i used to live with ghosts

"Ain't no way I'm sleepin' on the floor in my own damn family's vacation house," Kamari huffed, rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. "Besides, you know how hard this mattress is. My lower back is already acting up, and if I fuck anything up on a hardwood floor before training camp starts in a few weeks, coach will probably personally fly down here and drown me in the ocean." He reached over to the foot of the bed, grabbing a thick decorative throw blanket and yanking it up over his chest with a dramatic motion. "There. Problem solved. I got my own blanket," Kamari said, turning back toward his side of the bed and adjusting his pillow with a loud smack. A few months ago, this would've ended with him wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest until she laughed and gave up the blanket. But the fact that things were completely different now made him ache in a way he never thought possible. Kamari let out a heavy sigh, his gaze drifting towards the window where the ocean waves were crashing in the distance. "We gotta fix our story before breakfast tomorrow, by the way," he added quietly. "Aunt Keisha already asked me twice why you wasn't wearing the necklace I bought you for Christmas. I told her it was getting cleaned, but she got eyes like a hawk. If we keep actin' like we're allergic to each other, they all gonna figure it out by noon."

"It's your fault I'm here," Millie reminded him. If he had just told his family that they were broken up, they wouldn't be in this situation. Did she forget to mention it to her side of the family as well? Maybe, but they weren't trying to get him to come over for a family gathering. That was something she would have to deal with at another time. Right now? She was just trying to survive this vacation... hell, just this night was bad enough. Sighing heavily, Millie just rolled her eyes at the mention of his back. "They'd be saving a lot of money if he did that," she muttered under her breath while shifting to try and get comfortable. She already missed her bed and how much softer it was than this mattress. Usually she didn't mind because her focus was usually set on Kamari. At the mention of the necklace, Millie turned on her back. She hadn't gotten rid of it. No matter how many times she thought about throwing it away, she couldn't bring herself to do it. "It's in my bag," she spoke softly, her eyes focused on the ceiling. "You could have just told her that I forgot to put it on after my shower this morning." she brought her hand up to rub it over her face, already knowing that she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight. "What are we supposed to do? Do you want me to just hang all over you and sit on your lap at every given chance? Would it be so bad if they found out that we're no longer together?"

"I don't know, these days anyone can be famous for anything. That's not something that matters to me though. It's not why I like you," Sonny openly shares. Unlike some people he wasn't focused on growing his own fame. All that mattered is people treated him with respect and kindness. Of course it didn't hurt that Reyna was drop dead gorgeous too. The only reason he wanted to pose for photos was because his publicist asked him to make sure he got his photo taken at some point. Not to mention it meant being able to pull her close against him. When they were in the quiet of her car he relaxed against the seat turning his head to smile at her. "What a day huh," he teased. "You don't have to sit all the way over there you know." He offered with a raise of his eyebrows.

"I wouldn't go ahead and say I'm the famous one. So, what you're saying is that you currently only like me for my looks right now." Reyna joked, but also knew he didn't know anything about her except for their brief conversation before and after the show. Not that it mattered to her. She was confident in herself, and if she were him, she also probably would go off her looks alone. And that was fine with her. Once the door was closed to her car, Reyna turned her attention to Sonny, pushing some of her hair out of her face and laugh. "Still not used to all this attention?" She questioned and moved closer to him to the point where her knee was brushing against his. "Maybe I was afraid of what I would do if I happened to get too close to you back here."

"Maybe," he teases licking his lips eager to do everything he's imagined about with Luke. Slowly Nick allowed himself to move closer to him nervous about someone catching onto them. "So we're gonna have to be very sneaky in the showers yeah? Imagine the reaction from viewers. You think production would just say, Luke and Nick have left the villa for personal reasons." He jokes easily able to imitate Iain Stirling. "Maybe we should just tell other people to really fuck with production." He nods his head slowly. "I'm in California, that's not too far yeah? Since I'm from England my U-S geography isn't too swell."

At his joke, Luke let out a laugh and shook his head. "I'm sure they would come up with some sort of cheeky pun with why we left. But they really can't kick us out for this, right?" Luke had known about past female islanders who explored each other, but would it be that much different and chaotic if it happened to be two guys? "Do you want to?" It was a risk he would take if that's what Nick wanted. In the end, Luke didn't know if he actually cared if he got booted off or not. His fingertips moved over his lower back, having to stop himself from leaning in to kiss him. "About a two hour flight. Not that bad."

Adrian was already half-undressed when Reyna spoke to him, looking up at her and giving the blonde a shit-eating grin, now only in his boxer briefs as he entered the room. He loved how she was so open and comfortable with her body, finding it an admitted turn-on. Her lack of shame or inhibition drove him wild in the best way. “I was thinking I’d help you wash your hair,” he said, meaning it as he knew it was a romantic, intimate gesture he could easily make with her already in the bath. “So yes, joining sounds ideal,” he nodded, wanting to treat her right, like the princess she was to him. Adrian was whipped by Reyna, but he knew it and didn’t care. He hoped to label them and be monogamous at some point, but didn’t want to rush Reyna with commitment.

If she were being completely honest with the both of them, Reyna couldn't deny Adrian. He knew how to pamper her. Plus, the fact that he was practically undressed right now, how could she say no. "You can join, BUT!" Reyna put her finger up as if to warn him. "It isn't hair washing day. Actually, I did that this morning. So, you can wash any other part of me if you'd like, just don't get my hair wet," she warned him with a playful glare. It was fun, what they had and how they knew how to take care of each other. Normally Reyna wasn't the type to be dependant on anyone, but the way Adrian knew how to take care of her, making her feel special and wanted, it had her feelings grow for him. "C'mon. Before the water gets cold. You're right on time. I just got in a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, I like that too. I try to match my perfumes to the time or the occasion. Like I have some perfumes I only wear in the spring and summer, or some I only wear for dates. I just... I know that it's silly but I guess I want a signature scent. Like my mom and my grandma have one. So whenever I smell it I think of them. Like with you and cherries. So like, when they eventually pass away, I can use that scent to remember them. But if I don't have that, how will anyone remember me?" Stella asked, fingers toying with the tassel on a bottle. "Sorry, that just got really morbid. But I could never hate you and I'd certainly never hate cherries."

"Not morbid," Thea assured her, moving so she brushed her shoulder against Stellas. "I get it. That happened with my aunt. When she passed when I was younger. I never knew what she wore or if it was just... her. I could never find that scent again. But it's weird. There will be times where I just get a whiff of it out of nowhere." Things like that always caught her interest. "The good thing about you though? You have multiple scents. So, no matter what you're doing or even if I go somewhere totally random and there's one of those scents? I always think about you. So, I guess you could say that you're always on my mind," she teased.

Maybe it was good they both hesitated a little, at least for Nathan it said they were being cautious and approaching their time together with thought. They both had reason to after all, she worked for him and was attached to Lily, he was stepping out of being secluded with just Lily. When she agreed all the weight came off of his shoulders although he already knew he would be nervous as hell once they did go on their date. When she asked what he was going to say he hesitated, he definitely shouldn’t be thinking of her that way right now but it was hard not to after their night together, “Oh, I, uh… I’ll tell you after our date. Or more specifically ask you.” Something to look forward to for both of them. He couldn’t help himself from smiling though, like he was hiding a surprise gift to try and lure her in. “So, should I ask my neighbour to take Lily on Friday? And I’ll see you on Tuesday when I get home?”

Pouting slightly when Nathan said she would have to wait until after their date, she let out a small groan. "I'm not the patient type. Why don't you ask me now?" She pushed a little, her eyes meeting with his. "You know I'm going to keep bugging you if you don't tell me, right?" The pout went away when seeing his smile. She couldn't stop herself from smiling herself. There was something infectious about the way he smiled, laughed, or really, just anything about him. "Sure. That sounds great." She then crossed her arms over her chest, not noticing how it pushed her breasts together and nearly having them spill out of her sports bra. "You said your neighbor was watching Lily for a few hours. What are your plans for the rest of the day?"