by Kimberly Fox
I push the button and the light flashes green. Nice. I already had one too many unwelcome men go through my bag today. I don’t need a bunch of customs officials added to the list.
We get shuffled like cattle to the parking lot outside where there’s an army of air conditioned buses ready to drive through some terrible poverty to get to the rich man’s paradise. The air is thick with heat. It’s hard to breathe and my shirt is already drenched by the time I meet up with the group.
A few of Lucas’ friends and relatives are at the tiny tiki bar in the parking lot ordering drinks. He is there. Standing beside the bar drinking a Corona and staring at me with a smirk on his frustratingly beautiful face. He raises the bottle to me and tilts it in a cheers before putting it to his lips and taking a long sip. I roll my eyes and look away in fake disgust.
I smile at Cynthia and Julia who are are walking over with their bags.
A strong pull that I find irresistible is yanking at me and I have to turn back. Ethan is still watching me. He elbows Lucas who’s standing next to him and asks him something that I can’t hear from over here. Lucas looks over at me and I turn away with my ears burning hot.
“Check out what our girl bought,” Cynthia says, laughing.
“What is it?” I ask, thankful to have a distraction.
“These are totally in style,” Julia says, pulling a pair of white, thick-rimmed sunglasses out of her purse. There’s a little price tag dangling from the frames that I’m afraid to look at. Julia is a compulsive shopper with a closet that would make Kim Kardashian jealous. And on a kindergarten teacher’s salary, she’s got another closet full of unpaid bills.
Cynthia takes them from her and tries them on. “I thought they took all of your credit cards away?”
“They did,” Julia says, checking her hair in the reflection of the glasses. “I got a new one.”
“Great,” Cynthia says with a chuckle as she takes them off and looks at the price tag. “Three hundred dollars? For sunglasses?”
“What?” Julia asks defensively. “I had to have a white pair. What do you think I’ll be stuck wearing my silver and gold Ray-Bans all week like a poor person?”
“Poor would be an upgrade for you,” I say, taking the sunglasses from Cynthia and trying them on. “Having zero dollars would be an upgrade for you. You have like negative thirty thousand.” And all in retail debt.
“That was last year,” Julia says as I hand the glasses back to her.
“You paid some off?” I ask. Maybe our girl is growing up.
Cynthia snorts out a laugh.
“No,” Julia says nonchalantly. “I added another ten.”
“Julia!” I say. Her massive debt causes me anxiety. I can’t believe that it doesn’t seem to bother her.
“What?” she asks with a shrug. “It’s a new season. Have you seen the spring collection at Louis Vuitton and Channel?”
She goes on about how she has so much self-control since she only bought one purse this season and I tune out and glance back at Ethan. He’s laughing with his cousin Lucas. His face is beautiful when he laughs. His nose curls up and his eyes sparkle. It’s a laugh that’s contagious and I start to smile as I watch him.
His eyes dart onto me out of nowhere and I turn around in panic. Oh shit. Busted.
“Oh my God. He’s still watching you,” Cynthia says, interrupting our babbling friend.
“Who?” I ask innocently.
Julia’s eyes narrow. “Who? Don’t play dumb with us. You know who she’s talking about.”
I can feel my ears reddening again. “It’s nothing,” I say, looking at the cement. “I got airsick and he was helping me back to my seat. That’s all. I’m just happy I didn’t puke on his shoes.”
“Mm-hm,” Cynthia hums, not buying it at all.
“I got a new bikini too,” Julia says rummaging through her bag.
Cynthia laughs. “Just one? How much did this one cost?”
I glance over my shoulder back at the bar and Ethan smiles when we make eye contact. He stuffs his hand in the pocket that has my lacy underwear in it and feels around. I swallow hard as I watch the smirk on his face. He takes his hand out and subtly smells his fingers, all the while never taking his eyes off mine.
I give him a look of disgust and turn back around. I’m suddenly very aware of my heartbeat. It’s pounding like crazy.
“My girls!” Megan screams, shuffling over with her arms raised. She wraps an arm around Cynthia and Julia’s necks and squeezes. I force out a smile to my best friend as the two girls struggle to get out of her iron grasp. “I’m so happy you guys could make it over here,” she says. “It means the world to me. I couldn’t imagine walking down the aisle without any of you there.”
I smile even though I feel like walking away from her over to the bus.
“Megan, check these out,” Julia says, pulling a pair of earrings out of her purse. They’re still in the fancy, little blue box from the store.
Megan’s face lights up when Julia opens it. “Are those real diamonds?”
Julia smiles. “You know it!”
“Those would look great with your bridesmaid dress,” Megan says.
“Please, these are for the rehearsal dinner.” Julia snaps the box shut and tosses them back in her bag. “I bought really big diamonds for the wedding day.”
Cynthia snorts out a laugh. “Are you trying to upstage the bride?”
“Maybe,” Julia answers. “But she’s already got a man. A hot dentist. She doesn’t have to look hot. We’re the single ones.”
“Don’t remind me,” Cynthia mumbles.
Megan looks over at Lucas with doughy eyes. “I don’t need fancy earrings. I can walk down the aisle wearing a paper bag and be happy. He’s the love of my life.”
Cynthia and Julia let out a synchronized “Awwww.”
I ignore the tightness in my stomach and add my ‘Awwww’ to theirs.
Megan grabs my arm and pulls me away. “I’ll see you girls on the bus. I want to ask Tanya something first.”
Cynthia grabs Julia’s white sunglasses as they head over to the bus. “Let me try those on again.”
Megan pulls me aside and takes a deep breath. “Are you okay, Tanya?” she asks.
“Of course,” I say, looking anywhere but her eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I just…I hope there’re no hard feelings. You mean so much to me.”
I have a hard time looking in her big brown eyes so I drop my eyes to her pink pedicured toenails. We’ve been planning our weddings together since we were nine years old. We’d take turns dressing up. Sometimes I’d be the bride and she’d be the groom and sometimes it’d be the other way around. We’d set up our stuffed animals as the audience and get married over and over again.
Megan has been looking forward to this day since we were kids. How could I ruin it for her? I just have to swallow my feelings and pretend to be happy, even though, just between you and me, I’m a little crushed inside that she didn’t choose me as the maid of honor.
“No worries,” I say, hugging her. “I’m so happy for you and this week is going to be amazing.”
We pull away and her face still looks worried. “It’s just you know, Stephanie is paying for our honeymoon and…”
“Megs,” I say. “It’s fine.”
She breathes a breath of relief. “You sure?”
Stephanie pops out of nowhere making me jump. “Hi, bestie!” she says to Megan.
Megan smiles tightly and looks at me sideways. I look back down at her toes.
“Come, bestie,” Stephanie says, wrapping her arm around Megan’s and pulling her away from me. “I saved you a seat beside me on the bus.”
“Don’t you think she wants to sit next to her fiancee?” I ask, struggling to pull out the handle from my rolling suitcase. It’s always getting stuck.
Stephanie waves her hand at me dismissively. “She has the rest of her life to do that with my brother,” she says as they walk
away from me.
I glance over at the bar. It’s full of tourists who I don’t recognize. Aaron, Lucas and Ethan are probably already on the bus.
I sigh and follow the two new best friends as they get on the bus together, arm in arm.
The bus driver grabs my luggage and tosses it onto the pile of suitcases in the storage cabin like it’s a worthless sack of potatoes. I cringe as I picture my shampoo inside exploding all over my clothes.
The bus is packed and like the plane, I’m the last one to enter. Aaron is sitting in the front next to Lucas. Would it have killed him to save me a seat? He doesn’t even look up as I pass him. What the hell did I do to him? I seriously have no idea.
Stephanie pulls Megan into the last two open seats and I scan the rows looking for a place to sit. I gulp as I see the one open seat.
Beside Ethan.
Shit. I look around in panic wondering if there’s any other place to sit. I could sit on the toilet in the small bathroom in the back, maybe the bus driver’s lap, cling to the roof or I could just stand here awkwardly, something that I’m realizing I’ve been doing way too long.
I swallow hard and move forward as the bus driver gets in his seat and closes the door.
Ethan is grinning as I walk up to him. “I saved you a seat, Tanya,” he says.
“How generous,” I say slipping down beside him.
“It’s on my lap.”
“Shhh,” I whisper, looking around to see if anyone heard him. Megan’s parents are sitting right in front of us. “I’m not interested if you haven’t figured that out yet.”
“We’ll see,” he says.
I want to slap that arrogant smile off his gorgeous face.
“Do you get carsick too?” he asks. “Or is that just with airplanes? Because this is a new outfit.” He smooths his hand down the front of his shirt and I can’t help but wonder what his stomach looks like underneath. I’ll find out soon enough. This is a beach vacation after all.
“Just airplanes,” I say coldly. “But I’m allergic to assholes too. So you might want to change into something a little older.”
He lifts his hips off the seat and starts unzipping his pants.
“Will you stop?” I ask, looking around in panic. I wait a second for Mr. and Mrs. Carson to turn around with frowns on their faces but nobody seems to be paying attention to his crudeness.
He sits back down and laughs. “Don’t worry I won’t show you my cock until you’re begging to see it.”
“Jesus,” I whisper harshly, feeling my face go red. “Will you stop?”
Stephanie jumps up from her seat and grabs the handset for the PA system. I never thought I’d say this but I’m actually happy that Stephanie is talking. I need a distraction from this guy even if it does mean hearing Stephanie’s grating voice.
The speakers hiss on when she presses the button. “Hi everyone,” she says into the handset. All eyes are on her, as usual. She is gorgeous I have to give her that; long slim legs with perky tits popping out of her army camouflage tank top. Her long blond hair falls over her square shoulders and frames her pretty face. It’s too bad she’s such a bitch.
“As you know,” she continues, “I’m Megan’s best friend and the maid of honor.” She glances at me as she says it. “I’m so happy that I was chosen as the maid of honor for her wedding. And as the maid of honor, I would like to wish us all a fantastic week!”
Everyone on the bus cheers except me. I’m too busy counting how many times she’s said maid of honor.
I glance over at Ethan out of the side of my eye as Stephanie blabs on about how much fun everyone is going to have this week. His hand is on his leg and I get flooded with warmth as my eyes move up to admire his thick wrist and forearm covered in tattoos. It’s so hot in here but I can’t tell if it’s the tropical climate or Ethan just radiating out hotness.
I reach up and turn the air jet towards me. Nothing comes out but a pitiful stream of hot air that couldn’t cool off an ice cube.
Ethan leans over, touching my shoulder with his. “It is hot in here isn’t it?” he whispers. He pulls out my lacy green underwear and dabs his forehead with it.
My mouth drops. “What are you doing?” I ask in shock.
“Good point,” he says, looking at my underwear in his hand. “I don’t want to dilute the smell.” He puts it to his nose and takes a long inhale.
My whole body goes rigid and all I can do is stare at him with a surprised, incredulous look. He’s loving the shock that he’s getting from me. No one has ever done anything like this to me before and he knows it.
“Hey Ethan,” Mr. Carson says, turning between the seats offering a very welcome distraction. “Thanks again for installing those cabinets for me.”
Ethan smiles and casually stuffs my underwear back into his pocket. Mr. Carson doesn’t seem to notice, although it’s probably been awhile since he’s seen lingerie and he might not recognize it.
“No problem,” Ethan says. “The kitchen looks great.”
I look at him funny. I can’t seem to picture him installing cabinets or just being nice and helpful in general. I can picture him in jeans and a tool belt working with no shirt though…
“I owe you a beer,” Mr. Walker says.
“I’ll take you up on that,” Ethan says. “I just hope it made the wife happy.”
“Oh it did,” Mr. Walker answers with a big smile. “Very happy.” Ew.
Mr. Walker turns to me and nods. “He has great hands.”
I nearly choke on his words. Ethan looks at me with a smile brewing on his lips as I cough unattractively.
“I’ll see you guys at the pool,” he says, turning back around.
Ethan leans in close to my ear. “Don’t worry. I’ll show you what my hands can do later.”
“If it’s not covering your mouth,” I whisper, “than I don’t want to see it.”
“It’s not,” he says. “And trust me, you’ll want to see it.”
Stephanie is still blabbing away over the PA system. Everyone is losing interest at this point. I need a new distraction.
“I won’t,” I answer. “But maybe my boyfriend will be interested in seeing.”
“That guy?” Ethan says, pointing up to Aaron in the front of the bus and laughing. “It doesn’t look like he’s interested. If he doesn’t watch out someone might steal you away from him.”
“Now who would do that?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “Maybe some hot, sexy stranger. Maybe someone who can show you real paradise beyond a beach and palm trees.” He drops his hands to his sides and his knuckles graze the bare skin of my thighs past my shorts. It makes my breath quicken.
His touch is making me lightheaded and I feel heat flooding between my legs. I shift in my seat, moving my leg away from his hand as I look around. He takes his hand back and chuckles.
My skin still tingles where his knuckles were touching. Keep cool Tanya. This is so not like me. But then again I don’t usually have a hot predator like this guy with his sights on me.
Stephanie finally surrenders the mic and sits down to a round of applause. I think they’re clapping because she’s finished and not over what she said.
“Did Stephanie put you up to this or something?” I ask. They are cousins after all and I wouldn’t put it past her. She’s always trying to fuck with me.
I just don’t understand why he’s after me. Julia and Cynthia are both hotter than me and they’re both single. Why is his attention on me?
“No, Stephanie did not put me up to this,” he says with a smile. “I wouldn’t go along with my cousin even if she tried.”
“So, what?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Whenever I see what I want I go after it.”
“And what’s that?” I ask, totally confused.
“Do I have to explain it to you?” he asks with a mischievous grin. “Maybe I should pull this out again?” He pulls out my green underwear and I gulp. Actually, I should start calling them hi
s underwear. I don’t think I’ll be getting them back.
“Okay,” I say, putting my hand on his and forcing them back into his pocket. “Just stop pulling them out.”
I curse under my breath when I realize that I could have grabbed them back but shoved them back into his pocket instead. This is so fucked.
Lucas stands up in his pink polo shirt and plaid shorts. He’s tall and skinny like his sister Stephanie but it doesn’t look as good on a guy’s frame. But he’s got a gentle face and a nice smile that more than makes up for it.
“I want to thank you all for coming,” he says into the mic. “Especially Megan.” He lets out a laugh and everyone joins in.
He continues his sappy speech and Ethan has got me so distracted and thrown off that I can’t focus on any of the words. Lucas gets choked up and wipes a tear from his eye.
“Excuse my cousin,” Ethan whispers in my ear. “He’s such a sap. I swear he’s half woman.”
“He’s sweet,” I say, crossing my arms and leaning away from him. “At least he knows how to talk to a woman.”
“That’s where you’re wrong sweetheart.” I’m looking away but I can hear the grin in his voice. “I know exactly what to say.”
Lucas says something that draws an ‘aww’ from the crowd. Megan jumps up and kisses him on the lips. The crowd claps and cheers. They really are cute together.
Megan grabs the handset from him. “And we’re going to party!”
“Woo hoo!” I yell, clapping my hands.
I look over the seats at the back of Aaron’s head. He hasn’t looked back once. I could be stuck standing for all he cared. I was hoping that seeing me talking with Ethan would spark some jealousy and maybe some interest but nope. That would require him turning around, which he doesn’t seem interested in doing. At all.
The bright blue ocean appears in the distance through the windshield. Tall, gorgeous palm trees line the streets and excitement hits me for the first time today.
