Sugar

3

    I felt my heart drop to the pit of my stomach when I quickly realized what this was.

    "Oh! Florence, this is Alex, Brandon invited him." Aria saw me over Alex's shoulder, stepping around him to introduce him to me as he turned on his heel to face me.

    He was handsome but nothing to drool over. He had brown hair, thick framed black glasses and all around average features. Not that that's a bad thing, I have average features too.

    "It's nice to meet you." I nodded, a tight lipped smile on my lips as I shoved my hand towards him.

    "You as well, Florence." He nodded respectively in return, slipping his large hand into mine and giving it a firm shake.

    My gaze slid over to a giddy Aria who looked like she nearly couldn't contain her excitement. I sent daggers at her with my blue eyes, hoping she would receive the message.

    I mean, this is some parent-trap type shit!

    My blood boiled under my skin but I did my best to keep my smile in place. After all it isn't Alex's fault, and maybe I'm just overreacting. Maybe Brandon really did invite him and he isn't apart of the whole sugar baby world if I'm lucky.

    "What are we waiting for? Let's go get wet!" Aria called out, winking slyly at me as she turned on her heel. I caught the double meaning to her words and rolled my eyes dramatically, crossing my arms across my stomach as Brandon and Aria walked towards the sliding glass doors, hand in hand.

    Alex and I made no move to follow, and I shuffled my bare foot a little against the hardwood flooring. Honestly, I hadn't followed them in hopes that Alex would and I could ditch back to my room. I'm not in the business of set-ups and that isn't changing today.

    "So, this is a set-up, huh?" Alex's voice tore me out of my thoughts, breaking the awkward silence that filled the kitchen. My gaze snapped up to his amused expression, a weight slightly lifting off of my shoulders at his words.

    I chuckled lightly, rubbing my arm absentmindedly. "Absolutely a set-up," I concluded, nodding slowly.

    He shook his head, his light brown hair moving with the motion. He trained his gaze onto the floor in front of him, inspecting any blemish in the surface.

    "Do you think it was Brandon's or Aria's idea?" He asked, his gaze finding it's way back up to my face.

    I scoffed.

    "Have you met Aria? This has her name written all over it," I joked, releasing my grasp around myself. Here I was, standing in a yellow bikini in front of some guy I don't even know, and it made me wildly uncomfortable. How did Aria think I would ever survive even one day in the sugar baby world?

    He nodded, a smile tugging on his lips. He brought his hand up to scratch his jaw which had slight facial hair covering it.

    "Maybe we should go join in on the fun," he spoke, hooking his thumb over his shoulder to motion towards the patio where Aria and Brandon were currently. Well, Brandon was. From the looks of it Aria was running down the dock, about to dive into the lake.

    I released a long sigh, watching as my best friend jumped into the air, her legs squirming ridiculously before she plunged into what I imagined to be freezing water.

    "Why not."

    The two of us strode side by side to the patio and watched as Aria surfaced, laughing loudly as she waved to us.

    "Its nice!" She called out, cupping her hands around her mouth to assure we heard her. "You should come in, Florence!"

    I rolled my eyes.