Page 50 of Sixty Meters Under

About half an hour had passed, and Ryosuke noticed another resident entering the bar. His breath caught in his throat and his heartbeat quickened when he realized who it was.

Ryosuke couldn’t take his eyes off him, and followed the man’s every step as he walked across the bar. The guy wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up around his muscular forearms revealing tattoos Ryosuke couldn’t identify. The strands of his blond hair fell around his collar, the top buttons left undone. He stopped next to the bar, joining a group of young people.

Ryosuke’s eyes lingered for a little while on the man’s figure; Lennart sat with his back to him, two tables away. Ryosuke bit the inside of his cheek and abruptly averted his gaze. He wanted to take another sip of his drink but noticed, with disappointment, that his glass was empty again.

Chapter 15

Across the room, secret lovers exchanged glances. Scarlett sat at the table with her husband, Björn with his girlfriend on the other side of the bar.

Maya was in a sour mood after Scarlett greeted Björn, and she couldn’t keep quiet about it any longer. “Is thatthe onethat makes you come back late from work?” she asked and glared in Scarlett’s direction.

“What?” Björn shot her a glance, taken aback by her correct conclusion.

“The way she greeted you earlier…” Maya narrowed her eyes at the red-haired woman then looked back at him.

“No! I told you already why I’m late sometimes,” Björn retorted, annoyed, his mood ruined in an instant.

Maya gave him a skeptical look. “Do you expect me to trust you blindly?”

Björn frowned. “What’s with you all of a sudden?”

“It’s not all of a sudden. You act weird around me and you’re not as interested as you were before we got here.”

Björn sighed, exasperated. “Look, Maya,” he tried in a calm manner. “This whole situation is really hard for me to process. Ihave a problem getting used to this… lifestyle and I didn’t want to bother you with that.”

“I thought we were in this together. As a couple.” Maya crossed her arms. “You shouldn’t bottle everything up. You should tell me what’s bothering you.”

“It’s not that easy. Scar–Maya–” Björn tensed when he realized his mistake, but it was already too late.

Maya narrowed her eyes. “It seems you were able to share everything with her!”

“No. That’s not wha–”

Maya slammed her hand on the table. A couple of residents turned in their direction, but Maya proceeded, “You were about to say her name, weren’t you?”

Björn leaned over and hissed through gritted teeth, “If you’re going to yell at me, you better go back to the room.”

“So that you have the opportunity tofuckher, huh?”

He looked at her with false disgust. “Excuse me?”

“You think I’m stupid, don’t you?”

They glared at each other like that until Björn’s colleague approached their table, visibly oblivious to the tension. “Hey, guys! How’s it going?”

The couple broke eye contact. Björn grabbed his glass and took a long sip. Maya quickly looked elsewhere, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “We’re fine. You?”

“I’m happy! I miss going out to parties, but this is great!” A young man said excitedly, still unaware of the heavy atmosphere between the two.

“Yeah, me too.” Maya pressed the glass to her lips and took a long sip of her cocktail. She dropped the glass back on the table and got up.

“Where are you going?” Björn called after her.

“That’s none of your business.” She gave him a dirty look and disappeared into the crowd.

?

Ryosuke took a sip of his drink and watched Lennart talk to a guy who sat next to him.Wait, isn’t that Liam? They know each other?Ryosuke wondered as he continued to look at Lennart’s profile. He and Liam laughed at something, and Lennart took a sip from his beer bottle. He then looked across the bar and locked eyes with Ryosuke’s. Ryosuke tensed and looked away, but he held his gaze long enough that it made his face flush. He looked again, to make sure Lennart wasn’t staring in his direction anymore, when he saw a hand in front of his face.