A/N: FYI-minor edits have been done to chapter 1, and chapter 2 has been completely rewritten.
Chapter Three
"Remind Me To Forget"
"All right, y'all enjoy your trip."
While Jake managed the payment for the Uber on his phone, Hannah smiled her thanks to the driver before appraising Chris's family's condo. 'Condo' did not even remotely describe the residence, for it was most definitely a large beach house, but the semantics were probably Chris's way of downplaying his family's wealth.
"Damn, I think I forgot something," Ethan blurted, as he, Hannah, and Jake dragged their luggage to the front door. "I don't know what yet, but you know when you just get that feeling?"
Hannah snorted. "Like how you forgot to tell me and Jake that we were both going on this trip together? Maybe your radar's just delayed."
Scowling, Ethan shook his head deliberately. "I'm not even revisiting that topic of conversation. I'm no conspirator, just an accessory."
"That still sounds like an admittance of blame," Jake pointed out, rolling his eyes.
Cursing herself for looking at him when she did, Hannah couldn't help but become mesmerized by the greenness of Jake's eyes. The sunlight had reflected perfectly, making his eyes shine beautifully. "Can't wait to see what other fun surprises you bastards have in store," Hannah muttered. She'd intended for her tone to be gruff, but Jake's attractiveness had thrown off her inflection.
She wasn't entirely sure what she was feeling about the new Jake debacle. Truthfully, she'd been so stunned to see him that her brain had its own delays. Now that the initial shock was wearing off, Hannah was mostly irritated by the situation but also nervous, which was an emotion that usually tended to bring out the worst in her behavior. After so long without seeing Jake, after having seen him nearly every day for her entire life, it was surreal that he was once again in her presence. Trying to balance that with her aggravation toward her friends' meddling was difficult for her to process.
The front door to the condo burst open just as they were climbing the few stairs to the porch, and Tisha appeared with a bright grin, wearing a lime green bikini covered by a long, mesh white tank top. "You're here! Finally." Though she had a red solo cup with sloshing liquid in her hands, she threw her arms around Hannah's neck in a warm greeting. "I feel like I haven't seen your face in forever."
It had been about three weeks, and, normally, Hannah would have been excited to see her best friend. Because Tisha had stayed at home to attend cosmetology school when Hannah, Libby, Ethan, and formerly Jake had moved for college, the girls really hadn't seen as much of each other, though they still talked most days and texted every day.
"I don't know what's in your cup, but I'm ready for some," Ethan declared, brushing past Tisha easily. "Somebody show me to my quarters."
Tisha ignored him and moved to hug Jake, catching Hannah by great surprise. "Did you have a good flight?" she asked him. "Brent swore you were gonna get air sick, but I told him that it's just his driving that makes you nauseous."
Hannah managed to prevent her mouth from dropping open and plastered a neutral expression on her face. Of course. Jake's good buddy Brent had remained at home to attend a local community college so that he could stay near his girlfriend Tisha, and since Jake was taking classes online while living at home this semester, the three of them were probably the jolliest of friends. That was just great.
"It was fine," Jake replied, laughing lightly as Tisha held the door open for him and Hannah. "But I am starving."
Tisha giggled and nudged Hannah. "And I'm sure you are too. Don't worry, Brent and Chris have just started grilling out back. Come on, I'll show you your rooms."
It was nearly six o'clock in the evening before they'd managed to get through airport traffic and complete the drive to the condo, but Hannah could honestly say that she was not at all hungry, which was a first, considering she hadn't eaten since the night before. She'd even slept through the airplane snacks. Part of her knew that was probably contributing to the tension she felt in Tisha's presence, but she figured that her friend deserved a bit of a cold shoulder for leaving such pertinent information out of their conversations.
The condo's floorpan was open, with the foyer leading into the dining area, which was adjacent to the kitchen on one side and a large living room behind it; another bedroom and communal bathroom were off of the living room, technically behind the kitchen. Next to the entry staircase was a master suite, which Tisha described as 'super chic' as they climbed the stairs to the second level. Upstairs were two bedrooms, one for Jake and Ethan and one for Hannah, along with another bathroom.
Ethan popped his head out of the bedroom on the left and raised his eyebrows at Jake. He had already changed into red and blue swim shorts. "Get in here, man, you've got to see this view."
Hannah watched his retreating backside, resenting how much she enjoyed that view and followed Tisha into the other bedroom. Decorated in pastel shades of blue, yellow, and green, the room sported a queen-sized bed and essential furniture, but the thing that caught Hannah's eye was the bay window that overlooked the backyard patio. She dropped her suitcase near the bed and went to check out the view, which was probably the same sight that Ethan and Jake were observing. Below her, she could see the patio, a massive pool and hot tub, and a pathway leading to stairs that went to the sandy beach. It really was a beautiful sight.
"Han…"
Hannah turned to see that Tisha had closed the door and was now perched on the bed, clutching her cup and surveying her friend intensely. "Where's Libby?" Hannah asked in reply.
Thoughtfully, Tisha nibbled her lower lip. "Should I ask her to come up?" Tisha began fidgeting with the ends of her light brown waves. "Are you ready to tell us off? Can we at least get you a drink first, or would that be putting our lives at risk? Please don't be mad at me— you know I'm a meddling asshole—but you can be mad at Libby; just sayin', because she's a mean drunk sometimes, but I just thought—"
Hannah held up a hand to silence Tisha and sighed deeply, moving to sit beside her on the bed. Taking a moment to answer, she swiped the red cup from Tisha and drained it quickly, feeling an alcoholic burn glide down her throat. "I just wish you would've told me," she said finally. "Seeing him this morning was quite the surprise."
"Wouldn't you have made up some excuse to ditch this trip?" Tisha asked suspiciously, her perfectly groomed eyebrows knitting together. "I thought the surprise would be a good one. I mean, he still cares about you, you still care about him, and you can have a happy little reunion on this trip, since you guys still haven't talked even though he's been back in the country for months now. I was just trying to help."
The information overload was diminished in observance of a slight slur to Tisha's words. Hannah wiggled the cup in her hands. "How many of these have you had?" Her friend's sheepish giggle was the only response necessary; Hannah could tell the number was probably high by the way that Tisha was blurting out her words. "I just wish I had known."
Although, Hannah had to wonder if her friend was correct. Would she have been tempted to bail on the trip if she had known that Jake was going to be along too? Would it have set unrealistic expectations in her mind? Hannah wasn't even sure what her expectations were.
"No more secrets. Promise." Tisha's blue-green eyes were widened. "Okay?"
The bedroom door burst open, and Libby appeared. "There you bitches are." Hannah watched Libby saunter toward the bed and sit beside her friends; her coral bikini highlighted her already tanned skin. Her bright blue eyes settled on Tisha's face as she asked, "Are we in trouble?"
Hannah raised the red cup in her roommate's face. "You are if I don't get one of these stat."
Libby smirked. "Stressful trip?" She stood and moved toward the pale wooden dresser, opening a drawer and pulling out a bottle of moscato. "I stocked you up just in case," she informed Hannah with a saucy grin while she unscrewed the top. Libby extended the bottle in Hannah's direction. "Okay, so catch us up on your flight. Did you and Jake join the mile high club?"
Hannah rolled her eyes and took a lengthy gulp from the bottle. "No. We barely even talked, actually."
Tisha took the wine bottle from Hannah, surveying her with surprise. "Seriously? I've been pestering him to talk to you for weeks."
Frowning, Hannah shook her head. "I don't want him to talk just because someone told him to. I'd rather he make the decision for himself."
"I'd rather he make the decision to jump your bones," Libby declared with a toss of her dark hair. "Forget talking." She unzipped Hannah's suitcase and began to rummage through it. "I hope you packed some lingerie. Where's that swimsuit that makes your ass look like a stripper's?"
Swatting at Libby's hands, Hannah pulled her suitcase away and reached for her orange one-piece with strategic cutouts on the sides. "I'm not trying to get laid today."
Tisha smiled mischievously. "We're here for a week. All in due time."
Hannah felt a sinking feeling in her stomach; whether it was desire or nerves, she wasn't sure, so she decided it was hunger. "Can we eat yet?" She took the wine bottle back from Tisha and took a big sip before standing up from the bed. "What are the guys grilling?"
"Turkey burgers for Lib, vegan burgers for me, and lots of burgers for you," Tisha replied, getting up to follow Hannah. She paused and tipped her head thoughtfully. "Wait, has anybody heard from Morgan?"
"Ugh." Libby stood, rolling her eyes dramatically, and making a face of disgust. "No, thankfully. And nobody tell me if that changes." She sent a saucy smirk in Hannah's direction. "I'd rather not know if someone's going to crash my vacation."
Momentarily shocked, Hannah managed a small giggle and nudged Libby's shoulder with a powerful force. "Too soon, bitch, too soon."
On her third refill of vodka-punch, Hannah was sitting by the pool's edge, repeatedly raising her legs from the waiter and eyeing them critically; the paleness of her skin, she knew, would soon be replaced with redness, but, for tonight, the sun was already setting. Music and loud voices drifted from the other side of the patio, of which Hannah had a great view, but it was considerably quieter at the deep end of the pool.
"Oh my God, Brent!" Tisha squealed, catching Hannah's attention. When she looked up, she saw that Brent was throwing more hamburgers on the grill.
"What?" he laughed. "I'm hungry."
Hannah laughed softly to herself and kicked her legs gently in the water. Spring break was already a shit show. Brent and Jake had been playing beer pong against Chris and Ethan for the past hour; it was when their throws started causing the cups to fly haphazardly off the table that Hannah had retreated to the pool for her own safety.
"Dude's gonna burn this place down." Ethan dropped himself next to Hannah, his legs creating a light splash in the pool. His brown eyes met Hannah's intensely. "Probably by the end of the night."
Hannah offered him a smile before taking a sip of her drink. "I'm shocked you're not over there helping."
Ethan shook his head hard. "Hell no." He raised his hand and showed Hannah a bright pink mark covering its side, clearly a burn. "I already learned my lesson. I'm not trying to lose my eyebrows too."
Eyes lighting up with mischief, Hannah cocked her head in her friends' direction. Tisha and Libby were removing their coverups and readying for a swim, while Jake and Chris were watching Brent's futile attempts to light the grill. "Okay, who's gonna be the first one to pass out?"
Grinning, Ethan replied, "Probably Chris. Unless he's the first to throw up."
Analyzing Libby's boyfriend, Hannah quickly assessed that Ethan was likely correct. "He's a total lightweight," she confirmed. "I've never seen him have more than two drinks in a night."
"And he's probably had two dozen beers today, easy."
Hannah wrinkled her nose. "He's our lifeguard, right? Who's going to be the first to drown?"
Ethan cracked up, seeming to remember Chris's summer job of lifeguarding at the country club. "Yup. We're all screwed."
Libby dived into the pool gracefully, coming up and brushing her perfect dark hair back. Hannah believed a Sports Illustrated covergirl couldn't have done it with more finesse. Then Tisha splashed into the water playfully, both girls making their way toward Hannah and Ethan.
"Hey, hobbits." Libby gave a sassy grin and splashed water at Hannah and Ethan. "You guys gonna be antisocial all night now?"
"No, just until we're done placing bets on who's the biggest drunk ass tonight," Hannah replied with a smirk.
Libby snorted. "That's easily Tish." She gestured to Tisha, who was floating on her back, staring up at the stars with a peaceful smile on her pretty face. "And my guess is that it will continue to be Tish for the whole trip."
"Remember football homecoming?" Ethan asked, raising his eyebrows challengingly.
Hannah started laughing immediately at the memory. "Yeah, Lib, remember when you tried to streak through the parking lot after the game?"
"And then puked all over the table at iHop?" Ethan grinned.
Scowling, Libby sniffed indignantly. "I was but a child then," she said determinedly. "I have been practicing my alcohol tolerance nightly — just ask Hannah."
Ethan scoffed. "Bitch, you've been practicing your alcohol tolerance daily too; I've seen your drunk ass in class."
Hannah listened to her friends bickering in amusement. After she and Jake had started dating back in high school, her friends and his had meshed into one social group, helped along by the fact that Brent and Tisha were in a relationship too. Though she had wondered about their closeness once college began, she was grateful that they'd all stayed best friends, with the exception of Morgan, who had found herself a new clique of friends by the end of their first semester. Though she and Hannah were still cordial and spoke on occasion, Morgan hadn't spent time with their whole friend group in a long time.
"Who the hell is that?" Tisha had stopped back-floating and was now scowling at Hannah, Libby, and Ethan. Her feet were now firmly planted on the pool's bottom, her hands on her hips as she gestured toward the grilling area.
Brent, Jake, and Chris were all talking to a girl in a bikini, who was laughing and tossing her auburn back flirtatiously. The girl reached out and brushed Brent's forearm as the melodious tone of her voice floated over indistinctly.
Ethan turned to Hannah and grinned. "Who's gonna get in the first drunken brawl? Odds on Tisha."
Hannah began to giggle her agreement, just as the girl threw her arms around Chris in a playful hug. Hannah's giggles immediately subsided as she turned to look at Libby's enraged expression. "Never mind that, Ethan, my money's on Lib."
Before Hannah could finish her sentence, Libby was pulling herself out of the pool, surely about to go investigate, and Tisha was right on her heels. Trying not to laugh, Hannah nudged Ethan, saying, "Ooh, this is gonna be good."
Ethan smirked. "It'll be better once this girl puts her paws on Jake. Now that's the fight I want to see."
While that thought momentarily stumped Hannah, as it wasn't something she considered, she frowned at Ethan. "Jake's a big boy," she declared defiantly. "If he wants that bitch, then I guess he can go after her."
Rolling his eyes, Ethan kicked at Hannah's leg under the water. "Yeah, right. We all know he's yours. You guys only broke up because he left the country, so it's only a matter of time until you guys get back together."
Frown deepening, Hannah knew that wasn't entirely true. While Jake's studying abroad was certainly the catalyst of their breakup argument, there had been more to it than just him leaving. It had been about communication and openness and secrecy. Hannah caught herself fidgeting and slid into the pool to hide it. Choosing to ignore Ethan's words, she tugged at his knees annoyingly. "Come on, don't you want a closer look?"
"Hell yeah," Ethan answered, pushing himself into the water to swim over with Hannah. "Mystery girl looks like a solid ten from here."
Hannah rolled her eyes and splashed water directly into Ethan's face. "Pretty mystery girls never go after the guy that's available," she decided. "That pretty much means that you don't stand a chance with her."
Pulling a face as he wiped water from his eyes, Ethan shot back, "No, the girls that I never stand a chance with are the ones that are secretly in love with Jake. So that's looking bad for both of us."
Huffy, Hannah lingered in the pool, treading water, while Ethan pulled himself out, but she stayed close enough that she could hear the group's conversation.
"Now who do we have here?" Ethan asked devilishly.
Chris slid his arm around the mystery girl's shoulders. "This is my cousin, Kelsey. Her family owns the condo next door, so she came to say hi."
Hannah's blue eyes flickered over to Libby, who appeared much less hostile than before, but Tisha's eyes were still narrowed. She went up on her tiptoes to whisper something in Brent's ear that made him grin broadly.
"Nice of you to rejoin the party."
Hannah's gaze left the girls and landed on Jake, who was standing at the pool's edge, staring down at her with a smile. Her ego received silent congratulations that Jake was more interested in talking to her than meeting Chris's cousin.
"I take it that means you're done avoiding me for awhile?"
Crinkling her nose, Hannah pulled her strawberry blonde hair into a loose bun. "No one's avoiding you," she answered nonchalantly. "I'd forgotten you were even here, to be honest."
Looking briefly pained, Jake was quick to smirk. "So come play beer pong with us. We were just about to start another round."
Hannah's eyes flickered over to see that Tisha and Brent had disappeared and that Libby was sipping wine with a sour expression on her face while Chris and Ethan were saying goodbye to Kelsey, walking her around to the front of the condo. "Who's we?" she smirked. "Looks like everybody's calling it a night."
"I'm certainly ready to call it a night," Libby declared, draining her glass.
Feeling like she had missed something, Hannah climbed out of the pool and cocked her head in Libby's direction. "Just all of a sudden?"
Libby scowled fiercely. "You clearly didn't hear Tisha say that she invited Morgan to come over tomorrow. What the hell?"
Hannah's eyebrows raised. "Okay, so I'll go ahead and tell Ethan that I'm winning the bet on who's going to be in the first brawl of break." Merely scoffing, Libby turned without saying a word and went into the condo, leaving Hannah alone with Jake. She risked a glance at him and saw that he seemed confused.
"We don't like Morgan anymore or something?" he asked dubiously.
A nasty remark about how Tisha must not be giving him all the gossip during their little friend group outings with Brent popped into Hannah's head, but she managed to keep it from popping out of her mouth. "Something like that."
Jake sighed and stretched his arms over his head; Hannah had to avert her eyes from his physical perfection. "Why'd you get out of the pool? I thought we were going to have a nighttime swim."
Hannah gave Jake a playful smile. "See, I'm starting to think you're suffering from drunken delusions. Nobody was gearing up for beer pong, and we were not about to go swimming."
"Aw, come on," Jake pleaded, pulling his t-shirt off. "Under the stars? It'll be a great way to end our first night at the beach." Without giving Hannah a chance to shut him down, Jake lunged forward, pushing her back into the pool and jumping in after her.
"Jake!"
Laughing, he splashed water in her direction. "Isn't this nice?"
Though mostly surprised more than angered, Hannah kicked at Jake under the water and smacked at his shoulders. "I'm going to kill you!"
"And lose your bet to Ethan?" Jake grabbed Hannah's hands and pulled her into deeper water easily. "You're going to have the first fight instead?"
Still spluttering water, Hannah jerked her hands away from Jake's, but he was quick enough to clasp them again. She could barely stand the feeling of his skin against hers without wanting to curl up in his arms. But she didn't want him to know that, so she resumed kicking at him stubbornly, planning an attack to hold his head under water.
Jake's strength outdid Hannah's, however, and he pinned her body against his, green eyes twinkling. "Would you really have expected me to miss that opportunity?" he asked smoothly. "The chance to knock you in the pool and piss you off?"
"I'd expect you to respect some boundaries," Hannah retorted, squirming in his grasp. Unable to free herself, Hannah spun so that they were face to face, Jake's arms still holding her close tightly. Slowly, Hannah raised her hand and delicately stroked Jake's chest.
Surprise lit up his face. Jake slowly leaned in, bringing his lips closer to Hannah's.
Caught off guard even in her attempt to catch Jake off guard, Hannah pulled back quickly, splashing enough water in Jake's face to give herself time to flee the scene.
"You're scared!" Jake called after her.
Hannah's fleeing didn't slow down until she was safely in the condo, dripping wet all over the floor. Heart pounding and feeling short of breath, she flew up the stairs and into her room, locking the door behind her. Hannah cursed herself for even toying with Jake, especially now that she—and he—both knew that he could toy right back with her.