Lo says nothing.
When she takes a bite, her eyes flutter closed and she lets out an audible moan. “Oh my God,” she mumbles, chewing.
Ryke wears a satisfied grin, like he won the best prize, seeing her happy （or making an orgasmic noise, I have no idea）。 Sauce leaks onto her chin, but her head is tilted back, too absorbed in food bliss to notice. He uses his thumb to wipe the sauce right below her lip.
“Good, right?”
She swallows. “The best.”
Okay, maybe I’m the only one processing the event in a phallic way. Ryke and Daisy act completely innocent about the entire ordeal. Maybe they don’t even realize how sexual it all was. （At least it wasn’t a hot dog.）
“Here.” He holds out the rest of the taco.
Surprisingly, Daisy accepts the food, taking the foil from his hands. “Thanks,” she says in genuine appreciation. And then she swims off towards Connor and Rose.
Lo opens his mouth, and I wonder if he’s about to chastise Ryke. But how can he when Daisy ate something healthy for once? That has to be a win, right? Before Lo says a thing, Melissa returns and we all go quiet. Well, technically Lo and I were already quiet, but the air stretches in an uncomfortable way.
Melissa sits beside Ryke on the cement, and she leans a shoulder into him. He wraps his arm around her.
“The maids are done with our room,” she tells him, practically batting her eyelashes.
That’s where she went—to check on the status of our room? If I’m not allowed to have sex there, then why can she? I look to Lo for answers, but his gaze has permanently fixed on Ryke.
“I already talked to you about it,” Ryke says evenly.
“Yeah, but the public bathrooms are so gross.” She looks up at Lo and me. “You guys don’t care if we fool around for a couple minutes back in the room, right? We’ll stick to the cot.”
“Daisy is sleeping on the cot tonight,” I remind her. Daisy offered to sleep on the floor, not wanting to ruin our arrangements with her impromptu arrival, but Ryke refused to let her crash on the ground. He was nice enough to take the worst spot.
“Then we’ll use the couch,” she says with a shrug. “You two are free to go back and have fun whenever. Really, it doesn’t bother me.” Hope surges through me. This is my opportunity to have sex later this week. Just when I’m about to tell her to frolic right on over to the room, Ryke has to speak.
“It bothers Rose and Connor.”
Her face falls. “Oh.”
An awkward silence soaks the air, and Daisy swims over to cut it right up. “Rose and Connor are fighting,” she exclaims. She lifts her body out of the pool and sits on the chair next to me. “It’s kind of scary. I don’t understand half the words coming out of their mouths.” Her hair looks almost brown now that it’s wet. She wrings it out in her hands.
I glance at the pool-side bar. Sure enough, Rose and Connor square off, their mouths moving in such rapid succession that they look as if they’re on a debate team. People surrounding them watch in amusement and even awe.
“Anyone want a refill?” Melissa asks. She stands and waves her empty cup.
“I could take a daiquiri,” Daisy says.
“Virgin, right?”
Daisy doesn’t even blink. “No, I’m drinking rum.”
“I don’t really condone underage drinking. You’re what, seventeen?”
“Sixteen,” she says, still unaffected by Melissa’s edgy words. “In some countries, I’m old enough to be married and sold into prostitution, so hey, I think a couple of drinks won’t necessarily kill me.”
“Well life is different here. We’re in America.”
“We’re in Mexico, actually.”
Melissa’s throat bobs, but she tries to brush off her snafu with a shrug. “Yeah, whatever.”
Ryke hardly suppresses his grin, and when he meets Daisy’s gaze, she gives him a look like you’re going to get in trouble.
Ryke does not care what anyone thinks of him, even his somewhat-girlfriend.
Melissa sets a hand on her hip. “Want anything, babe?” she asks Ryke with a little force.
He doesn’t drink. We all know that, and so her power move is completely obvious.
“No, I’m good,” he says. When she struts off in her black bikini, Daisy tilts her head, watching Melissa’s butt bounce all the way to the tiki hut. “She does have a nice ass.”
“Yeah?” Ryke says casually, eyeing Daisy as she observes Melissa.