Page 57 of Sun, Sea and Spotted Squid

Poor Ruben. That must have been hard.

“And now we find ourselves here.”

“And I have a deal of my own,” he replied, wiping his eyes with his cuff.

“Do tell.”

“If you say that you cannot forgive me and want me to go, then I shall. On the next flight. And you never have to see me again.”

Sam sank onto his pillows. He hadn’t expected the conversation to be this intense. His instant reaction was to sling him out on his ear. Yet something in his heart reached out to this desperate soul at the end of the bed. His blue eyes pleading.

“You play for high stakes, Wolfie.”

“I am that desperate, I will even let you call me that. I love you, Sam. Really truly, love you.”

Sam loved him too. He knew it in every pore of his being.

Wolfgang stood and zipped up his hoodie. “I’ll leave you now. Think about it. You only have to say and I will go.”

TWENTY-ONE

Six months later

Sam blew the horn in the bumper-to-bumper traffic. The minibus filled with eager twenty-somethings.

“Have you seen a shark?” one shouted.

“I’ve seen loads,” Sam replied. “Great whites too.”

A ripple of whispers ran through the back.

“Will we get to see one?”

“Of course. What do you think we use as bait?”

He turned onto the road that would take them down to Good Hope.

“Where is everyone from?” he shouted through.

“I’m from Norway,” a handsome young man behind him said.

“Brazil.”

“Figures,” said the Norwegian. “Everyone is drop-dead gorgeous in Brazil.”

Sam watched in the mirror as the Brazilian student grinned. A red flush on his face. It felt so familiar.

It was his job to get them all settled in their bungalows. The flirtation between the two from the minibus was outrageous. Sam suspected they’d have a spare bungalow soon.

The drive had worn him out and every part of him was covered in dust. Now his charges were firmly ensconced in their digs, he had one mission on his mind.

When he got into his bungalow, Sam threw his clothes off and dove into the shower. The water instantly refreshing him as he washed the day down the plughole. He smiled when lips kissed the back of his neck.

“Are you a burglar?”

“Absolutely. I’m here to steal your heart.”

Sam shook his head. “That is way too cheesy. Even for you.”