Chapter 0038
BAILEE
EIGHT YEARS AGO (Sixteen years old)
I couldn’t help but stare longingly at the party on the beach.
I wanted to be there for Ben’s birthday, but I had work to finish, and until I was done, there would be no fun for me.
My parents owned a resort on the lake where Ben and I worked after school. When I was little, I thought it was the coolest thing to be able to say that I lived at a resort, but as I got older, it sucked.
Living where I worked… for free most days… was horrible.
Where most kids were told, ‘It’s your turn to clean up after dinner,’ before they went to bed, I would be in my pajamas, brushing my teeth, and would be hit with, ‘Bailee, the guests in villa 5 have food poisoning and found out while they were in the hot tub. I need you to go take care of that.’
I would dream about what it would be like to grow up as a kid with those stupid chore charts I heard my classmates complaining about. Instead, I became an employee as soon as I was old enough to start helping out.
It had taken me hours to complete my list of jobs today, and I had been anxious to get them done so I could join Ben’s friends for his birthday celebration. Unfortunately, my work didn’t disappear just because my brother was born eighteen years ago today.
Every time I walked by them to move on to my next job, I would be flooded with jealousy. It wasn’t just that I wanted to be relaxing by the lake, too, but that I had to watch Amber, one of the volleyball players from school, rub herself all over Alex.
He would meet my stare, each time I looked at him, like he could feel me watching but had made no move to push her away.
We had only been together for a few weeks, but it still hurt.
Flipping the light on in the storage closet, I pushed the mop and bucket inside, resisting the urge to kick them in, just to relieve some of my anger.
“Are you ready to join us yet?” Alex asked, and I jumped before turning to meet his dark blue eyes. They could rival sapphires they were so perfect, and I could see flecks of green in them as he inched closer. His sun-kissed skin was tan, and a little pink was starting to show on his shoulders.
“I think I’ll just let you guys have your fun and head back to my room,” I said, trying not to sound bitter. I turned away from him to reach for the light switch, but Alex caught my arm and stopped me.
“It’s no fun without you, and you know your brother wants you there. He was about to leave his own party to help you with your chores so you could be there sooner.” Alex said, his heart-stopping smile making my knees weak.
He wasn’t in sports, but you wouldn’t know that from looking at him. He had the body of an athlete and the moves of one, too. The damn man could seduce anyone he wanted.
Only, his charms were working too well for my liking with little-miss-perfect on the beach.
“You look like you’re having a lot of fun,” I said but bit my tongue right after.
We had just gotten together. I didn’t want to come across as jealous and clingy right away, but seeing another woman hanging on him was making me feel that way.
“I’ll have more fun when you come down to join us in your suit, and I can get you wet.” He joked, and I had to fight the smile at his play on word.
“Alex,” I sighed.
1/2
“Yeah?”
*She’s beautiful,” I whispered, hating that I felt so insecure.
But how could I compare to those girls? They were parading around in tiny bikinis that would make any man lose his mind. One girl was even in a one-piece that had cutouts on the sides, somehow making it appear even more risqué than the others.
Their hair and makeup were done to perfection. They hadn’t even pretended to be interested in swimming. They weren’t here for the jet skis or the canoes. All they wanted was to get tan, get drunk, and hook up with either my brother or one of his friends.
“Who?” Alex asked, glancing around before lifting his eyebrows at me suggestively when he noticed we were alone. He wrapped his arm around my waist and spun me around so we were inside the storage closet with my back against the wall.
I laughed, unable to help myself, but my smile dropped when a floral scent hit me.
My lotion and body spray were vanilla.
It was like she had marked him, claiming him as hers to ward off other women.
“What? What happened?” Alex asked, pulling back and lifting my chin to make me look at him.
“You smell.” I spat out, feeling like a pouting child. I wanted to push him away, for him not to touch me.
It felt dirty to have him pressed against me when he smelled so strongly of her as if I were the other woman.
Though, since we were a secret, I could be and just mot know it.
Alex’s head snapped back, and his cheeks turned pink. He lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck before snapping his arm down quickly. “Sorry, I’ve been out in the sun all day I hop in the lake when I get back and rinse off.”
