4. Ben
“Well,holy shit, it’s you, my giant man-child neighbor,” she fires back immediately.
My head falls back as I let out a loud laugh. “Man-child? Seriously?”
She’s wearing sunglasses, but I swear she rolls her eyes behind them as she gives me a slow once over. It’s similar to the one she gave me this morning when she was checking me out in my underwear, even if she was trying to pretend she wasn’t. Can’t say I’m doing anything different though, because as she stands before me in this tiny blue bikini, her body all long and leaned and toned, I’m absolutely checking her out.
Because this girl is smoking fucking hot.
“I mean, do I need to list the reasons?” she says, holding up a hand as she proceeds to count them off anyway. “Raging party with fireworks, loud music, drinking, police called?—”
“Ah, that last one’s on you, remember?” I point out, hitting her with a grin.
Pretty sure that earns me another eye roll as she continues. “Clearly passed out in your underwear outside?—”
“And pretty sure you didn’t mind the view this morning,” I chime in, still grinning.
It’s a huff, eye roll combo this time as she finishes up with, “Squatting in daddy’s house, no responsibilities and just,” she pauses, now waving a hand in my direction as she adds, “wasting your summer?”
“Wasting my summer?” I repeat with a laugh. “How exactly am I wasting my summer?”
She shrugs, pushing her sunglasses up on top of her head. I do the same, our eyes locking. Up close, I can see that hers are a deep blue in color, which, combined with her long, dark brown hair and tanned skin, only ups the appeal.
“Partying every night, I assume.”
I shake my head, laughing again. I love that this girl is basically just saying whatever she thinks to me, not giving a single shit about trying to impress me or whatever. If anything, it’s almost like she’s deliberately trying to rile me up, which is refreshing to say the least. Most of the chicks I hang out with here are all about saying yes, Ben and whatever you want, Ben, and a bunch of boring shit like that.
Not this girl. She just hands it to me, straight up.
Zero fucks given.
“Come play volleyball with us?” I blurt out, not giving a single shit that she thinks I’m some deadbeat slacker man-child who’s taking advantage of my rich dad. I mean, it’s not entirely true, but it’s not entirely false either.
“What?” she says, clearly not expecting the invitation.
“Come play volleyball with us,” I repeat, jerking my thumb behind me to where Troy and Jason are undoubtedly standing watching all of this. “We’re only three and could use another player.”
She tucks the volleyball against her side, jutting her hip out in the cutest way. “You want me,” she pauses to jerk a thumb at herself before continuing, “to come and play volleyball with you?” She finishes aiming a finger gun at me now.
“Uh huh,” I reply with a grin. “I mean unless you’re afraid?” I add, wondering if she’s ever played volleyball before. A part of me wants to know and a part of me just wants to show off my own volleyball skills in front of her.
She lets out a combination laugh-snort that is seriously fucking adorable and only makes me laugh harder, especially when she says, “Afraid? Of you?”
I shrug, a huge grin on my face. “Well, are you?”
“God no,” she now says, slamming the ball into my chest. “Come on then, let’s do this.”
With a grin, I sling an arm across her shoulders as we turn and make our way over to the net. She quickly shrugs it off, hitting me with a glare before she pulls her sunglasses back down. Chuckling, I do the same, grateful that Jason and Troy had paired up against me because that means she’s going to be on my team.
“I’m Ben by the way,” I say, before gesturing to my friends. “Jason, Troy.”
She takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she says, “Aida.”
AidaI repeat in my head, as I hit her with another grin. “Alright, so you’re gonna play with me,” I say, emphasizing the word play, because now that I’ve gotten an up-close look at my new neighbor, I would definitely like some playtime with her. Naked playtime.
Which definitely means I need to throw another party and I definitely need to invite her over too. Loosen her up a bit with a few drinks to see if that fiery nature of hers also translates to the bedroom.
“Of course,” she mutters as we move to our side of the net.
“You need a run down on the rules?” I ask as I move into position to serve.
She turns to me, her hands on her hips and giving me the perfect unobstructed view of her in that tiny blue bikini. Holy. Fuck. She is so hot. “I know how to play volleyball,” she deadpans, emphasizing the word play back to me.
I laugh, tossing the ball in my hands as I say, “Well, okay then, Aida, let’s play.”
And holy shit, does she ever know how to play. After I serve the ball, Jason hits it back toward Aida, clearly expecting her to be the weak link. She isn’t though, setting up the perfect spike for me to smash back over the net, right at Troy’s face.
“Fuck yeah,” I cry, holding up a hand in a high five.
Aida smirks, slapping my hand before we start the next play. After I serve again, Jason hits it back at me this time, and I pop it up for Aida, hoping she’ll hit it over. She does, not missing a beat as she smacks it back at Jason’s feet, letting out a laugh as he dives out of the way.
I have to say, I wasn’t expecting her to be this good and it both turns me on and wakes up my ultra-competitive mode. It’s not that I’m against being beaten by a girl, hell we’re on the same team. I just don’t like to lose. At anything.
We play a couple more points, Aida managing to serve an ace that literally leaves my jaw hanging open. I don’t miss the smirk Troy shoots my way. Even though he’s losing, he’s clearly loving the fact that my own teammate is basically kicking my ass.
“Okay, I gotta call time, drinks break,” Jason eventually says from the other side of the net, his chest heaving.
Laughing, I give my friends a thumbs up as I walk over to Aida, slinging my arm around her shoulders again. “So yeah, turns out you can play,” I say, trying to feign nonchalance.
“And you are really sweaty,” she says, shrugging me off again.
My grin widens as I flick the volleyball from one hand to another as I watch her. “Seriously, do you like?—”
“I played volleyball in college,” she says, a smug smile on her face as she looks back at me. “So yeah, I can play. Weren’t expecting that, were you?”
I let out another laugh, shaking my head a little. “Impressive, guess tomorrow we’re playing soccer,” I tell her, knowing this is the game I played in college, which means I’ll be kicking her ass next time. I steer her over to the cooler of beers we have. “You wanna drink? Cool down a little?”
She shakes her head as she says, “Think I’m going to go for a swim, cool down in the water.”
She walks off before I have a chance to reply, and I don’t miss Troy’s laugh as he says, “Fucking burn, dude.”
I flip him off, not taking my eyes from Aida as she walks down the sand toward the water, not looking back at me once. I’m definitely intrigued by this girl, even if she did call the cops on me and just school my ass in volleyball.
“Fuck it,” I say, dropping the ball as I follow after her.
Behind me, I hear Troy call out, “Pretty sure she isn’t interested!”
Followed by Jason’s, “Dude, the chick literally just walked off on you!”
I ignore them both, not giving a single shit that Aida essentially ditched me for a swim in the ocean. I walk down the shore to the water, wading into the waves until I reach her. We’re both still wearing our sunglasses, so we are only at shoulder height. Well, shoulder height for her, considering she’s a couple inches shorter than me.
“So, you here for the whole summer?” I ask when I reach her. She looks over at me, hitting me with a look that basically screams WTF and I laugh. “What? Just trying to get to know my neighbor,” I tell her.
“You mean your prissy neighbor.”
Chuckling, I splash some water in her direction as I say, “Like giant man-child is any better?”
Aida lets out a sigh, splashing me with water as she says, “Yeah, I’m here for the whole summer.”
My grin widens as I say, “Me too. Those two are crashing with me on and off over the summer.” I gesture to my two friends on the beach before lying back in the ocean to float. From the corner of my eye, I see Aida do the same.
“Must be nice to have access to such a great vacation home,” she says, her foot brushing against mine. I don’t miss the implication in her words though, that I’m just here, freeloading off my rich dad.
“Not gonna lie, it is,” I say, staring up at the crystal-clear blue sky.
Aida snorts beside me and I look over, seeing her foot right next to my hand. Without thinking, I grab her around the ankle, yanking her closer, the water splashing over both of us. She lets out a squeal, kicking some more water at me and I laugh, splashing her back again. Aida gets one more splash in, clearly not wanting me to have the last laugh.
“We should hang out for the summer,” I now say as I float beside her.
“Um, why?” she sputters, and when I look over, I can see her cheeks are flushed. I like that I’ve had this effect on her, gotten under her skin a little.
“Um, why not?” I mimic back to her. “We’re both here for the summer, staying in these huge houses alone. Why not hang out?”
“Because we barely know each other,” she deadpans.
“We can change that,” I say with a grin. Pretty sure she rolls her eyes at me again and I laugh. “Look, I’m sorry about the party last night, okay. We’ve only been here a couple of days and we just needed to let off some steam. It’s been a long ass few years at college, and we just want to have some fun.”
She stands and I do the same, the two of us watching each other. I get the feeling she’s trying to get a read on me, which is exactly what I’m trying to do with her.
“What did you study at college?” she asks.
Blowing out a breath, I shove a hand through my hair. “Architecture.”
“Wow,” she says, sounding genuinely impressed. And surprised.
I chuckle. “Not what you were expecting?”
“I don’t know what I was expecting,” she fires back quickly, and I laugh again.
“That I never even went to college, I expect,” I say, knowing I do give off the give-no-fucks-slacker vibe. Doesn’t mean I am though, even if it’s exactly what my dad thinks of me. “What did you study?” I now ask.
“Pre-law, politics and international relations,” she says quickly.
“Wow,” I say, letting out a low whistle. “Smart and beautiful.”
I say it because it’s true and also because I know it’s going to get under her skin. Which it does, making her blush again. I’m quickly realizing that shocking Aida and making her blush are two of my favorite pastimes. And now I’m wondering if I can make her blush in other ways. Ways that involve us not wearing any clothes and me talking dirty to her.
“So where are you going to grad school?”
“Columbia,” she says. “Where are you going after the summer?” she quickly adds, like this is all a competition to see who has the better future mapped out.
I shrug. “I don’t know,” I say, feigning disinterest. “Probably back home to New York while I decide.”
“You’re from New York?” she asks, surprised.
“Sure am,” I reply with a grin. “And wouldn’t you know, Columbia’s in New York, so maybe we’ll see each other after the summer too.”
“From what I hear, New York’s a pretty big place.”
“You’ve never been?” I ask and she shakes her head. “So, you don’t know anyone there?”
“Nope.”
My grin widens. “Well, shit, Aida, in that case, we’re definitely hanging out this summer, because you’re gonna need a New York friend.”
She huffs as she turns toward the shore and starts walking out of the water. I follow her, hanging back half a step as I watch her body appear from beneath the water. She’s like a fucking goddess, the way her skin glistens with water droplets.
“Come on,” I say, closing the distance between us as I fall in beside her. “We can be friends, can’t we?” When I glance down, I can see she’s blushing again and also that her nipples are at full attention beneath that tiny bikini top of hers.
Which means my dick is also trying to stand up at full attention.
“I don’t know,” she says, glancing up at me. “Not sure we have that much in common.”
Laughing, I shake my head at her, thinking we probably have way more in common than she realizes. “Aren’t you the one that just said we barely know each other?” I say. “How do you know we don’t have anything in common?”
Aida huffs out a breath as she says, “I don’t.”
“Sorry, what was that?” I tease. “Didn’t quite hear you?”
She rolls her eyes, jabbing me in the side with her elbow as she says, “I don’t.”
Chuckling, I can’t resist saying, “Exactly. Which is why I think you should come over tonight for a barbecue. So we can get to know each other. What do you say?”
This is one girl I definitely want to get to know a little better.