Chapter 124

Who's Larry?

Rhi POV

I step into the shower and realize I need to wrap my hand in plastic. I didn't worry about it this morning because I just needed the heat to de-stress. Now that I actually need to get clean I need the plastic. I look around for it and see that it's up on top of the shower head. Alex was the one that put it on last time. When he took it off he put it up on the top of the shower head and I can't reach it.

"FUCK!" I step out of the shower, unlock the door, and open it just a bit and hear talking. I need help but I also need answers. Kate and Ana can wait because we've known each other for years and we can always work things out. If I'm going to be civil with these guys they need to apologize and explain their actions. I'm going to test them and see what they do. I'm going to do this my way. It's unconventional but then again I'M unconventional.

I'm not focused on Kate and Ana. My focus is on the guys. If they're going to be around which, even if I didn't invite them, they would be anyway, stalking or otherwise. Just a feeling I have. I have an idea but I'm sure I'm going to be the only one that appreciates the humor in it. I need to make Kong suffer for this bullshit but I don't want to go overboard, so I'm not starting with him. This is on MY terms, in MY way and I'm not getting my answers the way THEY would.

"Larry, will you come here please. I need your help with something." I say loudly so he can hear me. I suppose I should cover myself up so he doesn't freak out.

The voices stop as I wrap a towel around myself and wait for him to come in. I need a little help putting my hand in plastic. I didn't think this through very well. I need help with this and Larry and Moe see to be the safest. They seem to have more interest in a friendship than anything else and I'm too pissed at Kate and Ana to ask them for help. I know Kate and Ana are going to be upset but ask me if I care? At the moment, because of all this, I don't really want to talk to them. I'm sure I will before we go out. That's not something I like to leave hanging. It'll ruin the night and that's the last thing I want to do.

I wait for him and when I hear a knock on the door I tell him to come in, which he does hesitantly, slowly opening the door and peeking around it. I can't help but laugh. "Please come in. I won't bite."

Ryan POV

We're sitting around, stunned, after the conversation with Rhi. The only thing I can say is, "WOW. You weren't kidding." She's really good at pretending everything is fine. Something tells me that's far from the truth though.

We're chatting about the plans and decide we'll head over to our room and get changed for dinner and going out. I'm assuming that's what we're still doing because that was the plan earlier.

I hear the shower turn on and a few minute or so later she shouts, "FUCK!" Then the door opens and I hear, "Larry, can you come in here please?"

I raise my eyebrows, looking at everyone. I have no idea what she wants.

"Who's Larry?" Kate asks, puzzled.

I laugh, "Um, that's the nickname Rhi assigned me before we headed out to lunch. Luke is King Kong, Reynolds is Moe and lucky Taylor is Scrooge because he's grumpy all the time." We laugh as Taylor gives me a dirty look but soon joins in.

"I don't even want to know how that came up." Ana says, rolling her eyes.

Getting up, I slowly make my way to the bathroom, my mind racing with questions. The door is slightly ajar so I knock on it and wait for a response. I hear her say to come in but I have no idea what to expect so I hesitate. Taking a deep breath, I slowly open the door, peeking around the corner. Rhi is standing in front of the shower door, her hands on her hips, looking up at the shower head. My eyes open wide in surprise. She only has a towel wrapped around her. Fuck me. Oh yeah, the guys are going to be jealous!

Clearing my throat, I ask, "What's up? Everything OK?"

Turning to me, she smiles. "Um, kind of? I forgot to put my arm in plastic, which is up there." She points to the top of the shower head. "I can't reach it and there's no way in hell I'll be able to even jump to get it. Besides, that's not the safest thing to do." She lets out a laugh and continues, "With my luck, I'd slip, fall, and break my other hand. Can you get it down for me and help me put it on?"

I chuckle at the innocent and helpless look she has on her face. She doesn't need to pull that card. At least she's asking for help. I don't see what the big deal is, everyone freaks out because she's stubborn and refuses to ask for help. Whatever. I think they freak out about her way too much. I mean yeah, she does some things that are questionable but don't we all in one way or another?

Walking further into the bathroom, I watch as she moves to the other side, away from the shower head, loses her balance and grabs hold of my arm. I'm caught off guard but I'm able to maintain my balance so we don't tumble onto the shower floor. However, we do end up falling under the water, successfully getting soaked.

Quickly, I turn off the water, for obvious reasons, and exclaim, "Fuck that's hot! You're going to burn yourself!"

She laughs, "Come on, you big baby, it's not that bad." She rolls her eyes and gives me that megawatt smile of hers.

I roll my eyes back at her and shake my head. Luckily, she was able to keep her hand from getting soaked. It's a little damp but we'll fix that. Her towel, on the other hand, is soaked and slips off her a little. I see WAY too much before I can avert my eyes. Oh god I did NOT need to see all that! I'm mortified, not complaining at all, but mortified, nonetheless.

She laughs at my expression. "Oh come on, it's not like you've never seen it before. You saw my bikini the other day. There's not much difference. Relax, I'm not embarrassed. You shouldn't be either." She laughs harder. "I'm pretty sure you're not innocent so I'm sure you've seen everything before." She's laughing so hard tears are streaming down her face. "I do, however, need a dry towel." She walks over to get a dry towel, drops her wet one and wraps the dry one around her.

My eyes grow wide and I struggle to maintain control. I can't let her see any effect she has on me; I'm not approaching that any time soon. Holy hell, she's going to make this as difficult for us guys as she can and she's enjoying every minute of it.

"Fuck Rhi! What the hell? Why would you do that to me?" I exclaim. "Alex and everyone out there is going to kill me! You just signed my death warrant!"

She's laughing so hard she snorts and tears are still streaming down her face. "Larry, loosen up. Hell, that was hilarious and you didn't see EVERYTHING. Besides, I don't get the weird vibe off you or Moe." She rolls her eyes. "We all know Kong does but I can't get a read on Scrooge. He seems more focused on what he can't find about me. So yeah, I'm comfortable being myself around you, and that includes being naked. So, you'll just have to deal with it." She's still laughing at me.

I want to crawl in a hole and die. "You're evil and a flirt, you know that?"

She nods, "Yes, I am. I always have been. I flirt with everyone but I always go home alone. I'm pretty sure there are TONS of blue balls back home." She bends over laughing.

"Girl, that's just mean. You have NO IDEA how much that hurts!" I shake my head and roll my eyes, unconsciously adjusting myself.

"You're not the only one who's in my sights. I haven't tried to break Moe yet. He may not be as easy to embarrass as you are." She says with a smirk. "If it really bothered you, I apologize but I thought it was hilarious."

Sighing, I respond, "Rhi, you've got one twisted sense of humor. You're an amazing person and I'm privileged to have the chance to get to know you." I pause, unsure if I should tell her what's been on my mind. Fuck it. She needs to know. No, she DESERVES to know. "I know you don't want to talk about anything so just listen. Please. I need to say something or I'll go crazy."

She gains control of herself and nods. "Go ahead."

"I want to apologize for not telling you anything earlier. Reynolds and I didn't think it was right being here from the beginning but orders are orders." I cringe internally the way that sounds but still continue. "You didn't deserve any of this and I feel terrible about the whole thing. I never meant to cause you any problems or get hurt in the process. I hope you can forgive me some day."

I had to say something because the guilt was eating me up. I knew she was pissed earlier, and I could have told her this morning before we left for lunch, but no one said anything so neither did I, which was wrong of me. I like her and want to get to know her. Would I fuck her if I had the chance? If I didn't know her, hell yes. After getting to know her? Probably not. I'd rather be friends and be around her than fuck anything up. She's a lot of fun and does what makes her happy. That's the best kind of friend to have. She seems to have a huge heart and just wants people to be happy. Despite the bullshit she's been dealt. I still think something really bad happened in her past, and I'd love to help her out, but I'm not pushing the issue. She seems to need to have control of things.

She looks at me like she's thinking about something, her expression is hard to decipher, and after a minute she sighs. "Larry, thank you for apologizing. I appreciate it. You're right. I don't want to talk about it because I don't want to ruin the last part of my shitty vacation. However, you've make it a little easier to go out and enjoy myself tonight." She smiles, "Considering I'm forgiving you. Now I'll have someone else to have fun with." Her voice changes slightly and her eyes darken a little as she continues, "If Moe apologizes too, the three of us will have a blast. Scrooge and Kong, I will warn you now, will probably not be the happiest of campers." She snickers.

Something tells me I'm not going to like what she has to say next.

"Speaking of Scrooge and Kong, I've figured out your nickname!" She bounces up and down in excitement like a kid on Christmas. "Retro! What do you think? We rocked the dances today. It's perfect!"

Oh god. Please no. I roll my eyes. Great. If it makes her happy, I'll be happy to have her call me that. I sigh, "As long as you're happy, I'm happy. Besides, I guess it's better than Larry." I chuckle and I'm rewarded with her amazing smile.

She continues, "You and Moe were just doing your jobs and following orders. I know what that's like. I hate following orders." She pauses and a pout appears on her lips. "The big boss, Kate, Ana, Kong and Scrooge have a LOT of explaining to do."

She really is pissed at everyone. Except Reynolds. I think. I sure as hell hope he plans on apologizing because something tells me he'll be missing out on a lot of fun with her. He hasn't had the opportunity to do something random with her. Maybe tonight he will. I'm curious what she has planned.

She stops and stares at me briefly. I'm not sure what's going on but she finally says, "Anyway, let's do this plastic thing. I feel gross after the workouts I've had today on the street."

We proceed to put her hand in the plastic and I ask her if she needs help with anything else.

"No, Ryan." She smiles, using my real name, and I can't help but smile. "You've been very helpful. Thank you for everything."

Standing on her tiptoes, she tries to put her arms around my neck but can't reach so she tugs on my shirt to pull me down and gives me a small kiss on the lips and then hugs me. Fuck. She's a huge flirt, and it probably means nothing but I'll take it. Maybe we're on our way to being comfortable friends. I can do that. I'd rather be close friends than ruin anything trying to make anything sexual.

As she pulls away, she smiles. "Can you send Moe in please? It's his chance to apologize if he wants to. The others can kiss my ass for the time being." She gives a devious laugh and I can only imagine what's going through her pretty little head.

Shaking my head, I laugh. "You're a firecracker, you know that? You're awesome and I can't wait to see what you've got planned."

She laughs, "Never a dull moment!"

Walking out of the bathroom, I close the door behind me. I can't wait to see the guys' faces. I know they're going to be curious and Reynolds will probably be confused but will take it in stride. I really hope he apologizes. She has ulterior motives that I'm almost positive will make things interesting. Somehow, he and I have made a connection with her. Maybe it has something to do with wanting to be friends over anything else.

As I walk through the doorway and round the corner, everyone looks at me curiously. Looking at Reynolds, my face gives nothing away. I hope. Hell, if I was blindsided, he needs to be.

"Reynolds, Rhi requested your presence for a brief moment. She's waiting for you." I smirk, "You might want to make sure you knock before you walk in though." I chuckle as he raises his eyebrows.

OK, she wasn't naked when I went in but I'm trying to give them the idea that she was. Especially Luke. He really likes her and really did some damage the past few days. I know she's hurt and angry and I think she deserves a little payback.

"Dude, I'm being sent into the lion's den? Fuck. She's going to rip me apart." He pauses, looking me up and down. "You look relatively unscathed so maybe it won't be that bad." It sounds like he's saying it more for his benefit than to me, like he's trying to convince himself.

I can't help but laugh. "Just get in there. It'll be worse if you keep her waiting."

He sighs, resigned to his fate, as he gets up and looks like he's heading to his own hanging.