Chapter 7

The next morning, I woke up with a strange ache in my jaw. I touched it gingerly and laughed when I realized why. Mamadou was thick, and I'd been enthusiastic. Sipho was still asleep, sprawled on his back with one arm flung over his face. I let him rest and slipped out to the terrace with my phone.

The ocean was calm, the sun already warm on my skin. I sat there in just my robe, scrolling through the photos on my phone, when I heard footsteps behind me.

"There you are."

I turned to find Sipho leaning in the doorway, hair mussed, eyes still half-closed. He yawned and shuffled over, dropping into the chair beside me.

"Morning," I said. "How's the jaw?"

He rubbed his own jaw and winced. "Sore. Aïssa was... enthusiastic."

"Tell me about it. Mamadou nearly broke my mouth."

We both laughed, and Sipho reached over to squeeze my hand. "You were amazing yesterday, by the way. That competition was intense."

"You weren't bad yourself. Aïssa sounded like she was having a religious experience."

He grinned, then his expression shifted to something more serious. "So, what do we do today? We haven't gotten an envelope yet."

"Maybe they're giving us a day off," I suggested. "We could explore the retreat, check out the bars, maybe even just... relax."

"Relax. Right. Because that's what we've been doing," he said dryly.

"Okay, maybe not relax. But at least take a break from the scheduled experiences."

We got dressed, this time actually putting on real clothes for the first time since we'd arrived. It felt strange, almost claustrophobic, after spending days in nothing but robes and skin.