Chapter 21

APOV

We're up early to go on an excursion to Tulum and horseback riding. I'm excited to see the ruins, but I'm nervous about the horseback riding. Horses always have intimidated me; I think it's because they are so large that they can hurt someone.

The SUVs drive us about 45 minutes south to the ruins of Tulum. Once we get there, we are greeted by our tour guide, Francisco. Right away, I was impressed at how intact the ruins are considering they are over 700 years old. We walk through a doorway in the massive wall that surrounds the city. As we walk, Christian is holding my hand and softly caressing my knuckles.

The view of the turquoise waves washing on the pristine beach just below the ruins is gorgeous. I could see why people would want to live here. Straight ahead of us is the imposing El Castillo sitting on the cliff above the beach. I can imagine being able to see ships coming into the harbor from the high point of the castle.

As we are walking around, I am surprised to see so many palm trees woven in between buildings in good condition considering their age. And, at one point, we even saw an iguana sunning himself on a rock. Francisco is giving us a history of the Maya as well as some myths surrounding the walled city.

After we explore the ancient city, we head to the beach for a quick lunch and then off onto our horseback riding excursion. We get to our horses and the one picked for me is gigantic and chocolate brown all over. Immediately, he starts to back away as I approach. I put my foot in the stirrup, and the horse snorts loudly scaring me. Everyone else has left us on their horses, so only Christian remains with me and the guide.

I can tell he is trying to hide his snickers at my reaction to the horse, but I'm glad he isn't blatant about it. "Baby, do you just want to ride on my horse with me?" He indulges me.

I nod my head. "Yes, I think that's best." Christian and the guide help me up onto the horse, then Christian gets on and takes the reins. Now that I am on the horse I feel much calmer and begin to enjoy the ride. The scenery here is just gorgeous.

Once we get back to the house, we relax by the pool and enjoy Pollo Pibil cooked for us by our private chef and margaritas made by Kate. We relax in the pool and hang out on the patio until well into the evening.

The following day, the girls relax at the spa while the guys go deep sea fishing. The spa is fantastic. As soon as we entered the building, a woman wearing an ivory wrap shirt and ivory pants greets us. "Bienvenidos al Balneario Botica. ¿Cómo podemos ayudar a hacerse su mejor mí?"

Kate steps forward, "Hello. Do you speak English?"

The woman, who is wearing a nametag that says Selena, gives us a kind smile. "Yes. Hello and welcome to the Botica Spa. How may I help you?"

Kate gives her a broad, friendly smile. "We have a 10 a.m. appointment for treatments - under the name Grey." I do a slight double take since I am still not used to hearing Kate use the name Grey. I smile reminding myself that I too, will soon be a Grey.

Selena checks what I think is an appointment book. "I have the three of you scheduled for a facial, manicure, pedicure, and massage each. Is that correct?"

The three of us nod our heads and reply "yes" in unison. I am brought into a serene and comfortable treatment room. The smell of bergamot, patchouli, and ylang-ylang lightly fills the air instantly relaxing me.

My first treatment is my massage. I will have two people to massage me. I am left in the room to undress and get ready on the massage table. I place my clothing on the chair in the corner of the room, lie on my back on the massage table, and cover myself with the sheet. There is a soft knock on the door, "Um, come in." I say just before the door opens.

It is the best massage I have ever had - not that I've had a lot, but this far surpasses them all. While the one masseuse does my right side, the other does the left in perfect synchronicity. I am so relaxed that I almost fall asleep.

The next treatment is my natural facial where they will clean, exfoliate, and moisturize my skin with natural ingredients all sourced from the Playa del Carmen area. I don't think my skin has ever looked this good.

My third and final treatment is a manicure and pedicure. While my feet are soaking in a warm lavender and mint bath, my hands are being massaged. By the time we leave the spa we are perfectly groomed and relaxed with our skin glowing radiantly.

That night we get decked out to have a night on the town. I'm wearing my navy blue and coral orange floral print mini dress with wide straps and bandeau style bodice with knotted detail, cutouts, and a smocked back. I wear them with my nude colored strappy wedge sandals. It's a cute look, but if I had known Christian would be here, I would have brought something sexier.

Mia and Kate are also wearing brightly colored mini dresses, and the guys look handsome in a more relaxed look. Christian looks amazing in a pair of dark jeans and a tight black t-shirt that hugs his biceps. Damn, I can't believe this handsome man is going to be my husband soon. He caught a little sun while they were fishing today which makes his gray eyes seem that much brighter.

We get to Coco Bongo, and the place is packed. But since we have a VIP table we skip the line, and the host takes us right to the table without waiting where a waiter is there to get our drinks. It's loud and bright, but you immediately have fun when you're there. The show was great - there were women doing acrobatics in these large ribbons. I never saw anything like it.

The drinks were flowing so by the time we go to leave I am feeling pretty tipsy. Everyone is walking out to leave, and I quickly run back to the table to get one last sip of water before we head out. I look up, and there is some slutty tramp with frizzy fake blond hair hitting on my boyfriend. What the actual fuck? I can see he is trying to get away from her, but this bitch is being relentless. I march right up to her, push her shoulder and yell, "Leave my fiance alone you ratchet slut!" She backs away and looks shocked. Christian grabs me and gets me out of the way in an attempt to walk me to the door before anything else can happen. I can hear everyone else in our group failing miserably at trying to hide their laughs.

On the way back to the house, Christian asks me, "Baby, are you OK?"

Still feeling angry I reply, "She was hitting on you. That slut!"

Elliot laughs, "I think you mean that ratchet slut." making Kate laugh even harder. Christian even breaks on that one.

"Where did you even get ratchet from?"

"I heard it on MTV," I answer truthfully. But that only makes everyone laugh more, and my earlier anger melts away.

The following morning I wake up and surprisingly don't feel that bad. But the events of last night are a bit fuzzy. I open my eyes to see Christian looking at me.

Suddenly I feel embarrassed and shy about my behavior last night. I can't believe I confronted someone like that. "Good morning, Anastasia. How are you feeling?" He asks me, his voice is low and sultry.

"Hi. I feel OK. Sorry about last night. I hope I didn't ruin anything." I try to apologize to him.

He gives me his gigantic shit-eating grin, "No, you didn't. I think you were quite entertaining. And it's nice to not be the jealous one for once."

"Yeah, well. That's just a warning to all those other bitches out there who are going to hit on you." I try to put on my best badass demeanor.

"You mean all those ratchet bitches?" Christian asks with a smile. His eyes are twinkling, and he looks so young and carefree that I laugh with him, relieved to see him at ease like this.

After a leisurely breakfast and some, um, private recreational activity, we join the others and go to Xel-Ha. We have a lot of fun. We floated down a river and swam into a cenote. I have never seen anything like it. It was eerie and beautiful at the same time.

We spend the rest of the day at the inlet swimming and snorkeling in the turquoise waters. Mia, Kate, and I are lounging on the beach just at the edge of the water, so the incoming waves wash over our feet. Suddenly, Elliot sneaks up on us and splashes us, drenching us in cool water. Kate screams quickly jumps up and grabs onto Elliot's back like he's giving her a piggyback ride. Mia and I both pop up and run into the water splashing the guys in a huge splash fight. By the time it's over, I'm breathless from laughing.

For the rest of the weekend, we relax at the house eating, drinking margaritas, and laying out by the pool at the house. By the time we are flying back home on Christian's jet, I am a little sad to be leaving the fun weekend behind.