by Kimberly Fox
Cynthia grins as she makes her way over. “No. That hot muscular man pumps thoughts of sex into people. He looks like a movie star.”
Julia shakes her head. “No, a model.”
“A movie star that does modeling on the weekends,” Cynthia says.
“Yup,” Julia says, nodding. “That’s it.”
I’ve had enough of this conversation. I have a boyfriend and Ethan is just being inappropriate. “Will you guys stop?” I ask. “I’m here with Aaron.”
“Pff,” Julia spits out. “Don’t get us started on him. We’re here to have fun.”
“Come on guys. Don’t be so hard on him.”
Cynthia looks over my shoulder to the bar. “Look at him. Flirting with Stephanie in front of everyone.”
My stomach flutters as I turn and look. It’s even worth than I thought. The two of them have their arms wrapped around each other chugging beers. Stephanie spills her beer on her chest and squeals as it pours down her tits. Aaron takes the opportunity to stare at them and he even wipes the beer off her chest with his hand. See? He’s very helpful.
“Ugh.” Cynthia says what I’m thinking.
“He’s with Little Miss look-at-my-tits,” Julia says. “Why can’t you be with Superman?”
Cynthia smiles knowingly. “He’s watching you.”
I can’t resist. I glance over my shoulder and sure enough, Ethan is staring right at me. His face lights up in a smile and I turn back with my face flushing red. I glance up at the sun. Do I have a suntan yet to hide this constant blushing?
“Hey ladies!” a drunken Megan yells, stumbling as she walks towards us through the pool. She has a blue lagoon in her hand which she keeps spilling into the pool. What percentage of the pool water is spilled alcohol?
The bride is tipsy, bordering on drunk, and I really don’t feel like discussing this around her when she’s in this state. Or any state for that matter.
“These are my girls!” Megan yells to an old German couple walking by on the path. They hurry along.
“Can we drop the whole Superman talk?” I ask pleadingly as she gets closer.
Julia and Cynthia look at each other and each raises an eyebrow, contemplating my plea. Cynthia rubs her chin. “For now.”
“I love your bikini!” Julia says as Megan arrives.
“Right?” Megan says, spilling more of her drink into the pool. Luckily her blue lagoon is the same color as the pool water. “I’ve always wanted a white bikini but was always too shy to wear one. But it’s my wedding week so fuck it!” She throws her hands in the air, splashing her drink in her hair and screaming ‘Woo!’
She’s on the way to getting white girl wasted. Megan is really fun when she’s drunk but she always crashes hard and fast. I can’t even remember all of the times that I had to literally pick her up, bring her home, undress her and stay up all night to make sure she didn’t choke on any vomit in her sleep. It looks like tonight is going to be one of those nights, although now she has Lucas to do all that for her. Or Stephanie…
Megan chugs the rest of her drink and just lets the empty cup float away in the pool. Yeah, she’s drunk.
“Come,” Megan says, almost falling forward as she grabs Julia and Cynthia’s hands. “You’re both single. One of you should hook up with Lucas’ cousin Ethan. He’s soooooo hot.”
I feel a flash of anger spark through me at the thought of him with either of them. You’re actually jealous. What is wrong with you?
Julia glances at me through the corner of her eye. “I think he has his eye on someone else.”
Megan is too drunk to realize what she is talking about and continues trying to be Cupid. “Or maybe both of you should hook up with him,” she says with a high-pitched squeal that she always does when she’s drunk. “From what I hear, he can handle two women.”
I want to ask her more questions about what she means by two women but instead, I just look around, pretending like I’m bored by this conversation.
Megan wraps her arm around my shoulder and leans in a little too close with her blue lagoon breath. “What do you think Tanya? Should they do him?”
I gulp. They’re both smirking at me.
“Yeah Tanya,” Cynthia says. “Should we do him?”
“Sure,” I say with a shrug. “What do I care?”
“Great!” Megan says, letting me go and stumbling back to the bar. “Let’s go!” She trips on the smooth bottom of the pool and her sunglasses slide off the top of her head into the water. She doesn’t even notice.
Julia wraps her arm around mine and pulls me to the bar. “Don’t worry Lois Lane,” she says giggling. “We won’t steal your Superman.”
They both giggle as they drag me to the bar. I pick up Megan’s floating cup and her forgotten sunglasses with my toes. She’s always forgetting things everywhere and I just have a habit of watching over her stuff when we’re out. I place them back on her head when we arrive at the bar and then I go order a drink.
Ethan is on the other side of the bar. He’s crouched in the water up to his eyes and he’s watching me like a crocodile. I should go over there but I turn to the safe target beside me instead: Megan’s dad.
He talks about the golf courses that he’s going to try this week, explaining every hole in detail as I stare at the mole on his forehead. I keep an eye on Aaron and Stephanie behind him as he blabs on about the speed of the greens and the size of the sand traps.
They finally break apart when Aaron heads to the bathroom to go pee. At least he’s not drunk to the point where he’s peeing in the pool.
Mrs. Carson pulls Megan’s dad away from me when she wants to go back to the room to get ready for dinner. It’s late afternoon and the sun is already beginning its slow decline behind the resort.
“Fuck,” I curse under my breath as a drunken Stephanie stumbles towards me and wraps her arm around my neck a little too hard. She yanks me into her, pressing her breast into my cheek. I strain my neck trying to pull away from her cold wet bathing suit top.
“Aaron is sooooo cool,” she says, slurring her drunken words. Her breath smells like rum strained through a dirty diaper. “How did you snag him?”
“I left a plate of bacon out every morning and he just kept showing up,” I say, still squirming to try and get free.
She throws her head back and laughs like it was the funniest thing she’s ever heard. It wasn’t that funny, if at all.
“I hope you’re not mad that Megan chose me as her best friend over you,” she says. “We just have a close connection that only comes along once in a lifetime.”
“Right,” I say, finally pulling away from her. “And the fact that you paid for her honeymoon has nothing to do with it?”
Her beautiful green eyes narrow into a vicious glare. I gulp. She’s fucking scary.
She takes a deep breath and smiles a smile that tells me I better brace myself.
“Aw that sucks!” she says so loud that everyone around the pool bar can hear. “I’d hate to have my period on vacation,” she says, stepping away from me.
Conversations stop. Eyes turn to me. I want to sink into the drain at the bottom of the pool, never to be seen again.
“Guys, don’t swim near Tanya in the ocean,” she yells. “She’ll attract sharks. Tanya is going to turn this wedding week into shark week.” She throws her hair back and laughs. “I’m only kidding.”
I glance over at Ethan and subtly shake my head no. Why do I care if he thinks I’m on my period? But for some reason I do.
Megan is in a drunken make-out session with Lucas and misses the whole thing. How does she always miss Stephanie when she’s at her worst?
A guy at the bar standing next to me looks in the water around my hips and steps away with his face cringing.
“I’m not on my…period,” I say quietly.
The bartender is staring at me with a serious face. “No bleeding in the pool.”
I sigh and head for the stairs. It’s almost dinner anyway and I have
an irresistible urge to go hide out in my room.
Aaron comes back from the bathroom and is about to walk right by me. “I’m heading back,” I say to him. He stops and turns. “I want to get ready for dinner.”
“Okay cool,” he says and dives into the water. He swims back to the bar, never looking back once.
“Want to come with me?” I say to myself as I walk to get my stuff. “No? Okay great.”
The sun is setting, lighting the huge sky a spectacular pink and purple through the swaying palm trees but for some reason my head is lowered and I stare at the tiles the whole way back.
Chapter Four
Ethan
Day One
The cocktail lounge is full of hot bodies with the shine of new suntans. The band is playing soothing Caribbean music in the corner and the singer, a hot senorita with a flowing skirt and huge breasts popping out of her tight top, watches me as I head to the bar and order a drink.
Two girls, probably about twenty-one years old, are giggling as they sip on their fruity cocktails, glancing in my direction every few seconds. I smile and nod at them but I’m only looking for one person.
There’s just something about Tanya that I can’t put my finger on. I’m intrigued. I can’t stop thinking about her and how hot she looked in her bikini. She wasn’t skinny and looking malnourished like the other girls that I usually pick up at my bar, like the girls giggling as they talk about me at the end of this bar. She looks like a woman. A real woman. She’s voluptuous with curves that I would love to explore.
She had me so hot and bothered that even a cold shower after the pool bar couldn’t cool me down. I had to jack off when I got back to my room and the whole time I was picturing myself peeling off her bikini and getting to the good parts underneath.
She walks in with her two friends and my breath catches in my throat. She looks like an angel in her turquoise sun dress and a fresh tan on her gorgeous face. New freckles dust the tops of her cheeks that weren’t there this afternoon. They must only come out in the sun. Her long auburn hair is tied back tightly in a ponytail and her face lights up in a contagious smile as she giggles with her friends, Cindy and Julie was it?
She’s already holding a drink, a mojito from the looks of it, and when she puts the straw to her pink lips my dick pulses. She’s so hot. Her red shoulders are bare except for the thin strap of her dress. There’s no bra visible and I wonder if she’s wearing any underwear underneath. I’d love to find out. Her curvy breasts fill out the top and offer just a hint of cleavage. Just enough to make me imagine my dick sliding through them.
Her boyfriend, Aaron, charges into the place right past her and heads to the bar. He nods at me as he passes and I just stare back. He’s a piece of shit. I can tell his type immediately. He acts like he’s a gift from God but deep down inside he’s an insecure little fuck who knows that he ain’t worth shit. Tanya doesn’t belong with him and I’m determined to show her that. And I only have a week to do it.
Let the games begin.
Tanya finally catches my eye and looks away flustered. I start counting and don’t even reach five before she looks my way again. I give her a little wink and her suntanned face turns a shade redder. I love doing that.
“Hey, cuz!” Lucas says, wrapping his drunken arm around me. “I’m so touched that you made it.”
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” I say to him. And it’s the truth. I’ve always loved my little cousin Lucas, as goofy and nerdy as he is. He’s got a heart that is too big for his body and he’s always thinking of everyone but himself. Megan is a really lucky girl to have him.
His eyes are half shut and the parts that are open are glazed over. Did I mention that he’s a lightweight?
“Are you having fun?” he asks, a little too drunk for the time of night. I better keep an eye on him so that he doesn’t fall in the ocean and get swept away.
“I am,” I answer. “I don’t have to ask if you’re having fun. It’s written all over your face.” His bride stumbles in looking drunker than him. She’s got a big, happy smile on her lips.
“Megan seems like a hell of a good choice,” I say. From what I’ve seen of her today, she seems like a good match for him.
“She’s the best,” he says, holding his clasped hands to his chest. “She’s my princess.”
He takes a sip of his drink and spills some on his chin. “What about you?” he asks, wiping his chin with the back of his hand. “Are you seeing anyone?”
“You know me,” I say with a grin. “I see different women every night.”
“You dog.” Lucas laughs and punches my arm. “You should try to settle down, though. It’s nice, being with one woman every night.
I glance over at Tanya. “I can see that.”
“Oh,” he says, standing straight like he just thought of a genius idea. “Megan has some hot friends. I can set you up.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask glancing over at Tanya. She’s laughing at something that Julie, or was it Cindy, is saying.
“Julia and Cynthia are both single,” he says, with a burp.
“What about Tanya?” I ask as Lucas takes a long sip of his drink.
Lucas shakes his head as he bites down on an ice cube. “She’s with my buddy Aaron. Off limits.”
“We’ll see,” I say under my breath.
Megan announces that it’s time to head over for dinner. She reserved a long table for the twenty or so people in the wedding group.
“Come sit beside me for dinner,” Lucas says, clutching my arm. “I want to hear all about your new tattoo shop.”
He never lets go of me as we walk the short distance to the restaurant. We chat about my bar and the new tattoo shop that I just opened as I keep an eye on Tanya, who’s walking ahead of me.
I catch Lucas a couple of times as he trips on his flip flops and almost takes a nosedive to the tiled ground. He’s had a few too many.
We pass a light post with a bush full of beautiful red flowers in bloom planted in the garden at the base. I snatch off a large flower as I keep an eye on Tanya’s ass. She’s so hot and that dress drapes down her curves in a dick-hardening way.
I glance over my shoulder when I hear my cousin Stephanie’s annoying laugh. Tanya’s shitty little boyfriend is all over her. They’re walking a little too close, getting a little too comfortable. I know what’s behind his eyes. He’s going to fuck her the first second that he can.
My cousin Stephanie has always been like that. I think she’s doing it to piss Tanya off. She’s always fucking with other girls and playing mind games. The product of an all-girls, private Catholic school.
The restaurant is an Italian theme with pictures of the crumbling Colosseum, the leaning tower of Pisa and the Sistine Chapel. Why do they think we came to Mexico? To see a fake Italy? It doesn’t make sense.
Tanya and her friends sit at one end of the table and Lucas pulls me to the opposite end. Fuck. I was really hoping to sit beside her.
“I’m starving,” Lucas says, as he plops down in his seat. I hesitate for a second and only sit down when the other wedding guests fill the chairs all around her.
“Lucas maybe you should drink some water instead of wine,” his mother, my aunt, says as she reaches across the table and flips over his empty wine glass.
“Don’t worry aunt Susan,” I whisper when Lucas is distracted with trying to unfold his napkin on his lap. “I’ll order him some grape juice in a wine glass. He won’t know the difference.”
“Thank you, Ethan,” she whispers back.
Tanya places her napkin on the table and stands up. My heart starts pumping fast as she walks away from the table and heads to the bathroom.
“Excuse me,” I say, tossing my napkin on my empty plate. “I’ll be right back.”
I slip the flower out of my pocket, smoothing out the few crumpled petals, as I rush around the restaurant to cut her off in the hallway by the bathroom.
“Oh,” Tanya says, startled, as I pop out of
nowhere. The wall behind her is hiding us from our table.
She looks even better up close. Her eyes are sparkling like the ocean and she smells like aloe and perfume mixed together.
“You look spectacular,” I say looking her up and down slowly, taking her all in. “Shakespeare in his prime couldn’t describe how beautiful you look right now so I’m not even going to try. Just know that right now you’re the most breath taking girl in the whole world.”
I touch her wrist lightly and gently kiss her on the cheek, letting my lips linger an extra second or two longer than when friends kiss.
“Look, Ethan-”
I put my index finger to her lips and the rest of her words disappear from her mouth. I slip the flower behind her ear and smile.
“I’ll see you later.” I release her wrist and head back to the table with my head swimming.
Chapter Five
Tanya
Day One
Everyone is laughing at me.
Of course, they are. I look ridiculous.
Megan and I both spin and drop backward, tapping our palms on the ground. We both almost fall over but somehow manage to get back up. This synchronized dance to the Backstreet Boys was way easier when we were agile twelve-year-olds.
Fourteen years later and I still remember every move.
Megan and I strut towards each other on the empty dance floor of the discotheque as everyone in the large circle cheers us on. Time for the Matrix. I pull out two imaginary guns from my waist and fire imaginary bullets at her. She bends backward waving her hands in the air slowly like Neo when he dodges the bullets in the first Matrix movie.
Ethan is watching with a grin on his face. His eyes are glued to me.
Megan almost falls onto the floor but gets up with a complete lack of grace. Stephanie storms off from the circle to the DJ booth and grabs the mic right before our big finale.
Megan grins drunkenly at me from across the dance floor. When Nick starts singing his part she’s going to sprint at me and I have to lift her in the air like Patrick Swayze lifts Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing. This move worked about a fifth of the time when we were twelve and Megan weighed ninety pounds. Now, I give this a one percent chance of working. But we can’t let the crowd down.
