“Finally,” I whisper as I step onto the solid ground of the airport. I have seven more days until I’m forced back onto that death trap. I can’t get away from that plane fast enough.

And it appears that Aaron can’t get away from me fast enough. He’s already walking ahead through the airport, leaving me behind. I catch up with him and ask him to watch my bag while I go to the bathroom.

A long pee and a few splashes of water on my face later, and I’m good to go. I even got some of my color back.

“What the?” I mutter to myself when I see my bag sitting in the middle of the hallway being passed and walked over by dozens of people. I ask Aaron to do one thing and he won’t even.

He’s a few feet away at the baggage claim talking with Stephanie of all people. She throws her blond hair back like a teenage groupie and laughs exaggeratedly at what he said. He smiles and puffs his chest out.

You’ve got to be kidding me? He hasn’t said one word to me all day and here he is flirting with the one person on this trip that I hate the most. I’m starting to wonder why I even hang out with him. He was fun at first but lately, he’s just mean.

Stephanie sees me watching them and turns back to Aaron. She steps in close to him and strokes her hand down his arm.

I turn away in disgust. What is her problem? She only hates me because I’m so close to Megan. Or…was so close.

A Mexican family tramples over my bag and I rush into the swarm of people and rescue it off the floor. A warning keeps repeating through my head: Do not leave your bags unattended for any period of time no matter how short.

I drop to a knee and unzip it wondering what kind of illegal contraband was stuffed inside. I always bring a large carry-on bag full of clothes, a bikini and other necessities just in case they lose my luggage like they did last time. You can always tell the travelers who have had their luggage lost by an airline by the size of their carry-ons.

I unzip my bag and start rummaging through my clothes looking for guns, drugs or stolen diamonds.

I’m searching through my makeup bag when someone kneels down in front of me. My eyes dart up and I gasp when I see Ethan, the hot stranger from the plane, looking back at me with a smirk on his face. “It’s a little late even if you did forget something,” he says.

I shove the makeup bag back under my clothes, trying not to look as flustered as I feel.

“What are you looking for anyway?” he asks, clearly amused.

“Drugs,” I answer as I pull out my beach hat and look inside.

“You might want to wait until you get to the hotel before you start pulling out your illegal contraband,” he says. An airport security guard eyes me funny as he walks by clutching an M16 to his chest.

“No, I’m afraid that someone might have put it in my suitcase,” I say, sliding my fingers into my shoes up near the toes.

“Huh?”

He’s even hot when he looks confused.

So far my bag looks clean but drug dealers are crafty so I keep looking through my beach clothes. “It was left alone while I was in the bathroom.”

His laugh is like an orgasm in my ears. “People don’t smuggle drugs into Mexico.”

“Right,” I say, suddenly realizing how ridiculous I must look right now. I try to hide my red face as I start shoving shit back into my bag.

Ethan reaches in and pulls out a pair of bright green, lacy underwear that I bought for Aaron. I wanted to reconnect and try to spice things up in the bedroom this week.

My stomach drops as I see it dangling from Ethan’s index finger. He’s grinning.

If I thought I was red before I must be glowing right now.

He crumples them into a ball and stuffs them into his pocket without saying a word.

It’s such a bold move that I’m initially confused that it even happened.

“Did you just?” I ask, tilting my head to the side.

“I did.” He winks and stands back up.

“Uh,” I say, looking at him in disbelief. “Can I have them back?”

He shakes his head. “Nope.”

My heart starts racing. “Those are mine.”

“Correction,” he says. “They were yours.”

His audacity throws me off balance and I don’t really know how to act. I’ve never met a man so brazen that he would steal a woman’s underwear right in front of them.

“Give them back or I’ll scream,” I say.

He shrugs. “Then scream.”

Damn it. He called my bluff.

He just smirks and walks away. “Thought so,” he calls back over his shoulder.

The fluttery feeling in my stomach is back as I start to panic. I wore them this morning. I was planning on wearing them on the plane to surprise Aaron when we arrived at our room to get the vacation started off right, but I panicked.

I kept thinking of the plane crashing and the medics finding my mangled body with bright green lacy underwear on, and just couldn’t. I took them off at the last minute before leaving.

But I was wearing them all morning and they still have my scent on them.

And now they’re in Ethan’s pocket.

A tingling sweeps up the back of my neck and across my face. Is it possible to be embarrassed, aroused and angry all at the same time? I think I’ve discovered a new emotion. They’ll probably name it Tanya after me.

I try to clear out the lightness clouding my mind by shaking my head. It’s not working too well. Ethan disappears out of sight in the crowd of people.

I stuff all my shit back in my bag and zip it up. The baggage carousel is groaning to life and bags are falling down the chute like rocks tumbling down a hill, crushing any valuables inside. Relatives and friends of Megan and Lucas start grabbing their bags and heading towards the customs’ booths.

Aaron is still talking to Stephanie. Her head is tilted, her long blond hair falling straight down. How does it stay so straight even in this humidity?

I picture walking over there and shoving her onto the baggage carousel where she’ll disappear into the bowels of the airport never to be seen again when she touches Aaron for the tenth time. This time on his shoulder. She’s just doing it to fuck with me.

“Hi Tanya,” a warm, familiar voice says from behind.

“Mrs. Carson,” I say with a smile. Megan’s mom wraps her short, fleshy arms around me and pulls me in for a hug. Megan’s dad is standing behind her smiling at me. “Congratulations guys,” I say. “This is going to be so fun!”

I’ve always loved Megan’s parents. Megan was an only child so growing up they took me on all of their family vacations. They had a little RV that I still have so many fond memories of.

“Were you okay on the plane dear?” Mrs. Carson asks, looking worried. She touches the back of her hand to my forehead. Always the worried mother. She’s so cute.

“I was fine, thanks,” I lie. “Aaron was with me.” Doing absolutely nothing…

“Oh good,” she says, looking visibly relieved.

Mr. Carson lets out a chuckle. “Remember that time we brought you to Disney World with us? You puked on my lap.”

How could I forget? I was humiliated. “Sorry again about that,” I say for the hundredth time in my life.

“Poor girl,” Mrs. Carson says, shaking her head. “It was her birthday too.”

“Poor girl?” Mr. Carson asks, jerking his head back. “Those were my favorite pants!”

“I’m sorry,” I repeat.

Her mom looks around and then leans in, placing her hand gently on my forearm. “Are you upset that you’re not the maid of honor?” she asks.

Mr. Carson lets out a huff of air. “Maude, will you stay out of it?”

“I just want to know if her feelings are hurt,” she answers defensively.

It’s a sensitive topic. I glance over at their daughter Megan and sigh. She’s taking a selfie with her fiancee Lucas beside their luggage. They both look so happy and so in love. They kiss while she snaps away. Lucas is a great guy and to be honest, I am so thrilled for her. He’s good looking, he’s setting up a dental practice so he’ll make a good living, he’s sociable, fun and he’s as nerdy as her. Everyone loves him. They’re going to have a long, happy life together and I can’t wait to see them grow as a family.

“I’m just so happy that she’s happy,” I answer. And it’s the truth. Even if Megan and I never speak another word to each other I’ll always hope that she’s happy. I’ve never loved another person as much as I’ve loved her. She’s my best friend and my favorite person. Even if she did hang me out to dry.

“Good,” her mom says, nodding. “I just hope there’s no drama this week and we can all have some fun in the sun.”

She looks over in Stephanie’s direction and her eyes narrow. “I don’t know why Megan chose her. That girl is a drama factory.”

“Will you stay out of it?” her dad asks again with a pinched expression on his face. “Come,” he says grabbing her arm. “I don’t want to miss the bus.”

“It’s our personal bus, Frank,” Mrs. Carson answers as she’s getting pulled away. “And no one is on it. It’s not going to leave empty.”

Those two are my favorite couple. So in love yet always bickering. It makes for an entertaining pair.

Aaron is still chatting with Stephanie. He’s said more to her in the past ten minutes than he’s said to me all week. Time to break this party up.

I carry my bag over and they stop talking when they see me, turning and looking at me like I’m a stranger who just interrupted their important conversation.

“Thanks for leaving my bag alone in the middle of an international airport,” I say.

Aaron just shrugs like he doesn’t give a shit. Which he doesn’t. “I was watching it.”

Stephanie steps forward. “We were watching it.” I cringe at how she emphasizes the we. “Don’t worry, no one, not even the poorest Mexican, is going to steal your clothes.”

My chest tightens as they both laugh.

“Oh, relax, Tanya,” she says, slapping my shoulder when she sees the look on my face. “It was a joke.”

She rolls her eyes and leaves, shaking her head. God, I hate her.

“What’s your problem?” Aaron asks rudely.

He doesn’t really want to know what my problem is because he places his headphones back in his ears before I can tell him that he’s being an asshole.

The airport is packed full of annoyed, sweaty and cranky tourists who just want to get to their resorts and jump in the pool. I can relate. I’m one of them.

We find our suitcases on the baggage carousel and then head for the customs’ booths. Aaron speeds ahead and I try to race through the crowds of people to catch up with him but it’s hard with my large rolling suitcase. The sign says that couples traveling together should go through customs as a group, but either Aaron can’t read or he doesn’t consider us a couple because he goes through alone. I was really hoping to reconnect with him during the trip, that I paid for nonetheless, but it seems like he has other plans. Maybe there was nothing really to reconnect to in the first place.

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 his 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.

“This week is going to be off the hook,” Ethan says, looking at the ocean out the window.

I take advantage of his distractedness and run my eyes up and down his muscular body. His hand falls to his side again, touching my leg.

I slap it away and he smiles, still looking out the window.

This week is going to be interesting, to say the least.