Our laughter is loud enough to make the others look back at us. Dima eyes us from the top of the hill. “What’s so funny, Allie cat?”
“Be a little nicer to me and maybe I’ll tell you,” she says.
He ignores her and leans his surfboard against the side of the house. He stops to pet a very excited Wallace before walking over to the outdoor shower. It’s large enough to fit several people and the side of it has a large partition that covers most of your body while leaving your head and legs visible. Allie and I sit while the guys start to file in and peel off their wetsuits.
“Jesus Christ, it’s not coming off,” I hear Ev say. “This thing is stuck to me like glue.”
Yuri laughs and says, “I’m not undressing you, Ev, no matter how sweetly you ask.”
“Fucker,” Ev says with a laugh. “Seriously, though, how the hell do I get out of this thing?”
I half-listen as my cousin gives Ev a few pointers while my eyes stay locked on Damien’s head. He’s managed to peel his suit off, and he’s dipping his head under the hot water. Steam rises from his shoulders, and my whole world narrows down to thesight of his wet, bare skin and the way his hair is falling down into his eyes. He runs a hand over his face, brushing it back when he lifts his head. Our eyes meet, and whatever he sees on my face has the corner of his mouth lifting in a devilish smirk.
Allie’s too busy drinking in the sight of my cousin, who’s unknowingly putting on the same show Damien is, to notice anything else. By the time the guys walk out with towels slung low on their hips, I’m convinced I’m going to need another dunk in the Pacific to cool off.
“Wow,” Allie murmurs, voicing exactly what I’m thinking but for very different reasons.
“Yeah, wow,” I say in agreement. “Come on, let’s get some payback.”
She grins at me as we walk around the partition, but my plan goes to shit when I realize I’m way too short and the only part of me that can be seen is the very top of my head and my legs from the knees down.
“Well, this’ll be one hell of a peep show,” I tell Allie.
She grins at me. “Speak for yourself, shorty.”
I turn on the hot water and start to slowly peel off my wetsuit while Allie does the same. Ev wasn’t being dramatic. These things are a real bitch to get off, but when I finally manage it and stand under the water in my bikini, I sigh at how good it feels.
“Well, fuck this.”
I look over at the sound of her irritated voice. She’s staring at the house with her hands on her hips. “They all went inside.”
“If it makes you feel any better, it’s not much of a show. You’re only a few inches taller than me, so all he can see is face from the nose up.”
She sticks a foot out and wiggles her toes. “And my freshly painted toes.”
The red color matches her red-and-white striped bikini, and I know she planned it that way.
“Don’t worry. Just do what they did and walk in with the towel around your waist. There’s no way he’ll be able to ignore your giant boobs.”
She looks down at her chest. “You really think they’re huge?”
“I mean, compared to me, yeah. You have actual cleavage. Use that shit, Allie.”
While she adjusts her boobs, making them pop just a bit more, I turn off the water and grab a towel from the cupboard that Talia always keeps stocked for us. Running it over my hair and face, I pat the rest of my body dry, not bothering to try to perk up my chest because it is what it is. I do take a second to make sure my shell necklace is still in one piece before I start to wrap the towel under my armpits. Allie comes up behind me and tugs it down.
“I can’t go in there showing tit if you’re not. It’ll look way too planned.”
“I never hang around in my bikini around my brothers and cousins,” I remind her. They’ve seen me in bikinis before, but I’ve never just sprawled around in one once I was inside.
“Trust me, Damien won’t be complaining when he sees you.”
“Fine, but I’m gonna feel like a real dumbass,” I tell her while I secure my towel at my waist.
“It’s for a worthy cause. Now, come on, let’s go casually get a cup of coffee.”
I snort out a laugh and walk with her inside. We follow the sound of voices upstairs, finding all the guys in the kitchen, huddled around the coffeemaker. They stop when we walk in, and it takes everything I have to not cover myself when both my brothers furrow their brows at me. I ignore them and push past Tyoma and Aleks so I can grab a couple of mugs for Allie and me.
Pouring us both a cup, I hand one across the counter to her before grabbing the creamer for myself. Everyone else has already changed and ditched their towels. My brothers andcousins have on board shorts and T-shirts, while Damien and Ev have opted for jeans and hoodies. A laugh escapes when I see it.
