Mad Love by Colet Abedi Read Free Book Online

whistles loudly in admiration.
    “Hot bod!”
    “You look so skinny,” Erik says in approval. Erik loves skinny. I joke with him that this disease came over him when he moved from Oregon to Los Angeles, because in LA everyone is obsessed with their weight. It’s not uncommon to hear people say things like, “The skinnier the better,” “You look amazing … Did you lose weight?” “If she’s throwing up, it’s done wonders for her body,” and my personal favorite, “She looks so emaciated, almost like a bobble head. I’m so jealous.”
    “You have mental issues and suffer from body image dysmorphia,” I tell him as I roll my eyes.
    “I’m completely okay with that,” he answers with a smile.
    I change the topic. The last thing I want to do is have a discussion about being skinny. All I want is to have a pizza sent to the villa.
    “How long have I been sleeping?”
    “Three hours,” Erik says as he swims closer to the deck. He splashes water at me and it feels great.
    “You’re lucky you don’t burn,” Orie says with envy.
    “That’s the Italian in me.” My mom has told me that her mother and her friends used to compete to see who could lay out in the sun the longest. Apparently, my grandma would always win, and the only protection sheused was olive oil, which she rubbed generously over her body. Dead serious. And no joke, my grandma has the best skin ever.
    I walk inside and grab my iPhone out of my purse and plug it into the dock in the room. I quickly search for some music and stop on Rhianna’s “We Found Love.” I blast it and walk back outside to watch my friends.
    “Get in the water!” Orie demands.
    I look down at the water and shrug. Ocean, especially deep ocean, has always scared me. I think of sharks and sting rays. Mainly sharks.
    Okay, just Jaws .
    “It’s too deep over here. I prefer the shallow area where you can see what’s beneath you.”
    “Why?” Orie asks in surprise.
    “She’s scared of sharks.” I can hear the laughter in Erik’s voice.
    “Girl, there are no sharks here. At least not the ones that bite people. This water is crystal clear.”
    I shake my head at him and point down toward the sandy beach, which seems far away but in reality is probably a five-minute swim. “It’s clear over there. Not here. We’re too far out. And there are sharks. Bikram specifically said they have the black tip sharks here.”
    “Those don’t bite. And they’re two feet long,” Orie answers.
    “They could. They’re sharks. That’s what sharks do. And the way my luck is going, I’ll be the first victim of a shark attack in the Maldives.”
    “She’s got a point, Orie.”
    I nod at Erik, silently thanking him.
    “So you’re never going to get in the water? You’re not going to snorkel?” It seems that Orie is unable to let this go.
    “Of course I am.” I roll my eyes and point to the shore. “But I’m going to get in the water over there and I’m going to stay over there.”
    “Where it’s barely even two feet deep?” Orie cocks his head to the side and looks at me like I’ve grown two heads.
    “Uh-huh,” I say.
    I sit down on the deck and let my legs dangle over the edge.
    “Considering the island people think tomorrow is the end of the world and you’re a virgin, don’t you think you should take some chances?” Erik asks. I can’t stop the laughter that escapes me.
    “Why are you so funny?”
    “I don’t fucking know.” He swims farther away and I squint to see if I can see any fins. “I’m serious though. What if tonight is your last night in the world?”
    “Then she’s fucked,” Orie laughs.
    “Well, we hope she’s finally fucked,” Erik practically shouts before dunking under the water and disappearing.
    That’s when I remember who my neighbor is.
    Before I can start obsessing, I hear a splash and see a body move through the water, right into our space. The space in front of my deck, to be exact. And it’s him. Clayton. He swims