“Yeah, I found you, you dope. Do you even know how many kittens Mum is birthing right now?”
I turn and watch my sister Maeve come to stand next to me at the bar, her hands on her hips. “Probably several and they’ll be better sons to her than I’ve been so win-win, I’d say,” I reply.
“You can’t just disappear like that!” She swipes at my forearm. “And you definitely can’t just go straight to the nearest bar and start drinking. Jesus fucken Christ, Marty!”
“I didn’t!” I protest, feeling spikes of irritation climb up my neck. “First, I went to the gym, then I went to the spa where I had a very traumatising swim and sauna, and now I’m here, about to order amocktail. Thank you very much for having zero faith in me.”
Maeve studies me. “Seriously?”
I lean forward and breathe on her nose with a loudAhh. “See, no booze,” I say with a smug smile.
She pulls back and waves her hand in front of her face. “Ew, Marty! Why are you such a scabby spanner?”
“And why are you doing Ma’s dirty work for her?” I snap back.
“I’m not. At least I wasn’t going to at first. I was prepared to just let you go and be moody by yourself, and I told Mum as much. But then it was like four hours you’d been gone, and she was nagging at me about how we’ve got dinner reservations and...”
“And you thought the worst too,” I say, but the spite has gone. Instead, I’m just disappointed. Disappointed in them. And, as always, disappointed in myself.
“I didn’t think the worst,” she says quietly. “I was worried.”
My shoulders sink as I sigh. “I’m sorry I disappeared,” I concede. “I needed some space.”
“Save it for Ma.” Maeve glances around the bar, her eyes lingering on the horizon where the sun is perfectly positioned in the centre of the sky. I estimate it’s about an hour away from sinking into the sea.
“It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?” Maeve says and I go to reply, but she’s already got her phone out, taking photos. I look away and manage to get the barman’s attention.
I’m about to ask Maeve if she wants a drink but she’s stepped further to the side and is now shooting a video, moving her phone in a full circle taking in the bar and the beach. I roll my eyes and order drinks for just myself and Jenna, who I then turn to look at. She’s talking with her brother, who is so red in the face it makes my own cheeks feel hot.
Taking in Jenna’s side profile, I shake my head when I think about how I first came to lay eyes on her.
That’s also not much of a pretty story because when I first walked into the beach bar, I was focused on one thing and one thing only; getting a drink. Rightly or wrongly, I felt like I deserved it. I had all but convinced myself one would be acceptable. But as I searched for a space at the bar, my eyes had lingered a moment too long on a figure standing at it. Specifically, on a pert and firm bottom.
The owner of the backside in question had been leaning against the bar, wearing cotton shorts that were almost irresponsibly tight - although he had the legs and butt for them. The cream and beige hues of his clothes matched his colouring, all soft earthy shades - chestnut hair atop his head and lighter, sun-bleached hairs lacing his tanned calves – and I strained my neck a little to try and get a look at his face. When that failed, I went back to looking at his butt.
I knew what I was doing. I was waiting for the rest of my body to wake up, specifically for some heat to land in my groin, but alas, nothing. I knew I was looking a moment too long because the man with the nice arse had a companion who turned her head and clocked me.
I’m not sure if it was being caught out or if it was what I saw in her heart-shaped face, but immediately, I felt something.
Taking in her tanned skin, slim nose and warm brown eyes that sparkled in the sunlight - and, arguably best of all, a pair of full lips that were an almost unnatural pink - I felt restless but not unsettled. Watching her chubby cheeks bunch up below her eyes when she smiled, I felt something simmer inside me. And when, from even a few metres away, I noticed a sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks and nose, I felt that simmer rumble to a slightly alarming boil, but it wasn’t unwelcome.
Illuminated by the sun’s descending rays, her light brown hair framed her face with gentle waves that stopped at her shoulders. There was something about its volume and kinks that told me she had swum in the sea or pool today, and it warmed me that she was likely having so much fun on holiday she hadn't bothered to do anything with it other than just let it dry as it was. Studying her further, I took in her shapely brows, her dark eyelashes and the laughter lines crinkling the skin in the corners of her eyes and across her forehead. Something that made me want to laugh and smile and feel a skin-wrinkling kind of joy in my own face.
It would be too simplistic to say that those wrinkles told me she was older than me, and it wouldn’t be the whole truth. I already sensed that she was older from the way she carried herself with her shoulders back, chin up, those lips moving into an astonishingly wide smile as our eyes met.
Almost as quickly as she made eye contact with me, she turned away. I waited a moment before also looking away, getting the attention of a passing server. I explained what drink I wanted and advised her on the quickest way to make it so she didn't even need a shaker, and sure enough, she was back with my drink after a few minutes, every second of which I spent looking at the woman who continuedtalking to Mr Nice Arse. Because yes, his arse was still nice, but I was undeniably more concerned with the curve and lift of the woman’s bottom which stretched the fabric of her clothes.
As I quickly grabbed a free table behind them, I spent a few minutes trying to decipher what she and he were to each other. Their quick exchanges were full of smiles, nudges and giggles and this could have been friendly or flirtatious. Clueless, I let my gaze ride over the swell of her hips and the cinch of her waist where her hand was resting, and I noted how tanned her calves were and how lush her thighs looked where the hem of her dress kissed them. I also noticed she had a gold chain on one of her ankles, and it promptly made me think about biting it while holding her legs up against my chest.
“Oh, that's interesting,” I had whispered to myself before taking a sip of my drink.
Because my dick had seen her. It hadn’t gotten hard, not yet, but it had grown heavy. It wasn’t down to fuck, but it was ready to find out more. And so was I. So when she looked back and met my gaze again, I smiled. Really smiled. Because suddenly it was not just possible to do that, it was easy.
“Who are you buying a drink for?” Maeve returns to my side, dragging me back to the present moment. I follow her gaze to where the barman is preparing two drinks.
“You know me, Maeve, I can’t help but make friends wherever I go,” I joke, rather than answer her. It’s my default setting.
“Friends?” She cocks her eyebrow, but her eyes stay down as her fingers fly over her phone’s screen.
