“Hi,” he whispers.
“Hi, right back at you.” My voice drops. He holds my gaze, bouncing between my eyes, making me dizzier by the second. His eyes lower to my lips and stay there. Suspended in time. Freezing everything around us once again. I suck in a breath when his pretty brown eyes don’t move from my lips. His hand softens the hold he has on my face, going from a protective hold to a more intimate one. Or maybe I’m just imagining the whole thing, and I have a pimple there or something.
I want to say something.Kiss me.Do it. Say fuck it. Something! But I can’t. Words? What even are those? What’s my name? Where are we? None of it. All I can think, breathe, dream of is this man kissing me.
He gets closer, inch by painful inch closer, and right when I think he’s going to do it. Right when he’s sharing my breath, he turns his face slightly and kisses my cheek instead. Dragging his cheek against mine, he whispers in my ear, “Sorry, they were watching.”
I try to turn to see who they are, but he holds me tighter. “Like this. It looks like I’m kissing you. Just put your hands around my neck real quick.”
I do as he says, because I clearly have zero self-preservation skills.Yeah, Daisy, sure. Wrap your hands around his perfect neck while he whispers in your ear and don’t fuck this up for everyone involved.
I’m not breathing, I’m sure of it, but what I am also sure of is his heart beating rapidly under my fingers. I can’t move, but what I can do is hear mine thumping so loudly, it's muffling everything around us. So loud, I barely hear Mateo.
“Sorry, if that was too much. Trying not to blow our cover, you know?” he asks, letting go of my face and leaving some space between us.
I clear my throat, gathering any semblance of self-control and dignity I have left. “It’s okay. It just took me by surprise is all. I thought you were going to kiss me.”
His eyes widen. “Daze, I?—”
Splashing behind us alerts me to the end of our privacy as someone gets closer and Mateo stops talking. Good, because I just got confirmation of what I’ve known my whole life: I’m Mateo’s best friend and nothing more…and I will never be anything else.
“I heard we were playing war!” Jaime shouts, draggingVioleta by the hand. Mateo looks at me, asking for permission, and I nod.
“I do think it’s a little unfair. I mean, look how much bigger Daisy is than me,” she spits, moving her hand across her body, showing our clear difference in size. Violeta is small. Like maybe extra-small, small. But if she thinks she’s going to make me feel bad because I have curves, an ass, and I’m strong? Think again, babe.
“Violeta,” Mateo exclaims, letting her know exactly how he feels about her using that tone and those words on me.
I hold his arm, holding him back. I love that he wants to protect me, but I can also fight my own battles. “It’s okay. I can play with just one hand if that seems fair to you.”
She smiles wickedly at me, and I roll my eyes. “I’ll take that as a yes.” I turn to face Mateo and whisper to him. “Are you okay with me on your shoulders?”
“I was born to carry you in all ways, Daze. Let’s do this!”
There he goes again with his little comments, but I won’t let that deter me. This is where Violeta fucked up. There’s no one on Earth more competitive than me, and she’s about to see a side of me she doesn’t know. The volleyball game was child’s play, and she was just getting started. She’s about to see the side of me that doesn’t like to lose.Let’s fucking destroy them!
Mateo goes under, and in the blink of an eye, my legs are draped around his neck, shoulders dangling in front of him…and I’m up in the air. Half my ass hangs out of this bathing suit, and the warm Caribbean breeze reminds me of it. I quickly reach inside the top of my bathing suit and adjust my boobs. The last thing I need is for one to get out of this and for us to be called out for indecency. Although, maybe not, since I saw plenty of topless women at the beach today and yesterday. Maybe it’s common and nobody would care.
Violeta sneers and says, “Let’s go.”
“Oh no, no. I will call when this starts,” Livie says from nearby. I didn’t even realize how many of the cousins are here witnessing the show. Well, greeeeat.
Violeta shrugs, and Livie smiles. My girl, always on my side.
“Okay, rules are simple. Bottoms can only push bottoms and tops can only push tops.”
“I’ll touch a bottom!” one of the cousins shouts from the distance while chaos unravels and Livie rolls her eyes.
“As I was saying, you may not touch the opposite position you’re playing.” She’s so serious, as if this is a real game with high stakes.
“This isn’t football, shortie,” Alex says, and we all laugh.
“This is serious though. So hush and listen. I heard Daisy say she’ll only play with one hand. Are you serious?” she asks.
“Sure. Keeping it fair, since she seems to have a problem with me being thick and bigger than her.”
Ohs, oohs, and claps surround us, and I smile at Violeta. She rolls her eyes this time and glares at me. Two can play this game, especially considering there’s absolutely no reason for this girl to be mean to me right now.
“Don’t pull each other’s bathing suits down. Don’t pull each other’s hair. Don’t pinch, and definitely no spitting. Keep your feet to yourself too—no kicking.”
