by Anthology
Chapter Three
By the time we landed, Brigid had consumed three Bloody Marys and two screw drivers. She knew all the single guys on the plane too. I was getting scared. If this was just the flight, I couldn’t imagine what the week held in store for us.
Once we made it through customs and had our bags, a driver from our resort, The Oasis, awaited us to take us there. His name was Diego, and he was very entertaining. He explained everything we had to look forward to. As we pulled up to the main entrance, we were greeted by another man who took our bags and escorted us inside. Someone stuck glasses of champagne in our hands and escorted us to a golf cart for a tour of the resort.
The last stop was our villa, which was situated right on the beach, where the waves crashed upon the rocks, and the water practically came up to the windows of one of the bedrooms. The east end of the villa was primarily glass, and we were told the sunrises were gorgeous in the morning. It had a large deck with its own private pool that faced the ocean. We decided we would be totally spoiled for our week in paradise.
As soon as Enrique, our guide, left, Brigid threw open her suitcase, put on her bikini, and yelled, “Let’s go, girls.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
“What’d’ya mean?” She looked at me as though I were a stranger.
“I mean, I’d like to unpack first,” I said.
Callie watched us, amused.
Brigid waved her hand. “We’re only here for a week. I don’t want to waste any time unpacking. Come on. Change, and let’s get out there.”
My index finger took aim. “You’d better put some sunscreen on, Marshmallow Queen.”
She glanced down and said, “I have a tan.”
“It’s a spray tan, you big goober. You’ll look like a baked tomato.”
Brigid pounced on her bag and things flew out, causing me to jump out of the way. She reminded me of a dog digging for a bone in the backyard.
In the meantime, I opened my organized suitcase and placed my items in the bathroom. From there, I called out to them, “You three need to draw straws on who is staying where. But this one is mine.”
Callie yelled back, “We figured you’d get the master. There are two queens in the second bedroom, so we can all stay there.”
“This is a king, and I don’t mind sharing,” I called back. “Besides, this is a huge bathroom.” Brigid and Callie decided to share the other bedroom, and Amie and I took the big room. In a couple of minutes, I unloaded my suitcase into the closet, which had shelves and drawers, and stashed my bathroom items away. I changed into my bikini and slathered sunscreen everywhere.
“Ready,” I declared. We all traipsed down to the beach, where we ordered colorful umbrella drinks and checked out the scenery. In that, I meant the human scenery. And it was plentiful. Brigid acted like she was on crack, running around and chatting with everyone.
“Did someone spike her drink?” Amie asked.
“I wondered the same thing,” I said.
The three of us observed her working the crowd, moving around the men as though they were beach palapas she was inspecting to make sure they were shade worthy. Her blatant perusal of each and every guy and what they had to offer below the equator was more than slightly embarrassing for us, even though we were seated well away from her. And what was even worse were the shorts and bathing suits the men were wearing—well most of them anyway—hid everything. It would take Brigid sliding her hand down their pants—which I wouldn’t put past her—to see what kind of goods they owned.
But to her credit, she gained quite a following. Her group of admirers ranged from the dirty old man to the twenty-two-year-old, tailing her like a dog in heat. And she loved every minute of it. After an hour, maybe two, she plopped down on a chaise next to us, fanning herself, saying what a tough job it was working the crowd.
“Oh, and I have our night lined up for us. Jose at the bar over there,” she aimed her thumb over her shoulder in the general direction of said bar, “says that tonight they are giving tango lessons, and it’s a must.”
“Tango lessons? I can barely dance on my own, let alone that,” Callie huffed. “I may sit that one out.”
Brigid leaned forward and jabbed her finger at Callie. “Oh, no you don’t. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. We are going to learn that sexy beast of a dance. You can do it, chica. It’s all in the hips.”
“How would you know? You don’t know how to tango?” I asked.
“That’s what they say about all dances. It’s all in the hips.”
“Hmm. We’ll see about that. What did you learn about the restaurants?”
“Miguel said we should eat at the Italian one. It’s amazing. The only one we need reservations for is the sushi restaurant.”
Britt moaned, “Italian? In the Dominican Republic? Why not local food?”
Brigid raised a shoulder and put both palms up in that air. “No idea, but it’s supposed to be the best. The seafood there is to die for.”
“I’m in,” I said, raising my glass.
That evening, we ate dinner, which was excellent, and headed over to the club where the tango lessons were supposed to be given. The place was packed.
“Jeez, how are we supposed to have a lesson with this many people?” Britt asked.
“I guess they have a lot of instructors,” Brigid said.
At the bar, we all ordered drinks, and before long, our lessons began. They paired us with some random guys there. It was very awkward, but soon, we were all laughing our asses off, because the tango was no easy rascal to master. And that hips thing. Complete bullshit. It was all in the legs and feet, and my poor partner, Tim, would have bruised toes and broken insteps forever. I stomped the shit out of his feet, stumbled all over him, and he had to stop me from falling dozens of times. I wasn’t gonna lie—alcohol was involved, and I had a blast. I can’t say the same for Tim. As soon as the lessons were over, he shot out of there like the guy out of a cannon in the circus. I was surprised he could move so fast.
The other girls’ partners hung around for a while, and we all ended up in another bar called The Love Bar. A fitting name, I supposed, for some. Not this muchacha, as once again, I was alone. Although, I had to say, I wasn’t upset about it. We laughed about poor Tim and that he would most likely have ice bags strapped to his feet the next day.
A couple of drinks later, I told them all good night and headed for the room. I didn’t want to be that third wheel, as they all seemed to be pretty cozy in there. And that was fine. They needed to have a good time too.
Chapter Four
The next morning, I rolled over to find Amie half on top and half under the covers with the same clothes on she wore last night. Mascara clumped her eyelashes together, and she looked like some dead animal had taken up housing there. I covered my mouth to stop the snort from waking her.
Scooting out of bed, I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, and changed into my bikini. Time to check out the beach. Maybe even grab an early breakfast.
As I was walking through the living area, Callie stumbled into the room. A guilty look spread across her features.
“Hmm. Looks like someone had a good time last night,” I remarked.
A goofy giggle popped out of her. “Yeah. It was great, actually.” Her sandals dangled from her fingers.
“I was just going to grab some breakfast and check out the beach. Want to go?”
“Yeah! I’m starved.”
“All that activity makes you work up an appetite, huh?”
She laughed again. “Let me change real quick.” And she disappeared into her room.
The way she came in got me thinking. I wondered if I could take a chance on a one-nighter or even a two-nighter during this trip. What if I found someone I was attracted to and had that itch to scratch? But then I thought of Josh and what we were supposed to have, and my thoughts soured.
Why did that fucker turn out to be such a cheater?
Luckily, Callie got my mi
nd off of those awful thoughts when she showed up in her bathing suit. So we headed to the restaurant. On the way, we staked out our chairs for the day. We liked to get some with a shade option so when the sun got high in the sky, we could get cool if we wanted.
When we got to the restaurant, Callie put so much food on her plate at the buffet I thought the thing would break. But what was more surprising was that she ate it all.
“Damn, girl, you must have a hollow leg today,” I said.
“Just starved,” she said between bites.
“Er, how much, um, activity, did you get?”
She leaned forward and, using her fork for emphasis, said, “A lot.” Then she winked. “You know, you need to find someone to expunge the demon Josh in you.”
“Jeez, I don’t know.”
She aimed her fork at me again. “Yep, it’s exactly what you need. And have you noticed how good looking all the men here are?”
She was right. There were some hotties for sure.
“Even the bartenders and waiters are hung…I mean hot.”
“Hey, wait a sec. Exactly who did you go home with last night?” The crimson started in her neck and creeped up to the tip of her ears. “Oh, hell to the fucking no, tell me you didn’t.”
Her posture sagged. “I couldn’t help it. He came into The Love Bar, and he was such a sexy dance instructor that I succumbed.”
“Jesus, Callie. He probably does that to all the women here.”
Her happy face morphed into one of shame. “I know.” Then she straightened in her chair and said, “But he was a damn good lay.” And she snickered.
“I guess if you’re good with it, who am I to judge? Just don’t go looking at me to follow your footsteps.”
“Don’t worry. No pressure from me.” And she crammed more eggs into her mouth.
An hour later, we found ourselves in the pool doing water Zumba. Callie suggested it, so she could sweat out the alcohol from last night. But when the class started, I was on to her. Her sexy dance instructor from last night was also the water Zumba instructor. Admittedly, the guy was hot. He didn’t get into the pool but stood on the side and told us what to do. Those hips and pelvic rotations that he did had to translate into some great fuck moves. I glanced over at Callie a few times and knew she was blushing because I saw how much sunscreen she had applied before we got into that pool.
“I’d ask if your bikini was wet, but that would be a moot point,” I said to her. She let out a snort and he looked over at us. The guy had a million dollar smile to go along with those moves. No wonder she spent the night with him.
After the class ended, the instructor, whose name is Eduardo, moseyed up to us and ran his hungry eyes over Callie. “Ah, my lady is looking very beautiful in her bikini this morning.” He kept his distance, though, as I imagined the rules here were strict regarding the staff fraternizing with the guests.
“Thank you, Eduardo. You are looking very, er, nice, too,” Callie purred.
God, this was a bit much. I almost reached over a wiped the slobber dripping from her chin.
“All right then, I’m headed to the chair. See you two laters.” On the way, I spied Amie and Brigid stumbling over from the villa. Their large straw hats were pulled way down over their eyes, shielding them from the morning rays.
“Morning, señoritas. Y’all don’t look so chipper today.”
“I need a drink,” Brigid moaned. A cute little guy magically appeared with a drink tray loaded down with bottled water and handed one to each of them. “May I get you señoritas anything else?” he asked.
“I’d love one too.”
“My apologies, señorita.” He handed me one. “Can I have one of your drink specials?”
“Anything else?”
Amie ordered a breakfast burrito, and Brigid asked for an omelet.
Our waiter showed back up with his tray loaded down. The girls sighed as they bit into their food.
“Where’s Callie?” Brigid asked, after she finished.
“I left her at the pool with the Zumba instructor.”
“You mean Eduardo?” Amie asked.
“Yep.”
“He’s smokin’,” Brigid said.
“She agrees with you. Came in the morning with a very happy face on,” I told them.
Amie sat up and used her water bottle as a pointer. “You need to get some of that.”
“All right, that’s enough. Y’all are sending me the message, and I’m receiving, loud and clear.”
Brigid said, “You need to be receiving the dick.”
It was my turn to sit up. “I have yet to meet the dick I want to receive.”
“You’re not even looking,” Amie accused.
“Okay, Okay. I’ll be better.” But would I? Sleeping with some strange dude who I would never see again wasn’t my thing. Was it possible for me to let myself get loose enough to do it?
Chapter Five
Late that afternoon, Brigid persuaded us all to enter the limbo contest they were having on the beach. She, of course, won and attracted the most attention because she lost her top in the process. I was pretty sure it was intended, but she swore it wasn’t. Suddenly, Amie plucked me from the outskirts and pushed me into the middle of the circle where I was introduced to everyone, more specifically, the men.
I was never the forward one of the group. So being thrust, as I found myself, in the center, was more than a little weird. But it turned out okay. The guys were nice, and I relaxed after a while. I couldn’t remember all of their names, and Brigid told me I didn’t need to know that, just whether or not they were packing.
“Jeez, you have a one-track mind.”
“Why not? Look where we are! It’s a penis paradise, for Pete’s sake.”
Brigid was right. But then I got to thinking. Did the guys look at us as a pussy paradise? Probably. Did I care? Not really. I chugged my drink back and decided to have a good time anyway.
The next game that was up was Izzy Dizzy.
“No, oh, hell no. I can’t play that,” I said, heading back to my chair.
“Oh, come on. This is the best one,” Callie yelled.
Amie agreed, and Brigid said, “No way in hell are you skipping this.” She put my wrist in a grip tighter than a handcuff and dragged me over to where the game was going to take place.
“I have a terrible feeling about this,” I said.
“It’s going to be a blast.”
The game hosts explained how we all had to put our foreheads on one end of the baseball bat while the other end was held in the sand, run around it four times, and then go tag the next person on our team so he or she could take their turn. The first team to finish won.
We ended up on a team with a bunch of cuties, and they started cheering us on. Callie went first. When she made her final turn, she took off in the wrong direction as we screamed and screamed. Then she crashed into a beach chair and one of the waiters had to help her up. Brigid promptly took off toward the sea, and I wondered what she was doing.
When she came back, she had a weird look on her face.
“Why’d you go swimming?” I asked.
“Had to. I peed my pants from laughing at Callie.”
The snort that came out of me had all the guys on the team eyeing me. One even asked if I was okay.
Waving my hand, I said I was fine.
“Good, because you’re up next.”
It was plain to see we were losing due to Callie’s move. So I braved it and pretended I would get our team back ahead.
I walked up to the bat and put my head on the thing. After three circles, I wanted to puke, but one more? Ugh. I let go, took three steps in the wrong direction, and fell flat on my face, eating a mouthful of sand. Some nice person helped me back up. When I returned to our group, I apologized, saying, “I sucked.”
The other team won, so I yelled to our group, “I’ll buy y’all shots!”
We headed to the bar, and I hooked them up with a round of their choi
ce. It was an all-inclusive resort, so the joke wasn’t lost on them, but we had a good time anyway.
“Can any of you do that? Run around and then not get dizzy as hell?”
“Fuck no,” some guy named Bonzo said. “No one can. That’s why it’s called Izzy Dizzy. But some can do it without crashing.”
I spit out more sand and they all laughed.
“So, Bonzo, where’d you get a name like that?” I asked.
He laughed. “When I was born, my older brother couldn’t say Ronald, and it came out Bonzo. It stuck.”
Everyone chuckled. “It’s catchy, and that’s one name no one ever forgets,” I said.
“True, but when I was a kid, it got me in trouble too. If someone couldn’t remember the culprit’s name, it was always—blame it on Bonzo.”
I patted him on the back. “Poor guy.”
He smiled, and it was the first time I noticed, really noticed, him. He was attractive. Not in that drop-your-panties kind of hot, but he had a sweet look about him. Light brown eyes that didn’t rake my body, short blondish brown hair, and maybe just under six feet tall, he was someone I could be friends with.
“Yeah, I got detention a lot. My parents weren’t very cool, either.”
“Looks like you did okay, though.”
He shrugged. “I survived.”
“What about you, Leelee?”
I laughed at his use of my nickname. “My name’s actually Lena. My friends here call me that, but not many others.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. I do prefer Lena, though.”
“Lena, it is.” He held out it hand and we shook. It was warm, and calloused, unlike Josh’s soft hands. Bonzo must use his hands a lot for work.
“What do you do when you’re not vacationing in the islands?” I asked.
“I own a construction company,” he said.
“That’s cool. So are you a carpenter?”
