They both laughed, making me smile at the two of them. I enjoyed the way they talked to each other. They gave each other a hard time, but also in a way that they knew it was done out of love.
“So, you’re an author?”
“Not really,” Stella said at the same time as Pen gave a resounding yes. “It’s my first book.”
“She’s always written, though. Since she was a little girl.”
“This will be my first time publishing.”
“I convinced her to send the first five chapters of something she’d been writing for years to a few publishers.”
“She’s not telling you the truth.” Stella narrowed her eyes at her friend. “Pen here went and sent them herself without my knowledge.”
“Only because I know how good her writing is and knew she’d never send it on her own,” Pen shot back with a smug look on her face. “They loved it and gave her a big advance. Now she only needs to finish writing it.”
A sense of pride filled me for Stella. Getting published wasn’t easy. “What’s the book about?”
Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Stella answered with a slight duck of her head and not meeting my eyes. “About a wife who starts to suspect her husband of the murders happening in their small town.”
Wait. Was her ex a murderer?
Both Stella and Pen started laughing hysterically. Pen was doubled over while Stella practically laid the top half of her body on the table as she cackled.
After a minute of them losing it, Stella straightened herself up and cleared her throat. “Brock, my ex, isn’t a killer. He may be a total douche and asshole, but not that. He is the inspiration, and some of what he’s done to me has been translated into the book. It’s been cathartic. A way for me to deal with what he’s put me through.”
“And there was a serial killer in our town. It gave her the idea to combine the two. She’s an amazing writer, and I can’t wait for the world to finally be able to read her words.”
Stella’s pinked up before she covered her face with her hands. “You only say that because we’ve been friends since middle school.”
“I say it because it’s true. Once you’re away from that asshole always putting you down, you’ll start to believe in yourself once again. You’ll be the girl who you were before you married him.”
“I’ll never be her.” Stella’s eyes turned glassy. “At best, I’ll be a combination of the two with my younger self winning more often than not.”
“Oh, Stell,” Pen’s chin trembled, “I’ll take you any way you come. You know that, right?”
Stella nodded shakily as one lone tear escaped.
“Buenos días señoritas, señor,” the waiter tips his head. “What may I get for you today?”
Their emotional confession was interrupted by our waiter. I, for one, was happy to have it come to an end. I’d never been able to deal with women’s tears. They were my downfall.
We all ordered and then sat quietly staring off in different directions until our food came. I couldn’t help but glance at Stella every few minutes. I wanted to get my fill of her before she was gone and out of my life.
Our silence was broken when Stella let out a sinful moan as she took a bite of her croissant.
“Oh my god, you sound like you’re having sex with your food,” Pen laughed but then let out a moan of her own. “Damn, these are almost as good as sex. I’d request these be brought on the boat if I wanted to gain twenty pounds.” Her eyes landed on me. “Thank you for bringing us here. It’s perfect.”
“I agree,” Stella leaned against my side with a serene smile on her lips. “Thank you,” she murmured before she kissed my cheek.
“It’s my pleasure, ladies.” Reaching under the table, I held Stella’s hand in mine. “It really is. It’s not often I get to be surrounded by two beautiful women making those kinds of noises.”
Penelope’s eyes narrowed on me, letting me know I’d said something wrong. “Oh, do you often hear those noises by multiple women at a time?”
“What?” I laughed at the awkward way our day had turned. “No, it’s not like that. I chose my words wrong. I was merely stating how I was enjoying spending my time with you and—”
“The enjoyment of our noises. Yeah, we got that. Watch out for him,” Pen interrupted and nodded at me. “He may be young, but he’s got experience.”
Stella bit her lip with a smirk on her face.
There was no way in hell I was going to admit to a threesome. Stella would probably run for the hills or think I wanted to include her friend when there was no way in hell I would share her with another.
My walkie-talkie beeped, letting me know someone was trying to get in touch with me. “Remy, Remy, Scout. The women are ready to head back to the boat.” Each word was said with a bite. What the hell had happened?
“Scout, Remy here. We’re finishing up our lunch and can meet you in twenty,” I replied back.
“No need since we’re docked. Enjoy your time on the island.”
I heard the implication that wouldn’t be the case on the boat. I wished I had an international plan. Instead, I used the boat’s Wi-Fi and an app when I needed to contact anyone, but if I wanted to message Scout, I’d need to find somewhere with Wi-Fi.
“Sounds like it was smart of us to break apart. Do you think Zelda and Reagan got into a fight?” Pen’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“It wouldn’t surprise me. Reagan has been a bitch the entire trip, and I’m just glad it wasn’t me this time. If we don’t have to go back, I say we enjoy ourselves. I doubt we’ll ever be on this beautiful island again.”
My chest felt heavy with the thought that I wouldn’t see Stella walk along these streets again.
“Yes, let’s enjoy our orgasmic food and the company of our young escort.” She could barely say the words without a smile splitting her lips.
“Why don’t you stop reminding me how young he is. I’d ask, but I don’t want to know. I like being blissfully ignorant in this instance.”
“I’m not that young.” She made it sound like I was barely legal, or I was a secret to keep.
“I know.” She tightened her grip on my hand. “We’re just having fun at your expense, and that’s not kind of us. I’m sorry. It’s been a long time since we could do this.”
Her words put me at ease—a little. Still, I had a feeling she felt it was wrong to be with me for some reason. Was it some residual effect her ex had on her?
“I don’t mind,” I lied to make her feel better. They weren’t trying to hurt me in any way, and I understood that. Still, it hurt, feeling like she was ashamed of me. I already had enough people ashamed of me for the actions of my life. I couldn’t imagine what Stella would think if she knew about my time in the military.
“We’re being mean and shouldn’t take it out on you. Sorry,” Pen gave me a half smile, half frown. “Where should we go after lunch?”
“Let me think,” I hummed. “The Catedral de Mallorca is a must. If we had time, I’d take you to all the little towns around here, but we’d need either scooters or a car to get to most of them. You need to come back so I can show you more.”