Page 11 of Seven Year Itch
“Yeah,” Trista adds with a smirk and kicks me lightly in the shin. “Be good or I’ll go bridezilla on you.”
I frown at the sudden gang-up, irritated that I’m automaticallypegged as the bad guy. I swear I could be living in a foreign country and everyone would still ride my ass about something. I pull my hoodie up over my messy hair and slump down into my seat as Dakota boards the plane. Glancing at the spot open beside me, I quickly grab my backpack off the floor and toss it on the seat so she doesn’t get any bright ideas.
She sees my movement and hits me with one of her punishing Karen glowers.
“Seat’s taken,” I mutter in a Forrest Gump accent.
“Real mature, Killer.”
“I’ll sit next to the jerk,” Trista offers, jumping up out of her seat and carrying her bag of stolen free snacks with her. She tosses my bag to the floor and sits down next to me, jabbing me pointedly with her elbow.
“Don’t you want to be by the baby?” Dakota asks, glancing down to Wyatt with an uneasy look. “I’m not great with babies.”
“I’m right across from her. It’ll be fine.”
“Plus, it’s my turn anyways!” my mom coos, appearing with her grabby little hands to take my niece from my brother. “Nanna is on duty all this week! You two are supposed to be enjoying yourselves.” She mushes her lips into Stevie’s cheeks, stirring her from her sleep.
“I was enjoying myself,” Wyatt mumbles with a scowl.
Mom rolls her eyes and heads back to her seat.
The minute Dakota lowers herself into the spot across from me, I realize I have made a grave error. Images of her in that black corset dress last weekend flash through my mind: the garters, the thigh-high stockings, the way her icy blue eyes were bright even in that dark closet. The way she smirked when she let the bouncer throw me out. My chest feels heavy in her presence, and I turn to look away before she can read the dirty images racing through my head.
“Sit by your fiancée, Wyatt, you asshole,” I grumble and grab my bag up off the floor to move over to his seat.
Wyatt looks at me like I’m a moron as he stands and I quickly drop down into his seat, pinning my eyes to the window and ignoring the faint smell of Dakota’s perfume that I remember from the other night. The pilot begins talking over the loudspeaker now that everyone has boarded. Let’s get this damn trip over with.
Chapter 5
Mastermind
Everly
“No hay habitaciones adicionales disponibles, ¿verdad?” I say to the house manager for the fifth time in my rough Spanish. I took it all through high school, so it’s not the best, but I’m hopeful it’s getting my request across.
“Sí, señorita,” the short butler with a thick mustache replies with a wink. “No hay habitaciones adicionales disponibles.”
“Big, tattooed, bearded guy? Him and la señorita rubia en la palapa, sí?” I point to the thatched roof covered in dried palms peeking out at the back of the villa on the oceanside. I arrived an hour before my family to get the lay of the land and decided that was the perfect spot.
Carlos nods and smiles, giving me a hearty thumbs-up and a big wink. Okay, good. I’ve got him on board with my plan.
What is my plan, exactly?
To force my uncle Calder and my stepmom’s best friend, Dakota, to share a suite at this stunning villa in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
Because I am a mastermind!
I smile and sip the margarita the house greeters presented me with when I arrived. This trip is already off to a great start. That is, until Calder and Dakota learn that due to a supposed pipe leak, there are no longer enough bedrooms at the villa, and unfortunately, two people are going to have to share. And since I’m sharing a room with my grandma and little brother, Calder and Dakota are the only other two singles left to share a room.
Insert evil villain laugh.
A large black sprinter van turns down the lane that leads to theproperty, so I quickly set my drink down to jump up and wave as they traverse around the giant courtyard fountain to park in front of me. I was home over Christmas, so I got to meet my new cousin Stevie when she was born, but it’s been nearly three months since then, and I’m dying to see how much the little squirt has changed.
Uncle Luke and Calder are the first off the van, and they both stretch their arms out to me for a hug.
I sprint toward them only to swat their arms away and dive into the van for my cousin. I find Trista in the back struggling to get her car seat unlatched.
“Oh my God, she’s huge!” I exclaim when I lay my eyes on her. “And look at all that hair!”
