I spent too much time this morning observing the nasty bruise I had on my hip reflected in the mirror. It didn't seem to have faded at all in the couple of days since I got it. But at least it didn't hurt as much. I turned this way and that, tried to tug my emerald green one piece swimsuit down to hide it, but no dice. It was just too low on my hip for that to work. I resigned myself and finished dressing up.

Mom took me to the pee wees that day, which was great because I didn't want to deal with dad. Even though mom and I didn't have as much in common, I felt a lot more comfortable with her sometimes. I guess being married to a baseball buff didn't shock her about having a daughter like me.

"How's practice going?" she asked, giving me a side glance. "Do you feel like it's a step closer to your goals?"

Here was the other thing about mom, she didn't become a middle manager at age 34 and joined the ranks of higher management shortly thereafter for no reason. Here was a woman who worked hard for what she wanted, made the right choices for her business and her people and scoffed at the idea that she should give up just because she was playing in a male dominated sales field.

I'd like to think I have that in common with her.

"Everything's a step closer," I said, picking at the hem of my jean shorts. "I'd like to think dad's being a pain in my side to prepare me for all the men I'll find in my way who'll be so much worse."

She sighed. "I think he's just worried precisely about those men. He wishes you'd have chosen an easier path in life."

I shrugged. "Then he shouldn't have taught me to love baseball so much."

At a red light stop she grabbed my hand and squeezed it in hers. "Learn to work with him. The last thing I want is to see you both get in each other's way, okay?"

I pursed my lips. "Yes, mom."

We got to the pee wees and she kissed my cheek before I got off the car, just like when I was a little kiddy being dropped off to practice baseball with my neighborhood friends. It was almost like deja vu. I walked over to where some of the kids and parents were waiting and I almost saw myself in little Jimmy's smile. Back then of course I knew I was a girl, but somehow I still thought I could do this forever, play with Seb and Santi and a bunch of other kids who have now moved on to college or even other interests.

My friends arrived during practice. They caught me in the middle of my role as base coach, goading my runners to move their little feet with all their might. I was drenched in sweat already and I'd have to renew my sunblock before we got in the car and drove to the beach, but at that second I almost didn't want to go. This was so much better than getting sand stuck in your hoohah, fighting a losing battle between trying to get tanned but not burning yourself or getting more freckles, and never mind the accidental swallow of salty and questionable beach water. I didn't even know why I signed up to go on this trip where Jessica Ashford was also joining.

But then I looked at the bench and saw Chris and Ellen chatting like they had no audience, and Santiago sitting next to them, wearing sunglasses as he looked at the kids. Or at me. And that thought alone excited me into going to the beach.

An hour and a half later the parents started arriving again to pick up their kids, just as we were finishing our customary round of cool down. The kids talked about their performance during that practice. No fart jokes were told this time. I had to wait until each and everyone of them had left before I could go but I thanked the heavens that at least this time no one started a fight or shed blood.

I turned to my friends with my arms spread open. "Who's ready to go to the beach?"

Chris and Ellen hollered their approval. Santiago grabbed my bag by the bench and headed the procession toward Chris' red Jeep. Ellen grabbed my arm and pulled me down a bit.

"Guess what?" She whispered. We both saw Chris catch up with the other boy and she continued. "I asked Chris to homecoming today."

I stopped. "And?"

She jumped a little. "He said yes!"

My eyes went wide, just as my grin. "You go girl."

She got on the passenger's seat and in my mind I called foul. She should've sat next to me in the back so that I wouldn't have to be next to Santi. He put my bag in between us and that annoyed me too.

"So, Pey," Chris said, glancing at me from the rearview mirror in passing before putting the Jeep in reverse. "You looked normal out there."

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks."

He laughed a little. "No, I mean, you didn't look like you were struggling with pain after the fall or anything."

"Oh. Yeah, I'm fine." I shrugged. "As long as no one touches the bruise it doesn't bother me much."

Green eyes turned to me then. "Bruise?"

I buried myself more comfortably in the seat. "Oh yeah, you'll see it when I undress at the beach."

Ellen and Chris burst out laughing. She said, "Hey, careful how that can be misconstrued."

"Oh, please. You guys can find a double entendre out of thin air." I sat on my side a bit and decided that deflecting was the best strategy here. "So, Santi. Where's your girl? I thought you'd be riding with her or something."

"I'll let you off the hook easy this time and not point out how that could be punny as well, only because I'm interested in the answer to this question, too," my best friend said, turning on her seat to look at Santi.

"Let me guess," he said, tapping Chris' shoulder. "You're curious, too?"

"Can't say I'm not."

Santi sighed and sat back. "First off, she's not my girl-"

"Ooh," Ellen said.

"And second, she's driving with her friends." He put his sunglasses on again and looked out the window. "I wasn't about to get stuck in a car full of cheerleaders for an hour."

"A lot of guys I know would call that a dream come true," Chris said with a laugh.

Santi scoffed. "I find the combination of their perfumes to be suffocating."

We all laughed at that. I avoided Ellen's sharp eye, because I didn't want her to see what I was thinking reflected on my face. I pretended to read something on my phone as I tried to deal with the fact that I was too self-satisfied about that. As if the fact that I never smelled of perfume and instead smelled of a combination of sweat and sunblock would make superior in his stance. I berated myself, because I didn't care. Really, I didn't.

We picked Anthony up after that and we had to rearrange ourselves in the back. My bag went to the trunk and I was sandwiched between the guys. This would have been okay in other circumstances, but every time Anthony moved to reach over for snacks from Ellen, he'd brush against my bruise and I died a little every time. Santiago noticed and, to both my horror and gratitude, allowed me to burrow against his side and farther from Anthony.

"Do I smell?" the latter asked, hurt after a while.

"Like an onion, man. I advise taking a bath occasionally," Santi said.

I smiled a bit but said, "Don't listen to him. You don't smell but if you keep touching my bruise by accident I'll give you a very deliberate one instead."

He winced. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Well, at least he knew how to apologize. Unlike other people. Even though said other people had their arm around me and were warm and comfortable.

By the time we got to Cocoa Beach I almost did like the Pope when getting to a new land, kneeling down and kissing the ground. I was just so grateful that I could put some distance between Santiago and I; I'd even take sand up my hoohah over the awkward silence between us.

We found that Jessica Ashford, Gigi, another girl and Casey Marchand, of all people, were already at the beach. They'd grabbed a good spot close to a volleyball net.

"Oh, please tell me someone brought a volleyball," I said as a way of greeting.

Casey stood up and presented one to me. "Hell yeah, I did."

I looked back at my friends. Anthony broke formation first and joined the cheerleaders. "Who needs volleyball when one has pretty girls like these?"

They giggled and I gagged.

Jessica stood up in her tanned, bikini clad glory. She looked like an Instagram girl who had come to life outside of the platform to shame the normal humans like us. She sauntered over with her smile.

"Hi, Santi-"

He'd been in the middle of pulling his t-shirt over his head and maybe hadn't heard her because when he was done he grabbed the ball from Casey and said, "I'm in."

"I guess I have no other choice, then," Chris said with a shrug. "I'll play as well."

I snorted a laugh. "Was there someone begging you or what?"

He shot me a grin.

I got closer to him and whispered, "But are you sure? How's your wrist?"

He gave me a thumbs up. "Like new."

I didn't believe him for a second but Ellen cut in then. "Yeah, okay. But you guys aren't going to play with your clothes on, right?" Ellen asked. So subtle. I'd bet good money that she was hiding a squeal when Chris took his t-shirt off and proceeded to lather with sunblock.

I turned to her, deadpan. "Why don't you help him with that?"

Her eyes twinkled and she did just that.

I only realized that my mouth had been hanging open in astonishment when Santiago touched my chin and shut my mouth.

"Are you checking Chris out or what?" he asked.

I swatted his hand away. "What? No. I'm just in awe at Ellen, she's really going for what she wants."

He looked at them. "Oh, so she's into boricuan meat, huh?"

I froze like a deer caught in the headlights. "Shit, please pretend you know nothing."

He faked zipping his lips shut and throwing the key away.

I pulled down my shorts quickly and got rid of my t-shirt. After rummaging in my bag for a bit I found my sunblock, sunglasses and my favorite pink cap. I stuffed my clothes in the bag along with my cellphone and stood up. I almost startled that Santi was still next to me, looking somewhere down south. Until I realized it was the bruise.

"I'm sorry," he said, eyes still glued on it. "You look like an apple that someone left out for too long and I feel responsible for that."

I lifted up my nose in a show of haughtiness, even though the analogy almost made me laugh. "Well, am I at least still edible?"

He looked up. Slowly. I could almost feel his gaze like a touch across my body. I was pretty sure he could see the effect he was having on me on my skin, because he was causing goose bumps that had nothing to do with the beach breeze.

His eyes finally stopped somewhere on my face. I couldn't tell where because of the sunglasses. "Oh, yeah."

The sunblock bottle slipped from my hands and fell on my big toe.

"Hey guys," Chris called out from the net. "Are you ready?"

Santiago turned to him and as he walked away from me said, "The question really is, are you?"

I bent down to pick up the bottle and apply some lotion quickly, mumbling to myself that I didn't think I was ready for what was going on. What the hell had that been?

I put on my cap and shades and made sure my suit was in its rightful place. Then I joined the boys at the net. "Okay, who's with me?"

"Are you a good player?" Casey asked.

"She was in the volleyball team in sophomore year. Made it all the way to finals," Chris told him. "And before you ask, no, she's in my team."

"Seems like we have a problem, then," Santi said, leaning into the net. "Because I want her in my team."

Ellen hollered from the side. "You go, girl! Three studs fighting over you, how does that feel?"

"Shut up, Ellen!"

Chris laughed. "Okay, fine. Rock paper scissors."

I ended up with Santiago. Which was just fine. That way I didn't have to see him across from me all the time. Plus, he was the tallest out of the three and I was going to use that to my advantage.

Just before we started playing Jessica shouted, "Go Santi!"

My serve was probably a few levels more aggressive than it needed to be. Chris and Casey scrambled to see who could receive it, but the next second the ball was on the sand between them and I had my first point. Santi raised his hand up for a high five and I had to correct myself, we had our first point. I served again, this time like a civil person, and Chris volleyed it over to Santi, who spiked it easily.

I couldn't help laughing at that point. "I bet you regret rock paper scissors now."

Casey wiped his brow. "I sure do."

It got more intense after that. I didn't know if they were fueled on the desire for revenge on Santiago or if it was because they were losing to a girl who was leaps and bounds better, but after a while I felt like they were starting to give me a run for my money. Santi and I were running around our side of the court a lot more than when we started, and in trying to get the ball we collided. I felt myself bounce off of his ridiculously hard chest and yelped, because a second fall in a week was not a new track record I wanted to set for myself. Next thing I knew, he grabbed me and twisted me in the air, and I fell on top of him.

I was pretty sure we both lost our breath there, but to add insult to injury the ball smacked me right on the back. I groaned, or he groaned. I didn't know.

"Are you guys okay?" I heard Chris. "That looked pretty bad."

"Oh yeah, terrible." But I could tell Elle was being sarcastic even as I struggled for breath.

I realized that Santi was probably winded from the fall and getting a more restricted access to oxygen with me on top of him, so I lifted myself up on all fours. I regretted it immediately. Because the first thing I saw was his pecks and neck, which somehow gave me a momentary illusion that he was naked beneath me and I was scared that any of the idiots around me could read my mind.

He coughed then and felt around for his sunglasses that had fallen off. I found them just next to his head so I picked them up and blew the sand away from them.

"Are you okay?" I asked, putting the shades on him. He let me, which was a testament to how stunned he must have been with the fall.

"I'm fine, you?"

I smiled, doing my best to pretend like it was all a-ok and not like a million butterflies were tickling the inside of my veins. "Couldn't be better." I stood up and offered my hand out to him. He didn't need it, but I felt kinda bad that he'd taken the fall for me when he didn't have to. He took it and I pulled all my weight into getting him up. "We're fine, people! Let's continue this game."

Chris shook his head. "You're not going to let us go easy until you win, huh?"

"Damn right."

I won. We won, I supposed. I probably wouldn't have won against Casey and Chris on my own. They were not experts at volleyball but they were two and in excellent condition. I could see why half of the school drooled over the quarterback and why Elle was so much into our puerto rican catcher. They were hot. I glanced from the corner of my eye at Santi, hoping my shades allowed me some discretion.

If they were hot, he was fire.

Like, hot didn't suit him. Hot was like comparing the pavement at noon on a sunny day with the sun itself. I tried, in a quick glance, and failed, to find the particular line of muscle that suddenly made me realize this about him, but I had a feeling that it'd require hours of unrestricted staring for me to find that ah hah!, it is precisely this gesture or this particular group of muscles what makes me think Santiago Miranda is the hottest boy on earth to me.

He just was.

I somehow hadn't realized that before.

He walked over to the cooler we brought to grab a drink and I turned the opposite way, toward my bag. I brought a bunch of crap; something in there had to be able to entertain me out of these thoughts.

Ellen plopped next to me as I rummaged in my bag. "That was interesting."

"What was?" I asked under my breath.

"It almost looked like you two enjoyed that fall."

I looked up at her. "Please tell me you're just saying that to see how I react and not because that's what everybody and their mom think."

She shrugged with a grin. "That's what it seemed like to me, knowing what I know."

I was annoyed now. I couldn't deal with teasing while at the same time I was struggling with a strange cocktail of feelings low in my belly. "And what do you know, pray tell."

"That you have a crush on your boy best friend," she said, leaning back to catch the sun. "And that you may deny it, but sooner or later it'll come to the surface and bite you in the ass."

"My ass is already bruised, it doesn't need bites."

She wiggled her eyebrows. "Not unless it's the kind of bite it can enjoy."

"Oh my God!" I smacked her on her leg, hard. She hissed at me. "That's what you deserve for not helping at all."

"Girls." We both turned to look at Chris who was approaching us with two cokes. He handed one to each of us and I felt Ellen melt a little. "Wanna get in the beach with us? I don't know about you, but I'm all hot after running around trying to catch up with you."

Her voice lowered several octaves. "I'm all hot just having watched you, to be honest."

I could tell by the expression on his face that he hadn't been expecting that. He still helped her up and they walked to the shore together. I watched them chat and splash water on each other for a bit as I sipped on my drink. Anthony burst out laughing at something Gigi said and I did a double take at that. I suddenly could imagine them becoming a thing and I wasn't sure how I felt if Gigi kept invading my friendships. But then again, Santiago was the main reason why there were cheerleaders in my life and there was not much I could do about that.

Okay, fine. So I had a thing for him. Seeing him bare chested too many times had apparently affected my cerebral chemistry. But just because my body started to have visceral reactions every time he was too close to me didn't mean the same happened to him. And I had to somehow suck up the fact that he got those reactions out of being lip locked with Jessica Ashford instead.

And just where were they?

I looked around me and couldn't spot them nearby, also not in the beach. I tried not to imagine them making out in some secret location and feeling each other up over their swimsuits, but the image came to my mind clear as if I were watching it on a high definition screen.

I stood up and headed toward the beach, hoping it would cool my head off, and I screamed in surprise when Santiago suddenly emerged from the waves. Sans queen bee. With water dripping down his chest to the waistband of his trunks, which sat a lot lower than I remembered them being. The muscles of his broad shoulders worked as he lifted his hands up to brush his face and hair, and since his eyes were closed I took advantage and just ogled. The image of him ascending from the waters like a Greek god of the sea would remain seared in my mind's eye for the upcoming days, I was sure.

And then, because I couldn't help how hot and bothered he made me feel any longer, I waded into the water and splashed him before he was able to realize what was going on.

"What the-"

"Call it revenge," I said as I continued my relentless attack. "For making me fall twice in a week."

He turned his back to me as he tried to shelter his face and I enjoyed the view of his back, a wide triangle of muscle tapering down to a slim waist and a freaking bubble butt. Now that I had started seeing him this way I couldn't seem to stop.

I was in trouble.

"Well, it's not my fault your knees are weak," he said, starting a charge against me as if he had any right to. I swallowed water and that kept me from retorting to him.

We eventually grew tired and just stared each other down. Soaked and breathing hard, but grinning like idiots.

"I missed this," I admitted.

"You missed losing a war that you started?"

I swatted some water at him but without enthusiasm. "No, this. Us. Just us."

A wave pushed me and I pretended that my cringe was because of it and not because of what I had just said.

But then he said, "I missed us, too." He grabbed my pink cap and put it on, twisting it to the back. "I promise that I'll try to not let you fall again, okay?"

Yeah, but can you promise me you won't let me fall for you? I wished to ask, but didn't.

He waded closer until we were almost touching. "I promise something else, too."

I looked up at him, because despite my now salty shades the sun that blared from the top of his head was too bright. Or maybe he was too bright. "What?"

He leaned down just a bit closer and whispered, "I promise that you'll regret having started this war."

Quicker than I could react, he bent down and picked me up like a sack of potatoes. I yelped when I realized he'd sent me flying straight into the water.

Oh, it was on.