Page 13 of Sun, Sea and Spotted Squid

They lay in a row. Sam enjoying the peace. It had been quite a day.

It’s amazing how quickly you can get close to people when you’re thrown together.

“How lucky are you two, getting dolphins?” he murmured.

Astrid stretched. “Yes, quite the shock. I was sure you’d get the best deal.”

Sam leant up on one arm. “Meaning?”

She giggled. “Don’t think we didn’t notice.”

He turned to Maria for an explanation but she remained annoyingly poker-faced.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said.

Astrid sat back up and stared hard. “Are you telling me you didn’t notice the way Ruben flirted with you today?”

A rush of anxiety flashed through him. Had he been flirting? He had been friendly, which was his job.

“You’re imagining it.”

Astrid raised an eyebrow at Maria, who slowly nodded. “He never took his eyes off you, Sam,” she confirmed.

“Hey,” Astrid said. “There’s no need to make a face about it. Good for you. Making things work while you’re here. Smart.”

Sam got up and threw his T-shirt down.

“In the interests of changing the subject, I’m going for a swim. Are you joining me?”

“No, we’d better let you go alone and cool off, hot stuff,” Astrid replied with a sickly-sweet smile.

Sam stalked off to the water’s edge. Ruben might not even be gay. If they started silly rumours and it had an impact on his time there, he would be furious.

Why did people always assume if a gay man and another man got on, it had to mean they would end up in bed?

He waded into the water and dived under a wave. Immediately luxuriating in the cocoon the water provided.

Finally coming up for air, he trod water. Astrid and Maria had come to paddle, clearly on the premise of chatting to two guys who had been walking through the surf. Astrid’s flirtatious titter echoing around the whole beach.

Their Ruben theory was still reverberating in his mind. Perhaps their silliness was just them getting carried away with being footloose and fancy-free in a foreign country. Or maybe they were jealous.

“If you’ve got it, flaunt it,” he said to himself and launched underwater with a kick.

SIX

The sun shone down as they celebrated nearing the end of their first week. Paul had read about a ridiculously cheap and wonderful seafood restaurant near the cathedral.

“We’ve nearly finished our assignment. Then off to the high seas we go.”

Astrid popped another prawn into her mouth and chewed with a smug grin all over her face.

“You can’t be!” Sam exclaimed.

“So are we,” Geneieve piped up.

Sam glanced down at his tuna steak. They had loads to do on their research project.

“It’s not a race, Sam,” Wolfgang said.