Cancun: Bad Boys on the Beach: A Standalone Romance Novel (3 page)

I try to clear out the lightness clouding my mind by shaking my head. It’s not working too well. Ethan disappears out of sight in the crowd of people.

I stuff all my shit back in my bag and zip it up. The baggage carousel is groaning to life and bags are falling down the chute like rocks tumbling down a hill, crushing any valuables inside. Relatives and friends of Megan and Lucas start grabbing their bags and heading towards the customs’ booths.

Aaron is still talking to Stephanie. Her head is tilted, her long blond hair falling straight down. How does it stay so straight even in this humidity?

I picture walking over there and shoving her onto the baggage carousel where she’ll disappear into the bowels of the airport never to be seen again when she touches Aaron for the tenth time. This time on his shoulder. She’s just doing it to fuck with me.

“Hi Tanya,” a warm, familiar voice says from behind.

“Mrs. Carson,” I say with a smile. Megan’s mom wraps her short, fleshy arms around me and pulls me in for a hug. Megan’s dad is standing behind her smiling at me. “Congratulations guys,” I say. “This is going to be so fun!”

I’ve always loved Megan’s parents. Megan was an only child so growing up they took me on all of their family vacations. They had a little RV that I still have so many fond memories of.

“Were you okay on the plane dear?” Mrs. Carson asks, looking worried. She touches the back of her hand to my forehead. Always the worried mother. She’s so cute.

“I was fine, thanks,” I lie. “Aaron was with me.”
Doing absolutely nothing…

“Oh good,” she says, looking visibly relieved.

Mr. Carson lets out a chuckle. “Remember that time we brought you to Disney World with us? You puked on my lap.”

How could I forget? I was humiliated. “Sorry again about that,” I say for the hundredth time in my life.

“Poor girl,” Mrs. Carson says, shaking her head. “It was her birthday too.”

“Poor girl?” Mr. Carson asks, jerking his head back. “Those were my favorite pants!”

“I’m sorry,” I repeat.

Her mom looks around and then leans in, placing her hand gently on my forearm. “Are you upset that you’re not the maid of honor?” she asks.

Mr. Carson lets out a huff of air. “Maude, will you stay out of it?”

“I just want to know if her feelings are hurt,” she answers defensively.

It’s a sensitive topic. I glance over at their daughter Megan and sigh. She’s taking a selfie with her fiancee Lucas beside their luggage. They both look so happy and so in love. They kiss while she snaps away. Lucas is a great guy and to be honest, I am so thrilled for her. He’s good looking, he’s setting up a dental practice so he’ll make a good living, he’s sociable, fun and he’s as nerdy as her. Everyone loves him. They’re going to have a long, happy life together and I can’t wait to see them grow as a family.

“I’m just so happy that she’s happy,” I answer. And it’s the truth. Even if Megan and I never speak another word to each other I’ll always hope that she’s happy. I’ve never loved another person as much as I’ve loved her. She’s my best friend and my favorite person. Even if she did hang me out to dry.

“Good,” her mom says, nodding. “I just hope there’s no drama this week and we can all have some fun in the sun.”

She looks over in Stephanie’s direction and her eyes narrow. “I don’t know why Megan chose her. That girl is a drama factory.”

“Will you stay out of it?” her dad asks again with a pinched expression on his face. “Come,” he says grabbing her arm. “I don’t want to miss the bus.”

“It’s our personal bus, Frank,” Mrs. Carson answers as she’s getting pulled away. “And no one is on it. It’s not going to leave empty.”

Those two are my favorite couple. So in love yet always bickering. It makes for an entertaining pair.

Aaron is still chatting with Stephanie. He’s said more to her in the past ten minutes than he’s said to me all week. Time to break this party up.

I carry my bag over and they stop talking when they see me, turning and looking at me like I’m a stranger who just interrupted their important conversation.

“Thanks for leaving my bag alone in the middle of an international airport,” I say.

Aaron just shrugs like he doesn’t give a shit. Which he doesn’t. “I was watching it.”

Stephanie steps forward. “
We
were watching it.” I cringe at how she emphasizes the we. “Don’t worry, no one, not even the poorest Mexican, is going to steal your clothes.”

My chest tightens as they both laugh.

“Oh, relax, Tanya,” she says, slapping my shoulder when she sees the look on my face. “It was a joke.”

She rolls her eyes and leaves, shaking her head.
God, I hate her
.

“What’s your problem?” Aaron asks rudely.

He doesn’t really want to know what my problem is because he places his headphones back in his ears before I can tell him that he’s being an asshole.

The airport is packed full of annoyed, sweaty and cranky tourists who just want to get to their resorts and jump in the pool. I can relate. I’m one of them.

We find our suitcases on the baggage carousel and then head for the customs’ booths. Aaron speeds ahead and I try to race through the crowds of people to catch up with him but it’s hard with my large rolling suitcase. The sign says that couples traveling together should go through customs as a group, but either Aaron can’t read or he doesn’t consider us a couple because he goes through alone. I was really hoping to reconnect with him during the trip, that I paid for nonetheless, but it seems like he has other plans. Maybe there was nothing really to reconnect to in the first place.

I push the button and the light flashes green.
Nice.
I already had one too many unwelcome men go through my bag today. I don’t need a bunch of customs officials added to the list.

We get shuffled like cattle to the parking lot outside where there’s an army of air conditioned buses ready to drive through some terrible poverty to get to the rich man’s paradise. The air is thick with heat. It’s hard to breathe and my shirt is already drenched by the time I meet up with the group.

A few of Lucas’ friends and relatives are at the tiny tiki bar in the parking lot ordering drinks.
He
is there. Standing beside the bar drinking a Corona and staring at me with a smirk on his frustratingly beautiful face. He raises the bottle to me and tilts it in a cheers before putting it to his lips and taking a long sip. I roll my eyes and look away in fake disgust.

I smile at Cynthia and Julia who are are walking over with their bags.

A strong pull that I find irresistible is yanking at me and I have to turn back. Ethan is still watching me. He elbows Lucas who’s standing next to him and asks him something that I can’t hear from over here. Lucas looks over at me and I turn away with my ears burning hot.

“Check out what our girl bought,” Cynthia says, laughing.

“What is it?” I ask, thankful to have a distraction.

“These are totally in style,” Julia says, pulling a pair of white, thick-rimmed sunglasses out of her purse. There’s a little price tag dangling from the frames that I’m afraid to look at. Julia is a compulsive shopper with a closet that would make Kim Kardashian jealous. And on a kindergarten teacher’s salary, she’s got another closet full of unpaid bills.

Cynthia takes them from her and tries them on. “I thought they took all of your credit cards away?”

“They did,” Julia says, checking her hair in the reflection of the glasses. “I got a new one.”

“Great,” Cynthia says with a chuckle as she takes them off and looks at the price tag. “Three hundred dollars? For sunglasses?”

“What?” Julia asks defensively. “I had to have a white pair. What do you think I’ll be stuck wearing my silver and gold Ray-Bans all week like a poor person?”

“Poor would be an upgrade for you,” I say, taking the sunglasses from Cynthia and trying them on. “Having zero dollars would be an upgrade for you. You have like negative thirty thousand.” And all in retail debt.

“That was last year,” Julia says as I hand the glasses back to her.

“You paid some off?” I ask. Maybe our girl is growing up.

Cynthia snorts out a laugh.

“No,” Julia says nonchalantly. “I added another ten.”

“Julia!” I say. Her massive debt causes me anxiety. I can’t believe that it doesn’t seem to bother her.

“What?” she asks with a shrug. “It’s a new season. Have you seen the spring collection at Louis Vuitton and Channel?”

She goes on about how she has so much self-control since she only bought one purse this season and I tune out and glance back at Ethan. He’s laughing with his cousin Lucas. His face is beautiful when he laughs. His nose curls up and his eyes sparkle. It’s a laugh that’s contagious and I start to smile as I watch him.

His eyes dart onto me out of nowhere and I turn around in panic.
Oh shit. Busted.

“Oh my God. He’s still watching you,” Cynthia says, interrupting our babbling friend.

“Who?” I ask innocently.

Julia’s eyes narrow. “Who? Don’t play dumb with us. You know who she’s talking about.”

I can feel my ears reddening again. “It’s nothing,” I say, looking at the cement. “I got airsick and he was helping me back to my seat. That’s all. I’m just happy I didn’t puke on his shoes.”

“Mm-hm,” Cynthia hums, not buying it at all.

“I got a new bikini too,” Julia says rummaging through her bag.

Cynthia laughs. “Just one? How much did this one cost?”

I glance over my shoulder back at the bar and Ethan smiles when we make eye contact. He stuffs his hand in the pocket that has my lacy underwear in it and feels around. I swallow hard as I watch the smirk on his face. He takes his hand out and subtly smells his fingers, all the while never taking his eyes off mine.

I give him a look of disgust and turn back around. I’m suddenly very aware of my heartbeat. It’s pounding like crazy.

“My girls!” Megan screams, shuffling over with her arms raised. She wraps an arm around Cynthia and Julia’s necks and squeezes. I force out a smile to my best friend as the two girls struggle to get out of her iron grasp. “I’m so happy you guys could make it over here,” she says. “It means the world to me. I couldn’t imagine walking down the aisle without any of you there.”

I smile even though I feel like walking away from her over to the bus.

“Megan, check these out,” Julia says, pulling a pair of earrings out of her purse. They’re still in the fancy, little blue box from the store.

Megan’s face lights up when Julia opens it. “Are those real diamonds?”

Julia smiles. “You know it!”

“Those would look great with your bridesmaid dress,” Megan says.

“Please, these are for the rehearsal dinner.” Julia snaps the box shut and tosses them back in her bag. “I bought really big diamonds for the wedding day.”

Cynthia snorts out a laugh. “Are you trying to upstage the bride?”

“Maybe,” Julia answers. “But she’s already got a man. A hot dentist. She doesn’t have to look hot.
We’re
the single ones.”

“Don’t remind me,” Cynthia mumbles.

Megan looks over at Lucas with doughy eyes. “I don’t need fancy earrings. I can walk down the aisle wearing a paper bag and be happy. He’s the love of my life.”

Cynthia and Julia let out a synchronized “Awwww.”

I ignore the tightness in my stomach and add my ‘Awwww’ to theirs.

Megan grabs my arm and pulls me away. “I’ll see you girls on the bus. I want to ask Tanya something first.”

Cynthia grabs Julia’s white sunglasses as they head over to the bus. “Let me try those on again.”

Megan pulls me aside and takes a deep breath. “Are you okay, Tanya?” she asks.

“Of course,” I say, looking anywhere but her eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I just…I hope there’re no hard feelings. You mean so much to me.”

I have a hard time looking in her big brown eyes so I drop my eyes to her pink pedicured toenails. We’ve been planning our weddings together since we were nine years old. We’d take turns dressing up. Sometimes I’d be the bride and she’d be the groom and sometimes it’d be the other way around. We’d set up our stuffed animals as the audience and get married over and over again.

Megan has been looking forward to this day since we were kids. How could I ruin it for her? I just have to swallow my feelings and pretend to be happy, even though, just between you and me, I’m a little crushed inside that she didn’t choose me as the maid of honor.

“No worries,” I say, hugging her. “I’m so happy for you and this week is going to be amazing.”

We pull away and her face still looks worried. “It’s just you know, Stephanie is paying for our honeymoon and…”

“Megs,” I say. “It’s fine.”

She breathes a breath of relief. “You sure?”

Stephanie pops out of nowhere making me jump. “Hi bestie!” she says to Megan.

Megan smiles tightly and looks at me sideways. I look back down at her toes.

“Come bestie,” Stephanie says, wrapping her arm around Megan’s and pulling her away from me. “I saved you a seat beside me on the bus.”

“Don’t you think she wants to sit next to her fiancee?” I ask, struggling to pull out the handle from my rolling suitcase. It’s always getting stuck.

Stephanie waves her hand at me dismissively. “She has the rest of her life to do that with my brother,” she says as they walk away from me.

I glance over at the bar. It’s full of tourists who I don’t recognize. Aaron, Lucas and Ethan are probably already on the bus.

I sigh and follow the two new best friends as they get on the bus together, arm in arm.

The bus driver grabs my luggage and tosses it onto the pile of suitcases in the storage cabin like it’s a worthless sack of potatoes. I cringe as I picture my shampoo inside exploding all over my clothes.

The bus is packed and like the plane, I’m the last one to enter. Aaron is sitting in the front next to Lucas. Would it have killed him to save me a seat? He doesn’t even look up as I pass him. What the hell did I do to him? I seriously have no idea.

Stephanie pulls Megan into the last two open seats and I scan the rows looking for a place to sit. I gulp as I see the one open seat.