Heads or Tails (41 page)

‘I should have stayed in Hawaii…’ She muttered. ‘The Londeree's had dignity there…’

Ivyanne chuckled with the others, but averted her eyes lest  anyone caught sight of her paranoia. Trying to hold onto two men was not only greedy, but exhausting. The time was coming when she’d have to let go of one in order to hold the other with both hands-that was no surprise.

But what if both were torn from her in a moment of weakness?

And to make matters worse-the full moon was only eight days away, adding pressure to her already strained heart. What would happen, when it’s glow illuminated the chaos she’d created? Would true love abandon her for someone else’s arms?

Arundel met her gaze and winked knowingly. ‘No.’ She said. ‘He’s been waiting a long time Ivyanne. And he’ll be there when you’re ready.
That
I can hear from here.’

Every cell in Ivyanne’s body relaxed.

19.

Ardhi was making a pass from the room he was sharing with Dallas to the bathroom on Monday evening, when he caught a snatch of conversation drifting down the hall. He’d come to a halt when he encountered the locked door and heard the shower running from inside. Now he stood, tucked into the small alcove, listening with great interest.

‘... Guys I’m telling you-he is genuinely a nice guy,’ Callum was whispering. ‘It’s easy to judge someone for certain things they’ve done in the past... but in the end, it comes down to character. And this guy has it in
spades
.’

Ardhi paused, raising an eyebrow. He hadn’t heard Callum come in from work- in fact he’d barely seen Callum for eight days. Sometimes he actually got the feeling that Callum was taking on extra shifts to get out of the house. Not that Ardhi could blame him for that. Their posse was challenging, to say the least. Four new mermaids humping the air when they weren’t humping each other.

‘How can you be so sure?’ Loren’s asked quietly. ‘The things he’s done…’

‘Are all minor, when you think about the life he’s led. I know there are all sorts of crazy things I’d do for a girl-but the important thing is that he, and
I
, know where to draw the line. I don’t think I can say that for all involved.’

Ardhi frowned, realizing that Callum’s opinion of him was slightly more elevated than he deserved. As the moon grew larger, so did his desire for Ivyanne.

‘Ardhi’s a nice guy,’ Jade said, sticking up for him as well. ‘He’s done nothing around me that would make me doubt otherwise. Besides-he doesn’t want us to kill anybody-he’s only asked me to wait in the car with Sherri in case he needs an escape vehicle.’

‘When?’ Callum asked eagerly. ‘Did he say when this is going down?’

‘No.’ Jade said. ‘Why?

‘Well, I only spoke to this Tristan guy for a few minutes, but believe me when I say that by sticking to this plan-’

Ardhi jumped out of the alcove like a snake had bitten him. ‘Tristan?’ he asked quickly. ‘You
saw
him? You spoke to him?’

Callum’s head snapped up, and he paled. ‘Ardhi! Where did you come from?’

‘Toilet.’ Ardhi lied. ‘What happened with Tristan?’

Callum sighed. ‘I saw him downtown today... when I was handing out flyers on my break. I recognised him from the article in my busted window.’

‘And what? He was a jackass?’

Callum glanced at the others pointedly, then back at Ardhi. ‘Oh for sure. Completely arrogant. I can see why you hate him.’

‘This is amazing,’ Ardhi said. ‘What was he doing?’

Callum leaned back against the couch. ‘Buying a restaurant. For a girl named Pintang.’

Ardhi’s mouth fell open. ‘My
sister
? You saw her?’ He swooped over Callum. ‘How did she look?’

‘In love.’ Callum admitted. ‘Blissfully happy.’

‘But that’s crazy!’ Ardhi exclaimed. ‘Tristan and Pintang?!’

Callum eyed him. ‘Well she was all over him. And he definitely said it was for her. Does she cook?’

Ardhi’s heart was thumping. ‘Yes! She’s amazing at it!’ He flopped onto the couch, taking it all in. ‘Wow. This is... unprecedented.’

‘What’s going on?’

Ardhi whirled around to see Sherri emerge from the bathroom, her hair tucked into a cream towel that was probably destroyed now by her hair, which she’d bleached and dyed bright red, another towel wrapped around her middle.

‘Callum saw Tristan! He’s buying Pintang a restaurant!’

Sherri’s tinted eyebrows hit her hairline. ‘Really? He’s given up on Ivyanne? Ohmigosh! What are you going to do?’

Ardhi looked at her, and smiled. He was going to break Ivyanne’s heart by scaring off her only remaining option for happiness and make her see the error of her ways-the error of hurting him. A card he hadn’t been willing to play when Loveridge had still been waiting in the wings. ‘I’m going to tell Lincoln a little story…and then leave him alive and well to ponder it.’

Sherri squealed and flung herself into his arms, her grip tight. ‘You’re the best, Ardhi!’

‘Do you have any idea what they’re on about?’ Ardhi heard Jade ask.

‘Not a clue.’ Callum said softly. ‘But I’d like to.’

*

Ivyanne floated on her back in the cool blue water, flicking her tail lazily as she stared up at the pale blue sky above.

I miss being a princess,
she thought, spotting a bunny rabbit-shaped cloud.
I miss this being the only thing I needed to do a day.

Garridan and Ivor had escorted the girls out to the reef for a midday sail on Wednesday, leaving Arulen at home to guard the water and the men-folk dwelling inside. It was unusual, to be segregated that way, but the house had been a pressure cooker of sexual tension and testosterone since Monday-and for once, it was the moon’s fault, not Ivyanne's, and her suitors weren’t the only ones wreaking havoc. Price had flown into a fit of rage when he’d seen Adele and Lincoln swimming together (they’d only been discussing the resort-Ivyanne had been on a sun-lounger nearby) Sahori and Grace had gotten into a screaming match over a misplaced hairbrush, and even Camus and Garridan had gotten into a fight over the guard dogs exercise routine. The scrabble board had become a fixation in the house, only it caused as many arguments as it entertained. Things were falling apart, and Ivyanne couldn’t wait for the moon to start waning again and return some peace.

But then and there, in the ocean, the mood between the girls was serene as it was meant to be.

‘So... Sahori….’ Saraya drawled, coming up after a long submersion. ‘Am I crazy or were you and Lachlan playing footsie under the table the other night?’

Ivyanne’s ears perked up at that. ‘You were?’ She’d noticed Adele and Price paying each other attention-but she hadn’t spent much time with Sahori. Ivyanne breast-stroked in place. ‘What’s
that
about?’

Sahori smiled. ‘I have found a pleasant way to pass the time with Lachlan, yes. He is much fun to flirt with.’ She smirked at Ivyanne. ‘But he is not Marked, and I will not break a rule, your highness, so do not worry.’

Ivyanne was confused. ‘I thought...um I mean I heard that Tristan had asked…?’

‘Yes.’ Sahori said flatly. ‘But one cannot put much hope on such a conversation as I endured-he made it clear that he could not love me for a long time, if ever, should he be unfortunate enough to have to settle for me.’

‘What a proposal!’ Pintang laughed. ‘That’s even worse than mine.’

‘But more recent.’ Sahori pointed out, arching a brow. ‘And it was an offer I accepted readily.’

Pintang’s face darkened, and just like that, the tension was back.

Ivyanne made a face. ‘If it makes you feel better, I haven’t even gotten one.’

Joyce giggled. ‘And he thinks he knows women so well.’

‘He probably did, until he met me.’ Ivyanne lamented.

Saraya chuckled. ‘You brought this on yourself, you know. If you just went on and chose you could stop torturing yourself over what Mr Not-Quite-Right is going to do with his life afterwards.’

‘I
would
, if I knew,’ Ivyanne protested, stroking the blue-green surface of the water, picturing the two handsome merman. ‘You think I’m prolonging this on
purpose
?’

Saraya snorted. ‘Hmm... two hunky men chewing off their own arms and slapping each other with them to impress you? Gosh... why would you want to end
that
?’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Come on Ivyanne. I can see that they’re annoying the shit out of you-we all can. But deep down... you must be enjoying it... just a
little
. Personally, I couldn’t imagine cutting either loose myself. I would have propositioned them with a threesome a
long
time ago.’

Ivyanne laughed. ‘It’s not like that,’ she assured them. ‘It’s just like... really great ice cream.’ She flicked her tail, propping herself up further out of the water. ‘You know when you go to Baskin Robins, and you can have as many flavors as you want? Sometimes you try new ones... but almost always, there’s at least two you love that just don’t go together in a banana split?’

‘Like rum and raisin, and apple sorbet,’ Joyce said quickly.

Ivyanne nodded. ‘Exactly. One’s sweet, one’s savory. And you end up standing there for the longest time, trying to pick which one you can go without…’ She shrugged. ‘That’s what this is like. When they’re together, they completely kill my appetite. But when I’m enjoying
one
…’ she sighed wistfully. ‘I can’t remember what the other tasted like.’ She pondered her own words. ‘All I do know for sure... is there’s a reason why I avoid Baskin Robbins whenever I’m near one. I went twenty eight years without digging out the spoon-and
now
look at me.’

‘I remember Tristan tasted quite lovely,’ Sahori said. ‘A sinful indulgence. You know it’s not as good for you, and yet you don’t care if it goes
straight
to your ass.’

Saraya burst out laughing. Ivyanne sluiced her arm through the water and showered both girls with a small tidal wave. They squealed and ducked under, and seconds later, Saraya slapped the water with her fins, sending up a geyser.

‘What’s going on up here?’ Adele demanded, surfacing. She slid her hair out of her eyes. ‘I can’t see the coral with you guys churning up the water!’

‘We were discussing men as ice-cream flavors.’ Sahori said promptly. ‘Ivyanne doesn’t know which one she craves the most.’

Adele looked at Ivyanne and smiled. ‘Oh honey... as much as I’ve wanted to kill you at times, and as fun as Price is... I get it.’ She smiled dreamily. ‘I used to take Lincoln for granted you know, but if he’d been more like he is now when we’d been together, I probably would have worked a little harder to keep him happy. I mean, he is looking
good
. And he’s got a bit of swagger going on…’

‘He’s getting hotter.’ Saraya agreed, her eyes twinkling. ‘I’m finding myself rooting for Tristan given that a
single
Lincoln would be eligible for me!’

It really got under Ivyanne’s skin to hear the other girls discussing the possibility of getting it on with
her
Lincoln. But Saraya was right-he would be the most eligible if she cut him loose being that he wasn’t Marked
or
her cousin. There would be a land-rush for him.

‘Being a mer becomes him. A lot.’ Ivyanne agreed. ‘Who knows who he’ll be in twenty years?’

Adele winked at her. ‘But that being said, Tristan is already
so
.…’

‘Delicious.’ Saraya said.

‘Bad for you in the
best
way.’ Sahori added.

‘Fattening.’ Adele chimed in. ‘A girl gains five kilos the moment he’s in!’

They all laughed uproariously at that. Ivyanne had to wipe tears out of her eyes.

‘I think it’s safe to say that whichever one you cut loose is going to be thrown to the wolves,’ Adele said, giggling. ‘And they probably won’t know what hit them-or mind after long.’

‘Which means, they
will
be okay.’  Saraya said. ‘You need to stop protecting them, and look out for yourself. I believe you can be attracted to both, even in love with both-but I don’t think
both
marriages would work when you’re looking over your shoulder for the other. One will keep you looking towards the future, Ivyanne. One will make you forget your doubts.’

Ivyanne smiled. ‘That was quite wise, Saraya. Poetic, even.’

‘It was?’ Saraya preened. ‘Why thank you.’

Ivyanne grinned. ‘But you’re still not getting into my ice cream parlor!’

Saraya squealed and splashed her, and a full-scale water-fight ensued.

*

Ardhi’s eyes were glazed after half an hour of trawling the internet on Thursday morning, looking for helpful information, and his cheeks were burning from blushing constantly. He’d started out his search by clicking on video links-but the loud, badly filmed and poorly acted scenes had taught him a valuable lesson-sex wasn’t something you could master by watching it. He needed to cast a wider net. He needed to make the precious moments he stole with Ivyanne count before he robbed her of both alternate happy endings and fled. Make her see that she’d lost her only true fairytale prince.

‘Hey Ardhi,’ Callum walked outside, lifting a cup of tea to his lips-he claimed that a ‘cuppa’ on the porch was his early morning ritual. An old John Farnham song was playing over the radio and drifted out after him, and Ardhi smiled.

Ardhi shut the computer quickly. ‘Hey.’ He said, squinting out at the rising sun, hoping the colors would deflect from his stained cheeks. ‘Good song.’

Callum smiled wryly. ‘You’d be too young to know this right?’

Ardhi smirked. ‘Got many jobs today?’

‘One half day cruise-I leave in about ten minutes.’ Callum said with a polite smile. ‘What are your plans?’

‘I’m going to be busy, planning the storming of a castle and all of that. The man who wants to buy the crown is probably getting impatient for it. And he’s not someone I want to keep waiting.’