* * *
‘Wow!’ Nadia said as she clipped back on her bikini top. ‘That was fantastic. Now I really know why Vanessa loves you so much.’
Rex had gotten so caught up in their activities that he’d lost track of the time. ‘It’s surely been about half an hour. We should get back. Ness will be getting worried.’
‘Oh, relax,’ Nadia said. ‘Let her wait a little longer.’ Nadia jumped suddenly and stared out over the rocks. ‘Hey! Who’s that! You come out from behind there.’
Rex peered over and his eyes widened when Jaspy stepped around from behind the rock.
‘Were you watching us?’ Nadia asked.
‘No… I just got here.’
‘You were watching us!’
‘No, honestly, I wasn’t!’
‘You little perv.’
Rex, annoyed by her intrusion could see guilt all over her face, but decided it best not to dwell on it. However, he certainly wasn’t going to just let her get away with tailing them. ‘Jaspy, what are you doing down here?’
‘I was looking for you guys. I saw you come down here.’
‘Oh right,’ Nadia said. ‘And from the time you saw us come down here it took you half an hour to find us?’
‘I didn’t know where you had gone.’
‘But you decided to follow us anyway, knowing that we probably wanted to be alone.’
‘I was worried.’
‘Yeah, whatever.’ Nadia climbed up and dusted sand from her body. Rex did the same. Nadia grabbed his hand, led him past Jaspy and back along the beach in the direction of the Aquatic Centre.
Jaspy ran up beside Rex. ‘Go for a walk with me now?’
Rex flinched on the inside. ‘No, Jaspy.’
Nadia stopped, turned and eyed Jaspy coldly. ‘What do you want?’ Her voice sounded quite caustic.
Jaspy paled. ‘I just wanted to hang out.’
‘Well beat it. Rex is with me.’
‘What about Vanessa?’
‘We’re going back to see her now.’
‘I’m coming too. I’ve got to get back to the pool.’
Nadia exchanged annoyed glances with Rex, but they had no choice but to let her tag along. Rex was kind of glad that Nadia had been the one to be gruff with her. It meant he didn’t have to. Jaspy started talking about school and about some of her teachers. Rex just tolerated her, barely acknowledging her at all. Nadia did the same.
Back at the pool, Rex had to explain to the front desk that they had only stepped out for a bit and that their gear was still inside. Fortunately, the woman at the counter was around 19 years of age, so Rex was easily able to charm his way back in.
On reaching poolside, Vanessa came trotting up. ‘You guys have been gone for ages!’
‘Sorry,’ Rex said. ‘We kind of got distracted.’
Vanessa smiled. ‘Ooh la la. Obviously Nadia has discovered just how easy it is to do that to you. She’s definitely my sister, no doubts about that.’
Rex wanted to make up for the time he’d been away. ‘Come on Nessa, wanna hit the Steam Room?’
‘Haven’t you already got steamed up enough for one afternoon?’ She smiled cheekily.
‘Not with you I haven’t.’
‘Then let’s go get steamed up.’
‘I’ll come too,’ Nadia said.
Rex really wanted to dedicate some time to Vanessa, but after what had happened down at the beach, he couldn’t very well tell her no.
If Vanessa minded, she didn’t give anything away. ‘Let’s go then.’
‘Can I come?’ Jaspy stepped up.
‘Sorry Jaspy,’ Vanessa said. ‘Remember what I said last time? Four’s a crowd.’
‘I thought three was a crowd?’
‘Senior business,’ Nadia added. ‘Sorry.’
‘But we’re not at school.’
‘It’s gonna be R rated.’
‘Oh…’
The three of them arrived at the steam room, which was empty. Rex sat down and both girls moved in close on either side of them and their bodies pressed up against him.
‘Wow, it’s so hard to breathe in here,’ Nadia said.
Rex really wanted to question Vanessa about whether she was in on Nadia’s ruse earlier, but didn’t want to cause friction between the two sisters, not right there and then anyway. However, Vanessa brought the topic up herself. ‘Nice work Nadia, fooling us into thinking Rex’s car was about to be vandalised by Wild Dogs. You didn’t need to go to all the trouble though.’
Nadia’s face reddened. Her eyes met Rex’s and she cringed. ‘I know, I know, I lied to you and said Vanessa was ok with it.’
Rex sighed and shook his head. ‘I had my suspicions. I should have known that Vanessa would have said something herself.’
‘I figured it was the only way,’ Nadia said.
Vanessa turned her eyes to her half-sister. ‘Maybe as you get to know me better, Nadia you will know that you don’t need to do that sort of thing behind my back. Rex is always honest with me. I hope you can learn to be too.’ She turned her head away, but as she did, Rex noticed a look in her eye that he very rarely ever saw. Despite her cheerful and seemingly unaffected façade, a crack had appeared. She was pissed. In fact, it seemed to Rex that she was downright livid.