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.