On The Plus Side

34// meet the strippers, candy and sandy

Victor's POV

Eva was mortified. Anyone could see it with one look at her. She avoided eye contact with anyone and everyone who looked her way. If anyone attempted to speak to her, it was as if she'd suddenly gone deaf.

Including me. If I walked up to her, she would speed the other way. When her mom asked if she wanted lettuce in her sandwich, she had pursed her lips and stared into the sand. She was one step away from becoming an ostrich and sticking her head in the sand.

I was equally as embarrassed, though. After all, her entire family, down to twice removed second cousins as well as Haley's family had just seen me tackle her into the water. Topless.

It was to hide her exposed upper half, of course. Eva was oblivious to the fact that the whole world had just seen her basically naked due to the monster wave that had stolen her bikini top. Had I not, it would have been ages before she realized it was gone. And anyway, it was a spur of the moment thing. Hiding her from the lecherous eyes of the other strangers on the beach had been my top priority.

And even after my third, ice-cold shower, I couldn't get her image out of my head.

"Yo, Vic- is it alright if I call you Vic?" Ethan, Eva's fraternal twin brother, pounded furiously on the bathroom door. "We're leaving in ten, yeah?"

I leaned my forehead against the tile of the shower, letting the ice cold water run down my body. Today was the night of the bachelor party; I didn't think there would be one, let alone that I'd be invited. In fact, I didn't really want to go in the first place, but because Eva had disappeared and there was nothing better to do than watch television, I agreed to go.

I turned off the shower and step out, grabbing a towel from the rack and drying myself off. Eva wasn't in the hotel room, so I step out butt-naked and rummage for some clothes.

"Woah, is that why my sister is dating you?" Ethan's voice asks from behind me. I whirl around to find him stretched out on the couch, hands behind his head. I glare and wrap the towel that was on my head around my waist instead. "You're packing-"

At that moment, Eva makes her first appearance all day. I brighten at the sight of her, but when she finally sees me- with nothing but a towel on- she lets out a mouse-like squeak and disappears as fast as she had appeared.

"Can I help you?" I return to glaring at the boy who had no sense of privacy. Ethan grins, before leaping off the couch.

He strides on over to me, a mischievous glint in his milky brown eyes that mirror Eva's. "Well, anybody can clearly tell that you're an attractive young man-"

"Are you coming out or something? Cause if you are, I feel like this is Eva's job-"

He cuts me off with a simple wave of his hand. "No, Victor, I'm not coming out. As I was saying-" Ethan watches me with interest as I slip into a pair of dark shorts. "You're an attractive young guy. The only reason women don't flock in hoards is because you've got this intense, smoldering, killer look on you twenty four- seven.

"And you see, I was hoping that tonight you could be my wingman. You know, attract the ladies, direct them my way?" Ethan is right behind me. I walk across the room into the bathroom again, grabbing a toothbrush.