If I’d have known the guilt would be this bad I wouldn’t have gone. But now I was here for three nights, and there was nothing I could do to take it back. So I reached for my bathing suit and told myself I’d use the experience to hone my language skills for when I was a translator someday. Everything was going to be fine.
It was easier to let the guilt slip away when my toes dug into the soft, hot sand and I was peering out at crystal blue water. Texas beaches were nice, but nothing like this. The sand here was white, and the atmosphere up and down the beach was like a huge party. Most of the people were U.S. college kids on Spring break, but some were from other countries, and then there were the local hotties with their dark tanned bodies. I had to admit it was kind of awesome.
“I so need a guy,” Megan said, eyeing the group playing volleyball near where we sat on our towels.
“So does Angela,” Sabrina said. She tried to hand me her margarita.
“No thanks.” I was still slightly lightheaded from half a freaking drink. “And I don’t need a guy.”
“Need, want, whatever,” Megan said, flipping her dark curls at a six-pack who walked by. She giggled when he grinned at her.
“How long has it been?” Sabrina asked me. “A year?”
My face warmed and it had nothing to do with the blazing sun.
“Ten months,” I mumbled.
All three of them snorted as they tried to hold back laughter, even Caryn, though she looked asleep as she lay on her back, soaking rays on her flat belly.
“Bitches,” I said, falling back on my towel and closing my eyes. When they laughed harder I cracked a smile too. “It’s not like I never hook up.”
“She’s a relationship kind of girl,” Megan offered.
It was true. I liked the comfort of being committed if I was going to have sex, and I’d only had that with one person in my life. Too bad our love hadn’t been strong enough to last through the long distance.
Sabrina scoffed and leaned on her elbows. “We’re all hookin’ up in Cancun.”
The three of them raised their margaritas and I raised my lame bottle of water.
“Cheers to boys,” Megan said.
“Hot boys,” Caryn corrected, and we all drank to that.
When I was finally relaxed enough to let go of the guilt, I came alive. The first two days flew by in a blur of late nights and waking hours soaking up sun. I was open to meeting a guy, but when that didn’t happen I was happy to keep an eye on my three friends and make sure we all made it back to the room safely each night. During the days the other three might sneak off with guys they’d met, but at night we all came home together—no sketchy hotel flings. When Megan had asked to stay out longer the night before, and the guy she was with offered to walk her back to our room, we shot them down and dragged her back, ignoring her drunken pleas.
She was still bitter when we all woke at ten the next morning.
“He was the cutest guy I’ve met here! What if I can’t find him again? It’s our last day!”
“There’s tons of guys here, Meg,” Sabrina grumbled from her hungover fetal position on our bed.
Megan flung her forearm over her eyes. “You guys are evil. Seriously. Spawns of the horned one.”
We smiled at that, because we knew she loved us.
“He could’ve been a serial killer using his baby face as a disguise,” I told her. I was the only one up and about, moving around the room getting ready.
“Or some guy on a mission to knock-up as many girls as possible,” Caryn said from her spot next to Meg.
“Or a herpes and HIV carrier with a vengeance against women,” Sabrina chimed from her fetal position.
“Ugh!” Megan flopped onto her belly and groaned into her pillow.
I leaned forward and smacked her butt, making her jump. “Come on. Last day on the beach. Let’s go!”
“Geez, someone’s all hot to trot after moping the whole first day,” Caryn said. She was looking just as groggy as Megan.
“I didn’t mope the whole time.” I grabbed my brush and ran it through my shoulder-length layers. “Just the first couple hours.”
“I need some fucking coffee,” Sabrina said, rubbing her temples. “But I can’t move.”
I sighed. “You guys suck. How about I go get us some coffees and those pastry things? But when I get back you have to get your little asses out of bed. Deal?”
They grumbled their agreement, and Sabrina pointed to her purse with the money. I took what I needed and headed out.
We’d discovered an amazing cafe and restaurant near the hotel the day before. I smiled at the aproned woman behind the counter.
“Quatro cafe con leches, por favor,” I said.
She brightened at my use of Spanish and said, “Ah, bueno” as she got to work.
The bell to the door chimed as I hovered over the pastry counter, staring in at the mouth-watering delicacies. I bit my lip, trying to decide between the little strawberry shortcakes or fruit-filled pastries. The rolls also looked heavenly.
“It’s hard to decide, no?” said a rich male voice from behind me.