I'm enjoying this

I didn’t pick up on it at the time.

When she reminded me about the ground rules back at the beach while getting dressed, her body language had been different from the first time she said it over breakfast. There was something tighter in her shoulders, a slight hesitation in her voice that hadn’t been there before. Even when she said it again just now, it felt… off. Less casual. More like she was protecting something.

But I missed it completely.

Instead, I just reached across the small table and gently touched her hand.

“Hey,” I said softly. “I’m enjoying this. All of it. The beach, the sex, hanging out with you… I’m having a really good time. You don’t have to overthink the food thing. I paid because I wanted to. You deserve to be treated well.”

Alice looked at me for a long moment. Her expression softened a little, but there was still something guarded in her eyes. She eventually gave a small nod and started eating her pad Thai.

The conversation stayed lighter after that. We talked about the beach, how crazy it had been fucking in public, and what we wanted to do for the rest of the weekend. She seemed to relax again as we ate, but every now and then I’d catch her watching me with that same slightly unreadable look.

When we finished eating, she stood up and started clearing the containers. She was back to moving normally — hips swaying, that confident little smirk returning — but I could still feel the slight shift in the air between us.

She glanced over her shoulder at me while she rinsed her hands.

“So… you staying tonight, or heading home again?”