First to come off was his hat. His wavy brown hair was now exposed and glistened in the sun light. He threw it on the lounge chair where my bag and towel sat. Next was his shirt. As soon as he crossed his arms at the bottom of his tee and began to pull it up, I could feel those butterflies again. Ramsey wasn’t as beefy as the other guys by the pool that day, but boy was his body toned in all the right places. Impeccable pecks, perfect arms and absolutely amazing abs made up this man’s upper body. He then threw his shirt on the chair with his hat, and looked at me and asked, “Are you going in with your clothes on?” as he kicked off his sneakers.
I shook my head no.
“Well then, come on. I’m hot.”
I was getting hot too, but only in a different way than he was talking about. I then began my show. First off were my flip flops, which I just flicked next to my beer that was on the floor by our chair. Next off was my tank top which revealed my newly pierced navel, a constant reminder of my trip to Mexico. Once my shirt was off, I threw it on the lounge chair, just as Ramsey did. Then, I unbuttoned my shorts and shimmied them down my legs. I stepped out of them and then flicked them onto the chair with my foot. I then took my hair out of the pony tail it had been in all day. I took it out because I hated going under water with my hair up, but I also wanted to look as attractive as possible. Given my competition at the pool, I needed as much help as I could get. As I placed the elastic band around my wrist and swished my hair from side to side, I heard a few whistles, which made me blush. I then grabbed at the back of my bikini bottom to make sure I had maximum coverage on both butt cheeks, in case it had ridden up a little. I coyly looked up at Ramsey to see his reaction.
Facing me, he grabbed my waist with his right hand, leaned down and whispered in my left ear, “I’m regretting bringing you down here now. All eyes are on you, Kid. I’m gonna have to let these guys know that you’re here with me.” Following his words, he softly moved his lips from my ear never losing contact with my skin, and kissed my cheek.
I don’t know if it was the fact that we were standing there almost naked, the fact that every time his skin touched mine it felt like fireworks going off in my body, or the fact that he wanted people to know that I was with him that made me want to grab him and go a little further with that kiss. Once he moved his face away from my cheek, he looked me straight in the eye. What was probably only a minute seemed like an hour of us intensely looking at each other. My desire to throw my arms around his neck and passionately kiss him grew stronger with every second.
Our eye contact was broken when I was shoved forward by someone, landing right in Ramsey’s arms.
“Oh excuse me, did I just do that?” a snarly voice spoke.
I looked up at Ramsey and although I only knew him for about an hour, I could see a look of disgust on his face. I didn’t even have to turn around to see who the voice belonged to because once Ramsey helped me off of him and back into my own space, the voice was standing next to him, with her arm locked into his.
“So who the fuck are you, skank?” the voice questioned. The voice, by the way, was gorgeous. She was tall and blonde with legs that looked like they’d never end. Her blonde hair was flawlessly straight and her tan was intensified by her white bikini, which barely covered her huge breasts.
“Nicole, why don’t you just get the fuck out of here and leave her alone?” Erin shouted from her lounge chair. “Do you have to cause trouble everywhere you go?” Erin asked, as she got up and left the pool area.
“Shut the fuck up, Erin. This has nothing to do with you. This has to do with me, Ramsey, and this skank who is trying to bang my boyfriend,” the voice shouted as Erin disappeared.
Ramsey stood with a stone cold look on his face. He released his arm from her and said, “Nicole, we broke up months ago because you started screwing someone behind my back. The only reason I went to the prom with you is because I already paid for it and I wanted to be there with my friends. I wasn’t your date. We simply sat at the same table, we didn’t even go there together, nor did we say one fucking word to each other all night. So, do yourself a favor and get the fuck out of my face before I lose my temper. My business and who I spend my time with is none of your business anymore.” He stood so close to her with his jaw clenched that I was a little frightened for her.
She took a step back and looked at me. “You’re not even good enough for him. Look at you. Look at me. I’m what he likes, not girls like you. Don’t waste your time, loser. You’re a game for him sweetie, a mere joke. You don’t really think he likes you, do you?” she laughed as she shoved my shoulder as she passed by me, making her exit from the pool.
I never moved. I don’t know if it was my heart or my feet that felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t look at Ramsey either. I was humiliated in front of all of those people. If I could run away, I would have. Instead, I just stood there as tears streamed down my face. Ramsey never moved from his spot either, as a look of anguish spread across his face. Suddenly, I heard Lauri screaming my name.
I still didn’t move.
She kept calling my name until she placed herself right in front of me, Erin right beside her.
“Jesus Karen,” Lauri huffed, clearly out of breath from the run down here from her room. “Erin came and told me that Nicole was bothering you. Are you ok? Where is that bitch?”
I shrugged my shoulders as I wiped my tears.
“Come on sweetie, let’s go,” she said as she wrapped her arm around me.
“Just get me out of here,” I demanded.
We began to head for the white gate when Billy caught up to us. He stopped us and said, “I like girls like you, Karen. Come find me later if you want.”
I completely ignored him, while Lauri couldn’t contain herself. “You are such a douchebag, Billy. And you,” she turned around to face Ramsey, who was putting his hat back on, “you are a fucking asshole. I don’t know what happened here, but fuck you, Ramsey.”
As upset and humiliated as I was, I couldn’t help but turn and look in Ramsey’s direction once the white gate closed behind us. He was standing in the same spot, staring at me, as a look of grief now devoured his face.
4
“I’m gonna kill her when I see her. Friggen kill her,” Lauri ranted all the way back to our room. “Who does that bitch think she is anyway? I don’t think she’s that great.”
I knew she was talking to me, but I was blocking her out. As she led our way through the crowded corridor to our room, multiple whistles followed us. It was then that I realized I was walking around in my bikini. In the midst of all of that commotion, I forgot to grab my things. I stopped two doors down from our room.
“Lauri, I have to go back down. I left everything down there, my wallet, my bag, my towel, my clothes,” I said worriedly.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll run down in a few minutes. I’d like to give Ramsey a piece of my mind anyway.”
“He didn’t do anything, Lau. It was all the girl. What was her name, Nicole? He couldn’t have known what was going to come out of her mouth. And you know what, she’s right. I am a loser. Guys don’t like girls like me. They want gorgeous, flashy girls. I know David did anyway. Don’t fight with Ramsey, it’s not his fault,” I pleaded as tears began to fill my eyes.
We had made it to room 208 before she said, “Well, I still want to rip his balls off.”
With a turn of the knob, we were back inside our room. A few candles were now lit, which meant that during Erin’s disturbance Lauri and Danny were either getting it on, or that it just smelled so bad in there that they had to light a candle. Either way, I was grateful for the pleasing scent masking the musty odor.
I didn’t see Danny at first glance, but soon heard the shower running. Lauri looked at