Page 17 of Tequila Lime and Sunshine

“Maybe I was saving that for my late-night snack.”

I laugh. “I guess I’ll have to bring you a snack later, then.”

“I guess so.” She smiles at me.

Little does she know, I’d do absolutely anything for her.

CHAPTER 9

Summer

Rooming with Hawke hasn’t been as terrible as I expected. He’s followed the rules I laid out, and, other than the bathtub incident, which I’m still trying to pretend didn’t happen, he gives me my privacy when I need it.

We’ve been having fun, whether we’re hanging out in the room or stuffing our faces with as much food as we can. He makes me laugh. I feel a level of comfort with him that I haven’t felt in a long time. Dare I say, it’s nice.

He’s also not bad to look at. I try to ignore all the women watching him. And they can look all they want, I suppose. I can’t really blame them. Like now, when he’s walking out of the ocean with water dripping off him, looking like some sort of dream come to life. His skin is tan from the time we’ve been in the sun, and his tight abs move with each step he takes. The swimsuit sits low on his hips, exposing his V-cut for all to see, and I know I’m not the only one seeing it. Is he walking in slow motion, or is my brain short-circuiting?

Oh my god.

This is Hawke. Hawke! The man who has gotten on my very last nerve for the past ten years.

I can not be drooling over him. He’s Holden’s brother, for God’s sake. I need to get myself together.

The next thing I know, he’s standing in front of me with a confused look that snaps me out of my internal monologue.

“Huh? Did you say something?” I ask. Thank God my cheeks are already pink from being in the sun so he can’t see my embarrassment. There’s no way he didn’t see that I was just checking him out.

He chuckles. “Uh, yeah. Holden and Carly want to know if we want to play volleyball.” He tilts his head to where Holden and Carly are getting set up at a net down the beach, away from the crowd.

“Oh, um. Yeah, sure. Let’s do it.”

I stand up, grab my towel, and go to the net.

Hawke puts his hand on my lower back, and I immediately tense. He either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care because he also doesn’t move his hand. “You ok, Sunshine?”

“Me? Yeah. I’m good. Are you ok?” Yeah, I’m good, except that his hotness is taking over my brain right now. I kinda want to ask him to put a shirt on, but that would probably be weird. I just need to chill. I can look at him all day long as long as I don’t act on it.

“Yeah. I’m good. You just seem a little out of it. Did you do shots without me?”

I exhale, relaxing a little. “No. I’ve got a lot on my mind, is all. But I might take you up on those shots later.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” He smiles at me, and something tugs at my core. He’s smiled at me so many times since we landed in Mexico. Why is my body having this reaction to him all of a sudden? It’s got to be a purely physical thing. That’s all this is. He’s attractive. That’s obvious. And we’ve been spending a lot of time together. I can’t even remember the last time I got laid, so there’s that. It’s only natural to feel this way around someone like him.

“Me and Summer against you and Carly?” Hawke asks Holden. I don’t miss the look Holden gives us, but I do my best to ignore it.

“Sure.”

We get into position, and Carly serves the ball. I jump up and hit it back. Holden returns it over the net, and Hawke jumps for it but misses.

Holden pumps his fist, “Yes!”

“It’s ok. I’m just getting warmed up,” Hawke tells me. I know how competitive these two can be. I laugh and shake my head.

The next service, I score, and Hawke high-fives me with a huge smile. We keep playing, each team scoring one after the other. We’re neck and neck until I jump and slam the ball over the net. Holden dives to stop it from hitting the sand, but he barely misses it, giving Hawke and me the winning point. I jump up in celebration, and Hawke wraps his arms around my waist and picks me up. He spins me around while we laugh. I don’t even notice his bare chest on my stomach until he sets me down.

I immediately feel awkward that we’re so close, so I take one giant step away from him and look down at the sand.

“Good game, Sunshine.” He puts his hand on my shoulder like he can’t stand to not be touching me. I’ve noticed he tends to have his hand on my leg or my back or put his arm around my shoulders. Most of the time, I don’t think he even realizes he’s doing it.