I grabbed my toothbrush and my clothes out of my bag. Nique didn't move; she just sat there on the edge of the bed staring at me like she was trying to solve a puzzle. As I started brushing my teeth, I caught her reflection in the mirror. “Go shower, Nique.”
“I thought we were showering together,” she said.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I told her around a mouthful of foam. “But you still ain’t getting no dick.”
She rolled her eyes so hard I thought they’d get stuck, and I just laughed. Deep down, I wanted to dick her down properly. I wanted to pin her against that shower wall and remind her exactly who I was. But our situation since Jamaica had been a cycle: fuck, argue, and don’t speak for years. Miami was the same thing: fuck, argue, and don’t speak for years.
I was tired of the cycle. I needed more. I needed forever, and I was done letting the sex be meaningless. If I was going to give it to her this time, it was going to be because she was mine, not just because she was horny in Mexico.
The air was thick with the scent of her coconut wash and the damp earth of the villa's private garden. Nique stood under therainfall showerhead, her back to me, looking out at the greenery like she was suddenly fascinated by a palm branch. She was giving me the silent treatment.
I didn’t say anything at first. I just reached for the net sponge, lathered it up, and started on her shoulders, working my way down her spine, massaging the tension out until I felt her finally start to release it. Her shoulders dropped. Her head fell forward. The water moved over us both and disappeared into the stones at our feet.
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” I said, keeping my hands moving and my voice steady. “It’s that every time we let it happen, we end up not speaking for years afterward. I’m tired of that being the pattern. Even if we never get to everything I want for us, I miss my friend. I need you to forgive me enough to at least give me that back. Sex has been complicating things between us for too long.”
I rinsed the suds away slowly, my hands lingering on her wet skin.
“I need whatever we are when we get back to Mobile to last longer than the flight home.”
Nique was quiet for a long time. Just the water and the sound of the jungle around us. Then she let out a long shaky breath and leaned her head back against my shoulder.
“I miss my friend too, Dex,” she said, her voice barely above the sound of the water. “But you are a real asshole for making me be mature when I’m this damn horny.”
I laughed into her wet hair and kissed the top of her head. “I know. Now move over so we can get to these cenotes before London sends a search party.”
Moments later, I was sitting there, just waiting on her to finish getting dressed. I watched as she slipped into a leopard one-piece swimsuit that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.She twisted around, showing me a view that made my pulse jump, and asked me to tie the back.
“Man, all your ass out?” I fussed, the words coming out more like a growl than I intended.
“It’s a thong,” she said, looking at me like I was the slow one.
“Don’t play with me, Nique. You already had me ready to knock Eli’s homeboy out yesterday. Don’t make me go to jail in Tulum.”
“Boy, just tie me up. I got shorts to put over it,” she said, rolling her eyes.
I reluctantly tied the strings, my fingers brushing against her warm skin. “Where the shorts at?”
“In my bag,” she huffed, reaching for her things.
“Put them on, and you better not take them off.”
“Yes, daddy,” she purred, throwing a look over her shoulder that was pure sin. I couldn't help it. I smacked her ass, the sound echoing in the villa. I was seriously starting to rethink this no-sex plan.
She looked at me, a playful but sharp glint in her eyes. “You know, if we’re going to be friends, you can’t be jealous when other men flirt with me.”
“Girl, put the shorts on and move your ass before your cousin—”
I was interrupted by a heavy knock at the door. Nique wiggled into her shorts real quick before heading over to answer it.
“Girl, come on before you—” Nel stopped short the second he walked in and saw me sitting there. He looked at me, then at Nique, and a massive grin spread across his face. “I want a niece.”
“Boy, what you came here to say?” Nique asked, completely ignoring his comment.
“London told me to see if you were still coming,” Nel said, still smirking.
“Yeah, just let me grab my beach bag.”
“Umm-hmm. Be sure to grab a Plan B, too,” he teased her.