"I still don't understand why you left the hotel with him in the first place, Karma. He's my brother. And annoying."

Determined to keep my gaze away from Lanie, I eyed the bathing suit rack in front of me. When she asked if I wanted to go shopping with her and Harper today, I jumped on it. After spending the day with Nathan yesterday, I was in serious need of some girl time.

But instinct and experience had me treading softly. Lanie had a knack for finding out anything she wanted to know. And the whole USF thing, plus mom drama, and basically spending all day with Nathan was something that I didn't want her to know.

"Believe me, Lanie, I didn't want to go anywhere with him. But I needed to get out of the hotel for a little while."

"So why not come down to the beach with me and Harper? You missed flirting with all the hot guys."

I don't know about that...

A red and black bikini caught my eye and I pulled it off the rack to examine it. "I told you I wasn't feeling well, L. I just didn't want to be in the sun. I ran into Nathan in the hall and he told me he was going to get food for everyone. I was pretty much using him for his ride."

In a way it was true. Except the part about using him. And running into him in the hall.

"I guess that's good then," she mumbled, pulling a tank top off of another rack. "By the way, we're doing our little break-out tomorrow."

"Wait, we're going to the club tomorrow night? Why tomorrow?"

"Why not?" Harper asked. "Seems as good a day as any. Besides, we already told Lanie's mom that we're going to the movies tomorrow night for the ten o'clock showing of Step Up."

"That's out already?" I frowned. "Wait, I told you I actually wanted to see that movie."

"We can see it again back home," Lanie went on. "You promised me, Karma. There's no getting out of tomorrow night."

"Fine," I groaned. "I just feel weird about it. I've never been good at the whole sneak-out thing, ya know?"

"Yeah," Harper quipped. "You're more of a by-the-book kinda girl, aren't you?"

"Are you calling me a goodie two shoes? A do-gooder? Basically a princess-y good girl?" I snapped. "I will have you know, Lanie Jenkins and Harper Lewis, that I can be as much of a bad girl as the two of you."

They both laughed and Lanie pointed a finger at me.

"Please! I would love to see you break a rule! Actually, I would pay good money to see it."

With a glare I carried the red and black bikini to the fitting room. "I hope you're willing to put your money where your mouth is, Lanie, because I am more than prepared to show you how much of a bad girl I can be."

"I don't know, Karma. Jaywalking and staying up till ten at night playing sudoku doesn't really cut it."

Harper turned towards Lanie with a frown. "That's a little harsh, L."

"Thank you, Harper."

"Well, not really harsh as much as inaccurate." Harper shot me an amused expression. "Karma doesn't jaywalk."

They both burst out laughing and I rolled my eyes. I loved these two to death, but once they got started with the jokes, it was almost impossible to stop.

"Laugh it up," I said through the door of the fitting room. "I'm going to surprise the both of you. I'm going to be known as Karma: The Rule Breaker!"

I tried the bathing suit on and studied my reflection. It was really cute. The top was red with black stripes along the sides. Then the bottoms were just solid black.

Buying a new bathing suit every time we came to Florida was a little tradition of mine.

Hmm...I really liked this one, but it was a little—

"I'm getting old out here," Lanie whined. "Let's see the bathing suit!"

"Alright! I'm coming out."

I stepped out of the fitting room and waited for my friends to start teasing me. When they just stared at me, I frowned and glanced down at myself.

"What? Is it bad?"

Harper shook her head. "Bad isn't the word, Karma."

"Yeah," Lanie agreed. "That bathing suit will turn the heads of every boy on the beach."

My brows rose. "Really? I thought it was a little too showy." I mean, the damn top barely covered all of my boobs.

"No," Harper insisted. "It looks amazing. If you don't buy it, then I'm buying it for you."

"I'll split it with you."

"I can buy my own bathing suit, you guys. I just don't want it to be inappropriate, you know? We're here with your parents, Lanie."

Lanie walked up to me to get a better look. "No. It's great. Really. I wouldn't joke about that. Not when it comes to bathing suits and looking fantastic."

Harper nodded. "Seriously, Karma. The boys are going to drop jaws when they see you."

Would Nathan? I tried and failed to stop the thought from entering my mind. I didn't miss how he stole a glance of me in my other bathing suit. Would this cause the same reaction?

Warning bells went off in my head. What the hell was I thinking? He's Lanie's brother. And most likely not interested in me. I shouldn't even be having these thoughts.

Maybe the girls were right. Even if it was just for a summer fling here at the beach, I needed to find a guy. And since it was only day five, I still had nine to go. Plenty of time to find a beau that came without strings.

Messy, tangly, secretly liking my best friend's brother strings.

"So how long are you here for? Maybe we can hook-up later."

I flashed a charming smile at the red-headed girl in front of me. She was my age and visiting from some state I forgot the name of already. I also forgot her name. Oops.

"I'm here for a little over a week," I murmured, reaching out and twisting one of her auburn curls around my finger. "And we are definitely hooking up later. Where are you staying? Close by?"

She nodded and pointed down the beach. "See that pink and white hotel? That's me. Room 304."

"What about your parents?"

I lost track a long time ago in regards to the number of windows I had to climb out of and the fences I had to jump over when a parent—usually a dad—came home a little earlier than my date expected.

This girl was on the third floor. I really, really didn't feel like jumping over a balcony and breaking my fucking leg.

No. Thank. You.

"They're on the floor above me," she replied. "My best friend and I have our own room and she's going to be out tonight."

"Oh yeah? Well I will for sure come by tonight. And we can get to know each other a little better."

When the redhead leaned in for a kiss, Karma's voice whispered in my mind.

"Classic Nathan Jenkins. Always a showoff."

I pulled back instantly. What the fuck? Why was I thinking about Karma when I had this hottie right in front of me?

"You okay, baby?" she asked with a frown. "You look tense."

Suddenly it felt a little hard to breathe. Hard to think. Just...hard.

"I'm fine. Just a little lightheaded. I think I need some food."

It was a lame excuse, but I didn't know what else to say. The fact that Karma's voice was suddenly invading my thoughts threw me off my game. And that was something that never happened.

Not to me.

"How about tonight when you come to my hotel," she ran her finger along the top of my bathing suit shorts, "you eat your dinner off me."

"People make a lot of assumptions about you. But you really are a good guy, Nathan."

"You there?"

I blinked a few times and pushed all thoughts of Karma out of my mind. "Yeah, sorry." Like a switch being flipped, I put on the charm. "Sometimes when I'm around a girl as beautiful as you, I get a little tongue tied."

She slid her arms around my waist and pushed her bikini-clad body against mine. "Mmm. I like the sound of that." Her eyes fell to my lips. "Speaking of being tongue tied..."

I tried to get into the kiss. But either this girl didn't have much experience, or she was trying really hard. But I went along with it anyway. I cupped her face in my hands and tilted my head to the side to deepen the kiss. She moaned a little and that seemed to help keep me focused.

Better to concentrate on this rather than—

"Seriously, Lanie! I don't know how you convinced me to buy this."

The lip lock was broken instantly and my eyes followed the sound of that voice. Karma, Lanie, and Harper were walking towards the ocean, oblivious that I was here.

"Stop whining, Karma. It looks great on you."

My eyes landed on Karma. She dropped the towel that was wrapped around her and—holy shit. That looked like a new bikini. A very, very sexy new bikini.

"I guess," Karma mumbled back to my sister before looking to the right where a group of guys were throwing a football. "Let's go see what those guys think about it."

I watched as Karma walked towards them and clenched my teeth. What the fuck was wrong with me?

"How about we get outta here now?" the redhead asked suddenly.

I glanced at Karma one more time. "Yeah. Let's get outta here."