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I couldn’t help but laugh. I hoped she was right, but I still frowned thinking about having to resurface in a few minutes. For someone who hates having their personal life in the public eye, that was about as bad as it could get. One hundred strangers looking on as my ex-boyfriend verbally assaulted me and then having two men grapple over me. The latter sounded semi-romantic, but it actually made my skin crawl. I felt like I was on display and I could just hear everyone buzzing about the fight for the rest of the party.
I groaned and pushed off the bed to investigate the damage. My bright blue eyes stared back at me in the bathroom mirror as I tried to piece myself back together. It could have been worse, I told myself. Liam was relatively unscathed and Josh was the same ol’ jerk. Nothing new to report there.
Becca came to stand next to me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.
"I'm glad I curled your hair. It still looks really good," she complimented, trying to turn my mind toward something else.
I smiled at her in the mirror. "Let's go ruin it in the pool. No one was outside earlier, and that way we can stay at the party but avoid having to listen to the gossip."
Becca grinned and then spun around to grab two towels from a rack behind her.
"Let's do it!"
We linked arms and left the guest room. People could talk all they wanted, but I wasn't going to let them ruin my night. When we headed back into the living room, I was surprised to find the party was starting to dwindle. There were still a few people there, milling about, but the bartender was breaking down his setup and the music wasn't streaming through the speakers anymore.
"Isn't it kinda early still?" I asked Becca as we passed through the living room. I didn't see Liam anywhere, but I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck thinking about the fact that he was still in the house somewhere.
Becca shrugged and we kept heading out toward the pool. Just as I’d hoped, there was no one outside.
The view of the house hadn’t done the pool justice. It was actually made up of three separate pools, each at varying levels. Where we stood, level with the back of the house, there was a long lap pool. To the left there was a set of stairs that Becca and I followed until we found another pool that was much larger and shaped like a kidney bean. Palm trees rimmed the edge, concealing it from the house and beyond.
We followed the stairs as they continued to slope down around the edge of the pool. They led us to a round Jacuzzi at the very bottom that was almost level with the beach so that you could step from the last stair onto the warm sand. The light from Penn's house illuminated the shoreline so that you could still see the rolling waves crashing against the sand. It really was a spectacular house.
"I guess one pool wasn't enough?" Becca laughed as she and I started to head back toward the top, satisfied with our search.
"Penn is a greedy bastard, but I’m not complaining. Should we go to the middle pool?”
"Yeah, I liked that one best."
We dropped our towels and cover-ups on the small lounge chairs surrounding the pool. I adjusted my blue triangle string bikini, and without a second thought, I ran and jumped into the water.
When I surfaced, Becca was standing at the edge and smiling.
"Remember when Tara was hazing us and I told you that it'd be worth it because you'd look killer in a bikini? I was totally right."
I cracked up. "Revenge is best served skimpy," I joked before lying back to float on the surface. It was impossible to see the stars with the light pollution and smog from LA, but I imagined that they were overhead and it was still nice to stare up into the blackness.
I heard two pair of footsteps descending the stairs and glanced behind me to find Liam walking beside Penn. My heart kicked into overtime and I realized that it’d be really nice if my body would become habituated to seeing him. I swear every time he stepped into a room, or in this case a pool, my body had to come to terms with his existence in the world all over again.
"The party is officially over," Penn said as they came into full view.
Becca shrugged. "It looked like it was heading that way. I can't believe Josh ruined it for everyone.”
Penn smiled as he walked up to her. "Y'know, I think it might have been a good thing. I was wanting to kick everyone out the moment I realized you'd brought your swimsuit."
