“This is going to take forever,” Aaron complains.

We’re standing in the long line for check-in and it’s hot and the line is not moving. I glance over my shoulder at the VIP area where Ethan, Megan, Lucas, Mr. and Mrs. Carson and Stephanie are hanging out as they get checked in. Stephanie has her arm wrapped around Megan and they’re both laughing.

Sweaty round flesh touches the back of my arm and I yank it away. There’s a fat Italian man in a tight Speedo behind me who keeps standing a little too close. He doesn’t seem to be concerned about the concept of personal space. It’s insanely hot in here and his wet belly hits my arm again. Ew.

Aaron is looking at the tall ceiling of the spectacular lobby in annoyance. The ceilings are built with hundreds of interconnecting beams of wood that must have taken years to design and build all for our visual enjoyment and all he can do is stare at them in irritation.

I glance back over my shoulder at the VIP area and the waitress is bringing them a tray of champagne flutes. Little beads of water snake down the tall, cool glasses and all of a sudden my mouth is incredibly dry. The happy group each take a glass and cheers with each other. I have to look away.

Cynthia and Julia leave the front desk with their key cards and new, pink, plastic bracelets on their wrists. Julia waves as they walk away. “We’ll see you at the pool, love.”

Aaron drops his suitcase and huffs. “I’m going to get a drink at the bar while you wait,” he says.

There’s a bar on the far side of the lobby with a few people drinking their afternoon away. His eyes are fixated on it.

“Can’t you wait with me?”

His shoulders drop in annoyance. “We don’t need two people to wait, do we?”

I really have to pick my battles with Aaron and I really don’t want to be fighting with him all week. I just want a fun week with no drama but nobody else seems to want the same thing.

“Fine,” I say, eating my frustration. Relationships are all about compromise. “Why don’t you get us both a drink and come back and wait with me?”

He rolls his eyes. “Fine.”

“Strawberry daiquiri please,” I call out to the back of his head.

The line moves about six inches and I have to force myself to not look back at Megan and the other VIPs. My self-discipline doesn’t last long, I can’t help it, and I glance over, immediately regretting it. They’ll all be staying beside each other in their ocean view suites while I’m in the back of the resort with a view of the parking lot.

It feels like I’m back in high school at the loser table looking at the cool kids and wishing that I was one of them. But when did Megan upgrade? She was always at my side at the loser table. ‘Dorks forever,’ we would say. But now she’s a cool kid and she’s left me behind.

She walks away arm in arm with her new best friend, Stephanie, and I feel a sharp pang in my heart. Stephanie throws her hair back and laughs at some inside joke that I’ll never be a part of. I turn away, holding back the tears burning my eyes.

“I brought you something,” a deep, raspy voice says from behind me. It doesn’t sound like the half-naked Italian man.

Ethan is holding up his glass of champagne. The excited bubbles float anxiously to the top. “Thanks,” I say, “but my boyfriend is getting me a drink.”

He points to the bar where Aaron is talking to two teenage girls who can’t be older than nineteen. “I don’t think he’s coming back.” Aaron’s beer is half finished and there’s no sign of the strawberry daiquiri that he’s supposed to be bringing back to me.

Ethan holds up the champagne flute to me. Fuck it. I take it from him, touching his hand in the process. I take a sip and have to hold back a moan that’s bordering on sexual. The coolness of it, mixed with the taste and the bubbles is so good in my dry mouth. It’s just what I needed in this heat.

Ethan reaches for the glass and touches my hand as he takes it, making my arm hairs stand to attention. He rotates the flute, turning the spot where I drank towards him. He takes a sip, placing his mouth on the exact imprint of my lips. He empties the glass, looking at me over the flute as he drinks.

“Tasty,” he says, licking his lips. Everything that he says sounds sexual. Probably because everything that he says is sexual.

I take a deep breath. It just got hotter in here. What is this guy trying to do to me? What is his game?

He smiles as he picks up his bag. “I’ll see you at the pool.”

I gulp as I watch him walk away. Shit. Now I really wish that I had stayed on my diet and exercise program. I had wanted to lose the winter pounds that I gained but slacked off the past few months and the wedding week came up faster than I had thought it would. I’m not huge but I’m definitely not as tight and hard as I’d like to be. Definitely not as tight and hard as Ethan must be used to.

Whatever. He’s tight and hard enough for the both of us.

I finally get checked in and the guy at the desk hands over my key card. “You’re in room number one,” he says.

“One?”

“Sí. One.”

I look at him nervously. “Do they start by the beach?”

“No,” he says, shaking his head. “They start right there.” He points across the lobby to the first room, which is pretty much in the lobby. It looks like it could be a janitor’s closet or something if it weren’t for the big number one stenciled on the door.

I sigh as I glance to my right where the ocean is. At least two hundred yards away. Can this week get any worse?

I turn and walk straight into the shirtless sweaty body of the Italian man standing behind me. I spoke too soon.

I choke back the vomit creeping up my throat as I peel a wet chest hair from my lips and head over to get Aaron. He’s chugging a beer with the two young girls in bikinis.

“Are they all out strawberry daiquiris?” I ask, too pissed to hide it.

He points to the bartender who’s watching TV. “I was bringing you one. They just have to make it.” He suddenly remembers his new friends and introduces me, as if I give a shit about them. “Girls this is my…friend.”

“Right,” I say through a clenched jaw. I ignore the girl who has her hand out to shake mine. “I’m going to our room. Friend.”

“I’ll come with you.” He chugs the rest of his beer and throws a crumpled dollar bill on the bar. I roll my eyes and head to our room, which conveniently is only a few feet away, while he makes plans to meet up with the girls later.

The line where the orange tiles of the lobby meet the blue tiles of the hallway is right in the middle of our door. So basically, we’re half in the lobby, half in the resort.

“This is our room?” Aaron asks from behind me.

“Yup,” I say sliding the key card into the door. It clicks open and when I walk into the dark room the old, musky smells hits me like a roundhouse in the face. It’s small with one twin bed draped in cardboard sheets and dusty curtains that belong in an abandoned trailer home. The TV looks ancient.

Aaron closes the door and I can still hear the cheesy music from the lobby through the thin walls. Maybe it just needs some air. I yank open the curtains and am dazzled by the wonderful ground floor view of the parking lot. Not only that but there are two Mexican workers leaning against our window smoking. They both turn around, look directly at me and then return to their cigarettes.

An image of Stephanie and Megan running through their VIP suites freaking out over the hot tubs and the beach views plays through my head. For some reason, Ethan is sitting shirtless on the bed.

Aaron opens the mini-fridge and cracks open a can of beer. He jumps on the bed, spilling beer on the sheets, and turns on the TV.

“I’m going to the pool,” I say, grabbing my bag and heading into the bathroom. I don’t even care if he comes with me. He feels like a stranger lately. He was fun when we were younger but any electricity that we once had has vanished like a power failure and I feel like I’m left in a cold, dark house in the middle of an ice storm. I don’t even know why we got back together.

My heart is pounding as I pull out my bikini. Was it this small in the store?

I take a deep breath and shake out my trembling hands as I stare at the tiny piece of fabric on the sink. You can do this.

I peel off my clothes and slide the bikini on keeping my eyes closed the whole time. My eyes are pointed at the floor when I finally open them. The mirror is standing in front of me like a judge, jury and executioner. It’s time for my sentence.

Shit.

Tanya Prentis, you are guilty of too many milkshakes and not enough exercise. Sentence: A week of embarrassment and shame.

I spend the next ten minutes cursing myself for not working out and cursing the milkshake store next to my office for being open in winter.

“It’s not too bad,” I lie, turning and looking at my softness and muffin top from every angle.

A brilliant idea pops into my head and I’m on the cold tile doing sit-ups until I’m out of breath and my non-existent ab muscles are burning. Too late for sit-ups now.

My face is red and sweaty when I get up and I’m out of breath. Goddamn I made it even worse.

I slather on some suntan lotion, take one last look at myself and suck in my stomach as best I can before going outside.

I need to hear something nice from Aaron. If he wants to redeem himself, then now is the moment.

His eyes are fixated on the TV. “Like my new bikini?” I ask, afraid to hear the answer.

He pries his eyes from the TV screen and looks at me. His nose scrunches up slightly as he focuses on my stomach. I feel extremely naked right now. I want to curl up into myself like a hedgehog and hide.

“It’s nice,” he says, in a not entirely convincing way. At least he didn’t call me fat. Maybe there’s hope for him yet.

I grab my sarong from the chair and wrap it around myself.

“Yeah that looks better,” he says. He jumps off the bed and pulls his shirt off revealing his pale flabby stomach and undefined arms.

He doesn’t care. He’s not self-conscious. Why do guys expect their girls to be perfect when they don’t expect the same thing of themselves? Why do I have to have abs when he’s content to have a beer gut?

He’s more self-conscious about my body than he is about his. It’s such bullshit and I’m sick of it.

I take one more glance in the mirror before leaving. Fuck it, I don’t look that bad. My breasts look bouncy and full in my top and my ass is nice and round; it’s not small but it’s also not too big. I wonder what Ethan will think. Will he lose all interest when he sees my muffin top and pale skin?

We open the door to go to the pool and the lobby is packed with a new bus arriving. Aaron looks at the white, sweaty people and frowns. “You should have booked a room with an ocean view,” he says.

Is he fucking kidding me?

I spin on my heels and stick my finger in his shocked face. “I would have if you bothered to chip in.”

He takes a step back and puts his hands in the air. “You know I’m saving up for a car.”

That’s it. I’m done with him for now. I storm off shaking my head. He’s not going to ruin the day for me. He’s not going to ruin my week.

He follows me, keeping a safe distance behind.

I’ve had enough of his shit for one day. I storm through the resort, too pissed off to look at the beautiful sculptures lining the path and too annoyed to admire the spectacular palm trees.

The resort is huge with buildings of rooms on both sides that start at the lobby and finish at the beach. I pass restaurants, cafes, stores, bars and tons of sunburnt people. The pool is the longest in Mexico and winds through the resort like a snake.

I hear a laugh that I wish wasn’t so familiar. Stephanie is in the water at the pool bar looking perfect in a tiny yellow bikini. I tighten up my sarong as I watch her throw her hair back and laugh like she just heard the funniest thing ever.

God, I hate that girl.

Megan, Lucas and a few others in the group are already there getting their drinking on, including Ethan. He’s crouched in the pool and I can only see a distorted view of his body through the water. His hair is wet and messy. It looks a little too cute for his level of hotness.

The group cheers as Stephanie stands on the submerged bar stool and starts dancing. Does this girl have no shame?

She reaches down and grabs Megan to pull her up. I let out a laugh. Megan won’t do that. We hate the look-at-me girls who dance on bars. We always laugh at them.

My mouth drops as Megan climbs up next to her and starts shaking her ass to the shitty Caribbean music.

“There they are,” Aaron says when he catches up to me. He tosses his stuff on an empty chair and looks at me, standing there with my beach bag still in my hands. “Coming?”

My chest tightens. I don’t know why I’m so nervous but I am. I hate being around Megan when Stephanie is there, I hate being around Stephanie all of the time and the thought of Ethan seeing me in a bikini is giving me a panic attack.

“I’m just going to read here for a bit,” I say.

Aaron shrugs and dives into the water to join the party. I sigh as I sit down in the shade and pull out my book. I feel a bit better as I slide my hands over the ridges on the cover. At least I have you. It’s Carol Standings, my favorite author’s, new book called All Angels Fall. I’ve read all of her other books multiple times and this is her latest. I’ve been saving it for this vacation.

I breathe in the fresh smell of new book and get shivers as I read the first line. The laughter from the pool bar gets to me and I reread the same sentence six times without it registering in my brain.

I close my eyes and wish that this day was over. I’m not in the partying mood. I never am when Stephanie is around. Megan is so different when she’s there. I like the dorky Megan who comes up with insane fan theories about Harry Potter and the Megan who has watched hundreds of hours of the shopping network and has never bought a single item. I miss my friend.

I continue reading the same line over and over, still not registering it, when I wish that I brought some headphones. As more people join the party at the pool bar, the more I think that I should go over there, but I’m too shy.

Stephanie makes her way over to Aaron and the two of them continue their conversation from the airport. Every time she throws her head back and laughs he stares at her tits. Her hand finds his arm again and my heart starts pumping. My jaw hurts from grinding my teeth so hard.

My eyes dart over to Ethan, which they tend to do every few seconds, and he’s staring right at me. Shit. I lower my eyes to my book, only seeing black dots on the page, and pretend to read.

When I can’t take it anymore I look up and he’s smiling at me. Ignore him. I reread the first paragraph not taking anything in. I’m going to get my money’s worth at least. At this rate I’ll read each line twenty times.

I look up again and gasp. Ethan is walking over in the pool with two drinks in his hands. My face burns red as I look back down at my book in panic. Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.

Lucky beads of water are rolling down his massive chest onto his perfect abs. His tattoos are nicer than I thought they’d be, starting at his huge shoulders and snaking down his hard, thick arms. His skin is already tanned and sparkling in the sun. He’s got a superman symbol tattooed on his arm. How fitting. I bet under his boxers he’s the Man of Steel.

I look down, trying to focus on each printed letter. Anything, rather than the sexy, tattooed man walking towards me.

“Hey.”

I clench my jaw nervously and pretend not to hear him.

“Hey,” he says again, splashing me.

“Watch it,” I complain, yanking All Angels Fall over my head. “This is a new book.”

“No reading on this vacation,” he says, taking a sip out of the beer in his hands. “Unless it’s a condom wrapper.”

“Ugh,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Do you talk about anything besides sex?”

“Of course,” he says with a grin. “I talk about foreplay sometimes, lingerie, masturbation.”

“Great. Then you’re familiar with the term go fuck yourself?”

“I am,” he says with a smile. “But it’s so much funner with company.” He holds up a plastic cup with red slush in it. “I brought you a drink.”

“Thanks but I don’t really feel like drinking.” Why am I lying?

He ignores me and tries to look at the book in my hands. “What are you reading anyway?”

I hold it up and shrug. “Just some book,” I lie. This is not just some book. I’ve been waiting to read this for months.

He shakes his head and takes another sip of his beer. “Don’t come to paradise to escape in a book. You can do that while waiting for the bus. Come in the pool and escape with me.”

I drop the book on the chair and stare at him, contemplating his words. I do need to let loose a bit this week. I’ve been wound up way too tight.

“What’s the drink?”

His face lights up as he holds up the cup. “Strawberry daiquiri.”

“Extra roofies?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

He shakes his head. “Not my style. I want to see your beautiful face, nice and alert under me while I slide into you.”

My pussy pulses at his words. Wow.

“That’s direct.”

He stares me in the eyes. “I want to fuck you, Tanya. Now saying that, would be direct.”

My breath quickens and my mouth becomes moist but I can’t take my eyes off him. Nobody has ever been that direct with me. It’s intriguing as much as it is rude.

He’s still holding up the drink. “Don’t leave me hanging here, Tanya,” he says. “The water is almost perfect. It’s only missing you.”

I glance past him to see if Aaron is watching. I should be so lucky. Stephanie is whispering something into his ear that’s putting a big smile on his face. Her right breast is pressed against his arm.

Fuck it.

I stand up, still a bit nervous to show off my new bikini, but I do it anyway. He’ll see me in a bikini by the end of the week anyway. Better get it over with now. My sarong meets my book on the chair and I hold my breath as I turn towards him.

He swallows as he stares at me with hunger in his eyes. He licks his lips as I step into the pool. The water is invigorating and very refreshing after a long day of humid travel. I dive down letting the cool water wash the stress from my face and body. I already feel better. Maybe this week won’t be so bad after all.

I pop out of the waist-high water next to Ethan and he’s staring at my breasts. I would expect nothing less.

“That’s one fucking hell of a bikini,” he says, handing me the drink. I take a sip of the strawberry daiquiri and my muscles instantly relax. Man, this feels good.

“It’s new,” I say. “Do you like it?”

“I do,” he says with a smirk, “but it would look better if you left it on the chair with your book.”

I take another sip to hide my blushing face with the cup. I’ll be a sunburnt red pretty soon and at least he won’t be able to see me blushing anymore. I’ve never been the best tanner.

“Do you always talk to women like that?” I ask, raising my eyebrow.

“Just the ones that make me hard.”

“Jesus,” I say, shaking my head. “Are you always so crude?”

“Like I said before. I see what I want and I go for it.” He stares right into my eyes as he says it.

I still don’t understand what he’s seeing. Maybe Stephanie did put him up to this.

He steps forward and I step back. “I’m here with a boyfriend.”

He glances over his shoulder at the pool bar. “You’re here with him but he’s not here with you.”

I follow his eyes and sigh. Aaron is clearly flirting with Stephanie. In front of everyone. He’s right. Aaron is here for the free vacation and for his friend Aaron’s wedding. He’s not here to be with me.

“He’s moved on. I think you should do the same.” Ethan walks in front of me and slides his hand across my bare stomach. He groans in a sexual sounding way. And I like it.

His fingertips leave my body as he sinks to his chin in the pool. My skin tingles with the desire for him to touch me again.

I down the rest of my drink in one gulp and then grimace in pain from the brain freeze.

“Come,” he says, waving me towards him. “There’s more drinks at the bar.”

He takes my empty cup and slides it in his. His hand glides through the water like a shark and takes my hand, pulling me gently towards the pool bar.

“Just one drink,” I say, trying to hide my smile.

I glance back at my chair before we go and both Cynthia and Julia are standing on the walkway staring at me with their mouths dropped open.

Shit. I yank my hand away from his like I just touched something really hot, which I guess I did. “I’ll meet up with you there. I just want to say hi to my friends first.”

“Please hurry,” he says, gliding away from me. “We only have a week to get to know each other.”

“Great,” I say with a smirk of my own. “I’ll introduce you to my boyfriend.”

“Sure,” he says, nodding. “I’d love to know what’s going through his head. If you were mine I wouldn’t be drinking at the bar. I’d be fucking you in every position imaginable around our room.”

“Jesus, Ethan,” I say, turning around to see if Julia and Cynthia heard. From the look on their faces they did. “Do you need a cold shower or something?”

He smirks. “Don’t get me started about what I’d do to you in the shower.”

“Okay, bye.”

He winks and dives under the water, swimming the long distance to the bar and only coming up for air when he arrives at the party. He springs out of the water looking like Poseidon, the Greek God of the ocean, with his rippling shoulder muscles dripping with water. He looks back at me and I turn away before he can send me another wink.

Cynthia and Julia dump their stuff on top of mine and jump in the pool. They were standing there, both looking hot in their new bikinis, and he didn’t take his eyes off me the entire time.

“What the fuck, Tanya?” Julia asks with a Christmas morning smile on her face. “He’s totally into you!”

“No,” I say, squirming in the water. “He just likes to make me uncomfortable.”

“I saw the way he was looking at you,” Julia continues. “He wants to make you uncomfortable by twisting you over the side of the pool and fucking the shit out of you.”

“Jesus,” I blurt out. “What is wrong with everyone? It’s like the air in Mexico just pumps thoughts of sex into people.”

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 worse 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.