Chapter 1

“It’s a bikini, just tie the strings, Bianca.”

Siobhan, it’s pronounced ‘Shiv-awn’, spoke through the phone in a high pitch. I could hear the blast of the music station and the splash of the beach waves through my phone. She was probably posed in one of those magazine poses she copied off the numerous fashion magazines in our hotel room and it worked because guys fawned over her. The boys hanging around our umbrella flexing their muscles in a game of beach balls probably didn’t even notice I was gone. Siobhan was enough to hold their attention. She’s just that pretty. I had to leave because the stringy bikini she insisted I wear had decided to come undone just when I was about to join the boys in their games. Now here I am behind an abandoned ice cream kiosk trying to fix it myself.

I tried once again to get a firm grip on the strings holding the front and the back together and once again it slipped off my fingers.

“Need help with that?” a voice said suddenly.

Throwing a glance over my shoulder without seeing who it was that spoke, I answered. “Duh. Don’t just stand there, help me please,” I bit out in frustration.

Cool, strong fingers closed around the strings, pulled tight on them so that the front part of my bikini wasn’t falling apart anymore, and tied them together. I could feel the warmth radiating from his body as he worked expertly on the strings. What is he, a part-time bikini adjuster?

“There,” he stepped back. “All done. Got it tied and hard. Wouldn’t want to show those nice titties to those boys out there, am I right?”

I turned to give him a lash of my tongue at the audacity when I paused and tilted my head to get a really good look at him. Dark eyes, dark brows over them, dark hair blowing in the wind, nice high cheekbones, incredibly sexy, moisturized lips, great smile, very tall, and boy oh boy he’s hot. I’m 18, I’m in my final year in high school and yes I know a hot guy when I see one and this boy tops the chart.

His lips tilted up. “This is the part where you say ‘Thank you',” he whispered leaning toward me a bit.

I was tongue-tied for a bit but somehow I found my tongue. I meant to say thank you, I truly did but he provoked me and the next thing I knew I said, “And this is the part where you apologize for talking about my boobs.”

His eyes sparkled and in the bright summer sun, his eyes drifted down to my chest. My breasts suddenly felt tight and heavy. Why was he staring?!

“But they are nice, aren’t they? A bit on the small size but I’m not a man of discriminating taste.”

“If you’re even a man at all,” I scoffed suddenly exasperated. What kind of man objectifies a woman so cruelly?! “Does that line work on every dimwit girl you try it on?”

“Not when their bikini straps are falling off, no, but usually,” he had the audacity to pretend to think. “Yes, it works pretty well.”

“Ha!” I said with just enough sarcasm to make my tone biting but he simply smirked even more. “You must have dated idiots then.”

He laughed. When I tried to move past him he hurried to block my path. “Do you know it’s easy to tell when a woman is lying?” he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. His muscles bulged. He had an athletic build and though he was tall enough to look older, I could tell he was just around my age, maybe a year older. His eyes though were no teenager's eyes. They were bold, accessing my body without any hint of coyness. He came closer and I involuntarily took a step back. “I find that when women see something they find exciting, let’s say a hot guy, for example, their nipples become hard pebbles.” He nodded down to my chest and sure enough my betraying nipples were puckered hard, showing like hard little rocks through the thin material of my bikini.

I fought the blush in my cheeks but it was inevitable. Still, I had my dignity to recover. It was easy to mistake him for a gentleman because he helped me but once he opened his mouth it was one trip fall after another and I already hate him. So bad.

“So, wanna hear more of my lines? Or do you want to see my lines?” he winked.

Ugh! That was just the push I needed to throw my hands up, push past him with as much strength as I could muster, and walk away. But his laughter – his mocking laughter if I might add followed me as I walked away.

“Try learning how to lie a little better, kitten,” he yelled after me.

“And try learning some manners, you idiot!” I shot back over my shoulder.

He continued to laugh as he walked in the opposite direction of the beach. I walked as fast as I could praying that I wouldn’t run into him throughout the rest of our summer vacation here in Mainland. I’ve been starving for male companionship, hoping to be noticed by anyone, even the bell boy who had taken my and Siobhan’s things to our room with no luck and the one guy who shows interest is an uncivilized pig who thinks women are all boobs and fragility.

To hell with him.

By the time I got to the umbrella the beach ball game was in full swing but I wasn’t in the mood to play anymore, not when I was all flustered and angered by a certain someone. Not to mention I had to hide my nipples.

Siobhan turned her bored gaze from the game to look at me, noticing my red chest and cheeks. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I shot out and realized what I had just done. Softening my tone I turned on my side to look at her. Her dark shades were pushed into her hair and her green eyes were soft and concerned. “I’m sorry. It’s just…” I didn’t want to tell her about that idiot. Siobhan might look soft and sweet but when it comes to defending me she’s even more terrifying than I am – and I am terrifying trust me. You should ask the boys who messed with Siobhan. And though nothing will give me great joy than seeing her match over to Mr. Bikini-expert and give him the talk down of his life, I will rather just forget about it. “It's this bikini, it was giving me a hard time,” I finished lamely.

“But look on the bright side, those guys are totally checking you out.”

I scoffed. As if. They had eyes only for her and definitely not me. Where Siobhan is I am just a shadow. Her blonde hair and green eyes were movie star gorgeous, she had the looks and the money. I had the brains and well…I don’t know what else. But we’ve been friends since forever.

We met in kindergarten, the very first day of school. I had been skipping excitedly into my class when this mean kid shoved me making me spill my lunch and my books. I had barely gotten up to defend myself when a much smaller Siobhan roundhouse kicked the kid’s ass. She held out her hand to me and I gawked.

“My mom makes me take taekwondo lessons,” she shrugged. And that was that. Her chauffeur came to pick her up after school and she told him to take me home. She had invited herself into my house and stayed for dinner. It was only when my dad came back I learned that she was the daughter of his boss so I guess our friendship…is fate. And we’ve been close ever since. Inseparable at the hip and though my looks were plain in contrast to hers we became like sisters.