his goggles, aware of the shift in the room's many lovely sets of eyes. Toward him. Neither Avril nor Tess came to his rescue, which seemed a little unfair.

“I guess you’re right,” he ultimately said. “Sorry for not, uh, bringing up the possibility to… you two?”

There was something astonishing about saying what he said, which was why he ended up making it more of a question than a statement. It was the magnitude of it all, he soon realized. Anna and Victoria were mildly annoyed with him, all because he hadn’t asked if they wanted to dine on a romantic beach with him before the trip ended. That was entirely what it was. They didn’t want to be left out. All four women wanted that experience. With him. This week.

I’m the luckiest fucking guy alive, Liam thought, which wasn’t really a new thought, but it hit him harder than usual.

“Now, to be fair to Liam,” Avril said, always there to stir things up further, “what is Victoria Moreno’s official stance on her relationship with this young stud? Because it was news to me that you had the hots for him, and I’ve usually got my finger on the pulse of sordid romance. Anna, Tess, and I have all been rooming together, so we’ve had time to gossip away each night. But you’re all alone with Liam during those times, so we haven’t yet gotten the chance to prod you about what’s going on between you two. Officially going on between you two.”

Just like that, multiple sets of curious eyes swung back to the bustiest woman in the caves.

Rather than becoming flustered like he had, Victoria remained cool and collected. She met the eyes of each curious woman in the room. Lastly, she looked at him. Certainly, Liam felt just as much curiosity about how she would answer as the others. His interest in how Victoria would label their relationship had him holding his breath, hoping for the best.

“The same as is going on with all of you, obviously,” Victoria said, speaking these words directly to him, then addressing the others. “I felt like that was obvious, given that I’ve been acting just as shameless as the rest of you since we arrived here.”

It had felt obvious, especially since this morning, yet Liam still felt his heart skip a beat. Nothing short of absolute joy took hold of him. It nearly left him trembling with excitement.

Avril grinned broadly. “Well, it never hurts to have things clarified. It could have been another weird relationship like he and Anna had there for a while.”

Anna frowned and pushed water toward her best friend. “Our relationship was never weird.”

“Totally was.”

“ Yours was probably weirder,” the dark-haired woman huffed. “You always have weird relationships.”

“Not this time,” Avril said. “Comparatively, at least. We’re all in the same boat, riding the same dick, loving every second of it.”

“Avril,” Tess sighed.

The redhead grinned.

With the time left before their guide arrived to escort them back to the primary cave, Liam turned toward Victoria, feeling almost overwhelmed. Now, he had four. Four lovers, four reasons to wake up every morning with a smile on his face, four women who were all aware and happy for things to continue progressing forward.