“Nice to meet you, Liam,” she said with a smile, “I’m Mikaela.”
I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I just held her hand and her gaze. Although I was enjoying this very much, it dawned on me that this was probably awkward so I blurted out the first thing I could think of, “Back in grade eleven, I dated a girl name Mikaela for a few months.” She laughed, her hand still resting in mine.
“Back in the tenth grade, I dated a guy name Liam for a few months.”
I looked at her as I processed this new information, and then it dawned on me like a ton of bricks.
“Oh my God!” I said. She cocked her head sideways. “I thought there was something familiar about you,” I finished.
“No way,” she moved further away from me in her seat, pulling her hand away, and she looked me up and down. “I hardly recognize you,” she moved closer again, grabbed my hand and forcefully pulled my arm toward her. “When did this happen?” She pointed at my bicep and started poking it, her mouth agape.
“Let’s see, how many years has it been?” I counted with my free hand, while she traced a vein down my other arm with her index finger. “Well, it has been four years since I last saw you. I actually had another growth spurt, I was a really late bloomer,” I laughed, “I was on the football team for a couple of years, and I had to put on a bunch of muscle. I’ve been taking good care of myself ever since.”
“Hmm?” She hummed after a brief pause. She was still gazing down at my arm, so I lowered my head to try and get her attention.
“Do you want me to repeat myself?” I asked politely.
“Oh, uh no, I heard you,” She dropped my arm and moved a little further away, rosy in the cheeks, “You were a late bloomer,” She repeated.
“That is one of the things I said,” I smirked. “But you, when did you become so sexy?” I stuttered. “I mean not that I didn’t think you were sexy back in the day,” I added. “Wait did I say that out loud?” I pretended to ponder the question. She laughed and looked away. After a moment, she turned back.
“Trust me I know you thought I was sexy back then,” She winked at me and gave a quick glance between my legs. She used to tease me about how easily she could get me hard, and she would consistently send me dirty messages in an attempt to do so while I was in embarrassing situations. “Tell me about that growth spurt again,” She finished as she coyly looked up at me, her head resting in her hands.
I immediately went to work trying to formulate a response, but nothing was coming, and I could feel the tension building. My face was getting flushed as I was becoming more and more flustered.
“This is your captain speaking. Please put your seats in the upright and back position. Get ready for takeoff.”
“Oh thank God,” I said to myself.
She turned forward with an arrogant smile on her face. The cabin flooded with the tintinnabulation of clasping seatbelts. During my conversation, the man to my right had lifted his armrest to make himself more space. The man was so large that I found myself pushed up against the armrest beside Mikaela.
After around 20 minutes I was used to the hum of jet engines and the new pressure of the cabin. We hadn’t talked since the plane took off, just exchanged quick glances and smirks. “Hey, would you mind if I lifted the armrest, I’m getting pushed into it, and it's starting to hurt?” I wasn’t lying. I leaned forward so she could see the man to my right. He was fast asleep, and his mouth was wide open, drool steadily accumulating on his chin.
“Sucks to be you huh?” She thought about it for a moment. “Ok,” She said cheerily. She quickly lifted the armrest and moved over in her seat, patting it with her hand, as if to say, “Sit here boy.” I moved over, thankful for the extra space. I was now close enough to her that our knees were touching.
“Do you want to watch a movie or something?” She asked, pointing towards the screen on the backside of the seat in front of her.
“Yeah!”
“Ok great, I brought a splitter!” She reached into her pocket with energy and pulled out a thin black cable and two pairs of headphones.
“I also brought an extra pair of headphones,” she added excitedly. “You never know when you’re going to need a splitter,” she said noticing my reaction to her unusual degree of preparedness. “Do you like horror movies?” She asked.
“Yes.”
“Me to,” She looked up at me, “But I get scared, so you’re gonna have to come closer to me,” She pulled me by the sleeve, and I moved closer. We were sitting against each other, arms lightly resting on one another’s leg. With a soft motion from my fingertips, I could feel her toned legs through the thin fabric of her sweatpants. Her neckline was beautiful. Her neck smoothly transitioned into her defined collar bone, and the angle I was sitting in gave me a great view down her shirt. Her breasts were large, perky and they looked irresistibly soft. I didn’t watch much of that movie. At the end of the movie she shifted in her seat, “That was bad, wasn’t it?”
“Uh yeah, it was,” I paused, “It could hardly hold my attention.”
“Yeah same, I was so bored. I’m going to take a nap before we touch down.” She leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder. This girl was driving me nuts. She knew it too. After a few minutes, she was asleep. So was I.
We awoke to the jarring sensation of landing. I squinted to see through the bright windows and caught a glimpse of dense foliage. She had my arm hugged in hers, she must have grabbed it in her sleep. She smelled like flowers.
“Sorry,” She said yawning, “I do weird things in my sleep sometimes,” She added as she let me go and sat up properly in her chair.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said while laughing. “Hey I forgot to ask earlier, what are you doing in Hawaii? You know, in case this is going to be goodbye.”
“Funny story. My mom is getting married. We're not that close, and she just told me a week ago,” she laughed, “I don’t even know his full name,” she finished.
I recalled a conversation I had earlier with my Dad, in which he said that, “All but one of my fiancé's family are already over there.”
“Do you know his first name?” I hoped it wouldn’t be, but I knew the answer.
“Rick.”
“Well, it looks like this isn’t goodbye then.”
Chapter 3: Hell
After getting off the plane, I ran to find Jim. I spotted him, ran over, and pulled him to the side. “I need to talk to you.”
“So let me get this straight,” he said, “You sat beside a girl that you used to fuck, she got way hotter in the time you haven’t seen her, she’s all over you, and now you’re going to be trapped with her for over two weeks at a romantic resort, and this is a bad thing?” Jim pretended like he was doing math that didn’t add up.
“We never had sex. We never went further than kissing. Details are important when it changes incest to less incest.”
Jim nodded as he put two and two together. “Well, it wouldn’t really be incest, it's not like you’re related.”
“I know, that’s not the worst part.”
“What’s the worst part?”
“I promised Dad I wouldn’t cause drama, this is going to cause drama.”
“Well, it's simple then, just don’t sleep with her.”
I slapped him across the face. “It's not that simple Jim!” She was walking by right at that moment. I grabbed him by the chin and turned his head towards her. “That’s her,” I said, my tone laden with defeat. You could see the outline of her panties through her sweatpants, and her ass had a controlled wiggle back and forth with each step.
“Oh, I see,” Jim had a greater appreciation for my predicament now. “Well if I were you, I know what I'd do. I say enjoy yourself, you’re in heaven.” Jim walked away, towards the exit.
“This isn’t heaven Jim,” I yelled after him, “This is hell.”
An hour later we were at the resort. I made sure to sit with my Dad and Brother on the bus ride over. When Mikaela
walked past I waved, and said hello, trying to be as un-flirtatious as possible. A look of major concern crept over Rick’s face as he learned who she was and that we sat beside each other on the airplane. “Isn’t it odd that you’re getting married to a woman and none of us know who anyone is?” I asked my dad.
“I guess so. You guys are in school and whatnot, and everyone’s busy. I just never thought to tell you. It’s the same on her end.”
I stepped off the bus, and it was the first time I noticed the weather. It was hot and sunny, with a gentle breeze. The hotel lobby was like an oversized gazebo. Magnificent marble floors created a clear reflection of the towering ceiling, and I could see birds flying in and out of the open concept building. The ocean was visible through the opposite end of the structure. It loomed large in the distance, its borders impossibly vast, its color impossibly blue, like sapphire. Whitecaps crested the waves, past the shallows.
Jim and I got settled into our room, and I changed into a warm weather outfit; A T-shirt, board shorts, and sandals. I opened the window, and a breeze filled the room. It was humid and salty, but refreshing in the heat. There were two queen sized beds. I jumped on the bed closer to the window, marking my territory. We were on the second floor, and we could see the ocean beyond several shorter buildings. Gulls swarmed off the coast sailing in the wind and rising with plumes of warm air.
Someone knocked on the door. I opened it. It was Rick. “You guys ready? Margarette and her family are over by the pool. We're supposed to head over now.”
“Alright, we’re coming.”
We left the room, locked the door and headed out of the building. The rooms were situated in large, beige, rectangular buildings. They had orange tiles along the walkways, which extended along the periphery of the building, on all three levels. Small geckos scurried up the walls as we passed by. We made our way down a wide path edged with palm trees. The path opened into a large open space. A massive multi-tiered pool occupied most of the space. There was a bridge that went over the pool. A waterfall trickled continuously underneath. Every few feet a lawn chair sat around the edge of the pool. Large straw umbrellas stood every so often, and people were laying in the shade of each one. We walked over to an especially packed one. Three people emerged from the shade of one umbrella.
“Hello I’m Margarette,” She greeted both Jim and me.
“Liam.”
“Jim.”
We greeted back. She was pretty. An older woman who had aged with grace.
“Proud of you paps,” I whispered in Rick’s ear. He pushed me away from him. Our two families exchanged apprehensive pleasantries, and I learned her two daughters names.
“Hi, I’m Rebecca.”
“Hey, I’m Lara, please don’t call me Laura!” She exclaimed with a tone that seemed light, but had an underlying hint of sass.
I moved past her unusual remark and introduced myself to both daughters, but my mind was elsewhere. “You have two daughters?” I asked Margarette, hoping that I had made some sort of error.
“Ah, no there’s a third one, here she comes now.” She pointed in the opposite direction we came from. It was Mikaela. She was wearing short-shorts now and a tighter tank top. The sun was high at her back. I watched as every guy, and most of the women she walked passed, stopped and watched her.
“I’m going to go get a drink,” I said as I headed for a nearby bar. There were several people there. One of them was clearly drunk. You could tell because he was being way too friendly with the bartender. He knocked over a plastic cup on the counter.
“Eh my friend looks like I’ll be needing another beer,” He said, as he reached over to give the man a hearty slap on the shoulder.
“Life goals,” I thought to myself. A woman, around my age, came and sat two stools down from me. I gave her a nod.
“I'll have the hardest drink you can make,” I made eye contact with the bartender, he acknowledged my request. I could tell that the girl beside me wanted to start a conversation. I was used to getting lots of attention from girls, and this one was no exception. I imagined she thought I would make an ideal partner for her hot vacation fling. She leaned a little closer as if she was trying to grab my attention, but then she quickly stopped. I looked over right as Mikaela took the stool directly next to me, in-between myself and the other girl. The bartender handed me my drink. I took a sip and grimaced.
“Ah that’s the good stuff,” I said as I choked on the drink.
“What ya drinking?” She asked as she took the cup out of my hand and took a sip. “That’s disgusting,” She frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I’m trying to catch up to life goals over there,” I pointed at the man who was now belligerently chatting up a couple at his side, “I’m very far behind.”
“Clever, when did you come up with that?” She smiled.
“About a minute ago actually,” I went to down the potent liquid in my cup.
“Wait for me,” she said. She signaled the bartender to get her the same drink, and he promptly handed her a cup of the hazel liquid. She looked at her drink then back at me. “Ready.”
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” I said, holding eye contact.
“What’s not a good idea? Us hanging out? We're supposed to get to know each other, that’s the point of this trip.” There was something insincere in her voice.
“Yeah, but maybe we should try and make good decisions.” The words sounded disappointing as they exited my mouth. She downed her drink.
Her face was serious, with a hint of anger. “Alright, I'll leave you to make good decisions.” She got up swiftly and started walking away.
If I really wanted to make good decisions, I would have left it at that. But I didn’t know what I wanted. I downed the rest of my drink and I yelled over to Jim, “Hey Jim, I’m thinking of going for a swim!”
“That’s cool bud,” he replied facetiously, “Thanks for telling me.” The group laughed at my expense but, my plan worked, and I got the attention of most of those around me, including Mikaela, who turned around to look at me. I walked out from under the shade of the bar, into the sunlight and took off my shirt. Last year I had tried my hand as a stripper, to see if I could do it, and I’m willing to admit I used some of my acquired skills to add some flair to undressing. The girl beside me, still sitting at the bar gawked. Mikaela tried to look away but she couldn’t. “Would you mind holding this?” I threw my shirt at Mikaela and walked towards the edge of the pool. I dipped my toe in the water, it was cold but refreshing. I thought about it for a moment, then decided I wasn’t hot enough yet, to warrant a dip. Just then I heard delicate footsteps rushing behind me. I recognized the sound instantly. It was the sound of a person trying to be sneaky, but failing miserably at it. I spun around just in time see Mikaela lunge forward and plant both of her hands on my chest. I hardly had enough time to yell, “No, stop!” Before my back smashed into the surface of the pool. “Got ya,” she said triumphantly as she towered above.
“Well played.” I swam to the edge and lifted my upper torso out of the water. With a giggle, she went in to try and push me in a second time. There was no way I could let her get me twice in a row. I grabbed her arm. She tried to resist, but she made no dent in my speed. I pulled her in, and she fell right on top of me.
Chapter 4: Fun in the Sun
I first noticed him when I found my seat on the airplane. I scanned over him, and he was staring right at me. His eyes were piercing, his jaw was chiseled. I couldn’t look away. He was sitting in the middle seat. My seat was by the window. He graciously stood to allow me entry, but his body was large, and there wasn’t much space. I braced myself against his torso, I could feel his toned body, powerful and sculpted, with my fingertips. I looked straight ahead, my eyes were at the level of his lower jaw. We both sat down in unison, and he introduced himself, he was charming. His voice was deep and familiar. I very quickly figured out why. Back when I was in high school, we dated for a brief period of time
. Our relationship was short lived, terminated when I switched schools to live with my mom after her divorce. A lot had happened since then, I was at university, I grew into my body, oh and my mom got engaged. It was kind of a shock, I knew she was dating someone but, I hardly knew how serious it was and I barely knew anything about him. This is the reality of living away from home.
All of this change was nothing in comparison to him though. Back when we were dating, Liam was handsome. He was a little boyish but, he was charming, funny and occasionally smart. I haven’t been as happy in a relationship since I was with him. But now he was something else entirely. He still had his charm but, his shoulders were wide, he was tall, his forearms were laden with muscle, and your eye would follow the striations up to his biceps. He was wearing a T-shirt that cut halfway down his upper arm. I was so shocked when I figured out who he was that I acted without thinking, and I grabbed him as if to make sure he was real. We were talking, but I honestly don’t remember a thing he said, I couldn’t take my hands off his arms. Entranced by his beauty, I didn’t notice how flirtatious I was being. Normally I was not very forward with men, and that always led to douchebags chasing me. I decided right then and there to push myself out of my comfort zone and be more forward with him. There was no way I was going to let this opportunity pass.
That was the best experience I’ve ever had on an airplane. Good circumstances forced us together, and it felt like a date. I was even thinking about making a power move. Then I learned who my mom was marrying. His dad. That leaves us off here, walking away from him at the pool bar, unsure of what to do and at the mercy of my attraction to him.
“Hey Jim, I'm thinking of going swimming,” He yelled at his brother. I turned to see what he was doing. He walked out from under the bar, and the sun illuminated his green eyes. He crossed his arms below the elbow and grabbed the fabric of his shirt by his waist. I couldn’t figure what it was, but something seemed extremely sexual about the way he was removing his shirt. I couldn’t look away. As the fabric lifted, it revealed more and more of his body, bringing a new region of his skin into the light with every inch of travel. After a moment he stood there, bare-chested. His abs glistening with sweat. An Adonis stood before me, abs carved from granite, within my grasp. I watched as his round shoulders and thick chest tensed as he tossed his shirt at me.
The Campus Jock: A College Bad Boy Romance Page 115