Just This Once by Evelyn Jeannie Hall
Seven
Zane fell fast asleep once Lacey departed, but he didn’t wake up in near as good a state. His head had that tied-one-on pounding behind his eyes, and after getting himself up and to the bathroom, he guzzled about a gallon of water. After sitting back on his mattress, he dragged out his blood testing kit. It was just as he suspected, his sugar was way too high. He took his insulin injection, realizing he’d missed his dose last night. That, in combination with way too much bubbly had been a remarkably boneheaded stunt to pull.
He wished he could kick his own ass.
He donned some casual island attire and trudged off to breakfast, hoping some protein would help even him out. No one but staff was in the little common area café that morning, which he considered a blessing. He ordered some Disc Mashuni with its tuna salad and tortilla-like naan. Adding a glass of water—which he wanted to suck down but forced himself to swallow more slowly—he gobbled his food, each bite inching him closer to human.
“Damn, dude. Good thing I didn’t reach across you. Might’ve lost an arm,” Benjamin taunted him as he sat on the other side of the table. When one of the staff came to take his order, the newlywed said, “Coffee, coffee, and more coffee. Two of your largest cup’s worth with cream and sugar-free sweetener, please. Also, I’ll need a couple of plates of what he has.”
After taking a few more swallows, Zane finally quit shoveling in food so he could speak. “Didn’t expect you to be up and about without your blushing bride.”
“My blushing bride is still out like a light.” His best bud wore a smug expression, but Zane didn’t ask why. If he hadn’t felt like shit, Zane would be feeling pretty smug at the moment, too. “I didn’t want to wake her without having sustenance readily available.”
“That’s thoughtful of you.” Zane might’ve given him more crap, but it occurred to him that Benjamin could turn that around on him, and that was something he couldn’t afford. “Do you feel any different?”
His best friend played with his shiny gold wedding band, twirling it around his finger. “This is a little weird,” he confessed. “Never wore a ring before, but since she bought it for me, I wasn’t about to say no.”
“You’ll get used to it. Eventually, it’ll feel weird not to wear it.”
Zane continued to fork tuna into his mouth until he realized Benjamin was regarding him pointedly. “Morrison, are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he asked, inwardly cringing at his obvious dodge. His best bro knew him better than that.
“Truth? You kinda look like hell this morning.”
Zane decided to go for as much candor as he could. “I fucked up. Drank too much champagne yesterday and wound up spiking my blood sugar.”
“Jesús bendito. Do you need something?”
“Already have it,” Zane told him, scooping up some more tuna and placing it on his naan. “I’m good.”
“Being out here in the middle of the ocean would probably be a bad time to need a hospital,” Benjamin observed.
“I actually checked into that. The next island over has an on-call physician for emergencies. There’s also a hospital over in the capital of Male. If something became dire, they have speedboats and seaplanes for just such occasions.”
“Fuck, man. I should’ve thought of that.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” Zane argued. “You should’ve been thinking about your wedding, which you were. I’m a planner. You know this. I know how to take care of myself.”
“I do know, but…” he trailed off, and Zane’s memory flashed back to the time a couple years back when he ended up in the ER for blood sugar that had gotten too low. Ever since then, he’d been doubly aware of where he could go should he need to. Still, it made his indulgence with the champagne that much more imbecilic. High carb beverages had always been off-limits because he’d have to compensate with more insulin and getting that balance wrong was what had made him crash.
Maintaining the correct levels was a huge pain in the ass without him throwing something unusual into the mix. The good news was that Benjamin had been there for him that day at their old firm. He knew he could depend on his best friend no matter what.
Nonetheless, having to go to the goddamn hospital for what amounted to a fainting spell made him feel like such a pussy.
“Relax, bro. This is your time. Your celebration. And there’s your breakfast.” The staff member brought the meals on a special tray with covered domes over each and coffee with lids. The Maldives might be remote, but it certainly wasn’t a third world country. “Go give your wife a grand surprise.”
“My wife…” Benjamin murmured more to himself than him, and Zane felt his mouth quirking upwards despite everything. Maybe love and marriage hadn’t worked out for him, but Zane knew it could when the right two people were involved. His sister Tasha and her husband Oberlin had been happy as clams for ten years now. And Benjamin and Kat were just as devoted.
“Jesus, look at that soppy grin on your face. You’re such a fucking dope. Just go, already.”
Still smiling, Benjamin flipped him a quick bird before taking the tray from the server. Then, he vanished right as Lacey appeared. Zane’s best friend and his—he guessed he could call her his fuck buddy—greeted each other in passing before she sauntered over to sit at the table next to his.
“Is this DL enough for you?” she whispered without directly eyeing him, her expression reminding him of a cat who ate a canary.
“That’s real subtle, Lacey.”
She pursed her lips, looking chagrined. “Yeah, well, it’s not my strong suit, I’ll admit. I can maintain a cover, though.”
He eyed her doubtfully. “You sure?”
“Yes.” She bopped him on the arm, making his point for him. “Shut up. No one we know is here, so it’s fine.”
He snorted at her. Whatever else the woman might be, dull would never be one of them. Today she’d shown up in another sundress. Pale green. Spaghetti straps. A nice low neckline that highlighted the amazing cleavage of her tits. His dick twitched in appreciation. Good to know he—and his favorite piece of anatomy—wouldn’t have to deal with any setbacks from his brief bout of hyperglycemia.
“So,” she began, “there’s nothing formally scheduled until our flight five days from now.”
She was angling for something, but he couldn’t yet tell what. “Yeah.”
“And I realize our eight o’clock Fridays won’t officially start until we get back to the city.”
“That makes sense,” he said, carefully, furrowing his brows at her.
“But what about while we’re here?”
Ah.
“Lacey, are you propositioning me for some more freaky freak this evening?”
“Now who’s not being subtle?” She raised a flawlessly shaped eyebrow and flashed that beauty mark as she threw him a devilish grin. “And yes, to the freaky freaking. This evening as well as the others.”
She wanted to hookup with him every night while they were here? Did she honestly think he’d say no?
“Oh, well. I don’t know,” he told her, but when her face fell, he grabbed her hand. “I’m teasing you, silly woman. Of course, I want more. I’ll take as much as you want to give me.”
Since the honeymooning lovebirds mostly stayed cuddled up in their bungalow for the next several days, only coming out to go on a dolphin swimming excursion and a few times for community meals, finding time to be with Lacey proved to be a cakewalk. During the day, they did their own thing. Zane would go jogging on the beach or sightseeing while Lacey spent time with Elizabeth snorkeling along the island and utilizing the spa service to get dual Swedish massages. But as the hour grew late and the evening surrounded them, they enjoyed the kind of carefree romps that came from energetic, casual sex.
On the morning of their early afternoon flight, Lacey watched as Zane packed up all his belongings. He liked to be prepared hours ahead of time, but apparently, she liked to put things off till the last minute. Zane might’ve felt irritated that she hadn’t departed his home away from home yet had she not been buck ass naked and showing him her ample breasts, the seashell necklace she always wore hanging low between them.
“I wonder if this will qualify,” she spoke cryptically, and he glanced at her askance.
“Meaning?”
She flopped over from her back to her stomach, helping his blood to quit flowing so forcefully downwards.
“I’ve been trying to turn over a new leaf in my life. I used to sort of… drift from one thing to the next, but I’ve been making more longer term commitments recently. Going after my degree. Steadily working at the bakery with Elizabeth. You and me don’t fall into the same category, but I feel like having this friends with benefits arrangement is a step up from my usual habits.”
“Dare I ask what your usual habits are?” He didn’t add, “when it comes to dating.” He felt like he didn’t need to. In that aspect, he and Lacey were extremely similar people.
“Not having anything consistent, mostly.”
“Been a while since you went beyond hookup status?”
“Ha,” she chortled. “Here’s the thing, Zane. I’ve never gone beyond hookup status.”
He twisted up half his visage. “What like, never, never? There are no former boyfriends back in Missouri or somewhere?”
“Not a one.”
His bemusement became a frown as he gaped at her. “Well, damn.”
“Wow, Zane, way to make me feel like a mutant.” She rolled her eyes at him, and he stopped packing.
“But you’re thirty-one years old.”
“Intel you’ve obviously collected from Benji.”
“True. And I don’t mean it as a put down or anything, I’m just… It wasn’t what I expected.”
“See…” She pointed at him. “That right there. That’s what I’m talking about. You’re assuming no man has ever wanted me like that.”
Was she crazy? He couldn’t imagine any man not wanting her. “No—”
“It’s all right,” she cut him off. “There’s been a guy or two along the journey who has asked. I kept turning them down because I wasn’t ready. Didn’t want to have to worry about having some dude cramp my style.” He could relate. Aliyah had sure as hell cramped his. “I treasured my freedom to do as I pleased. That hasn’t changed. I am looking forward to exploring this new dynamic with you, though.”
A million thoughts went through his head, but he didn’t say any of them aloud. He didn’t want to complicate their circumstances. One thing he’d learned from his fucked-up marriage was when to keep his mouth shut. So, the only words he wound up saying to her remained limited.
“Me, too.”