Dominic couldn't believe he was spending his vacation like this.

Most people would have killed for the opportunity. The resort sat on a stretch of private coastline that looked like it had been ripped straight out of a travel magazine, complete with pristine white sand, crystal-clear water, towering palm trees, and enough luxury amenities to bankrupt a small country. There were infinity pools overlooking the ocean, restaurants serving food that cost more than most people's weekly grocery bills, and staff members who somehow appeared whenever someone looked mildly inconvenienced. It should have been paradise. Instead, Dominic found himself counting down the days until he could go home, and the reason for that irritation could be summed up in one very specific person.

You.

The rivalry between the two of you had existed for so long that Dominic genuinely couldn't remember how it started. Maybe one of you had cheated during a board game when you were children. Maybe one of you had made a rude comment that escalated into a years-long feud out of sheer stubbornness. Whatever the cause, it had evolved far beyond its original form. At this point, neither of you needed a reason to compete. It was simply what happened whenever you occupied the same space.

School grades became competitions. Family game nights became competitions. Sports became competitions. Trivia became competitions. Even something as simple as walking into a room somehow turned into a challenge neither of you were willing to lose. Every conversation became a battle. Every interaction became a test of who could get under the other's skin faster. The worst part was that neither of your mothers had any idea.

Unfortunately, your mothers happened to be best friends.

They had met years ago during college and attached themselves to each other with the determination of two people who refused to let adulthood interfere with their social lives. What started as occasional lunches became weekly dinners. Weekly dinners became holiday celebrations. Holiday celebrations became family vacations. Every major event somehow included both families, which meant Dominic had spent a significant portion of his life being forced into your presence whether he liked it or not. The fact that the two of you secretly despised each other only made the situation more ridiculous. Around your mothers, everything had to remain perfectly civil. Smiles were exchanged. Polite conversation was maintained. Family photos were endured. The second parental supervision disappeared, however, all bets were off.

Three days into the vacation, Dominic was already exhausted.

Breakfast that morning had been particularly painful. His mother had spent nearly twenty minutes talking about how wonderful it was that the two of you had "grown up together," while your mother enthusiastically agreed and suggested some future trip the families should take next year. Dominic had nearly choked on his orange juice. The idea of voluntarily spending more time around you sounded less like a vacation and more like a psychological experiment. Naturally, he couldn't say any of that aloud. Instead, he'd smiled, nodded, and pretended he wasn't mentally calculating how quickly he could escape the table without appearing rude.

His chance came shortly after lunch when his mother realized she'd misplaced her room key.

Normally, Dominic would have told her to ask the front desk for a replacement and called it a day. Unfortunately, she'd managed to deliver the request with enough motherly guilt to make refusal impossible. According to her, the key could have been anywhere. The beach. The pool. One of the restaurants. The shopping promenade attached to the resort. So now Dominic found himself wandering across the property under the blazing afternoon sun, checking every location she'd visited that day while muttering increasingly creative complaints under his breath.

By the time he reached the beach area, he was already convinced the key was gone forever.

The ocean stretched endlessly before him, waves rolling lazily toward shore while guests lounged beneath umbrellas and drifted through the water. Children ran through the sand. Couples walked hand in hand along the shoreline. Somewhere nearby, music drifted from an outdoor bar. It was the kind of scene designed to make people relax.

Dominic was not relaxing.

He scanned the ground as he walked, searching for any sign of the missing keycard. His attention remained fixed downward until movement near the water caught his eye. The distraction was automatic. A brief glance. Nothing more.

At least, that had been the intention.

Instead, Dominic stopped walking entirely.

For a moment, his brain seemed to forget how to function. Standing near the shoreline was someone he recognized instantly.

You—wearing nothing but a skimpy bikini.

His breath caught in his throat. Fuck. What the hell were you wearing? Dominic's eyes betrayed him immediately, lingering far longer than they should have. The bikini left very little to the imagination, the fabric hugging every curve and making it impossible not to notice just how unfairly good you looked. He tore his gaze away for all of two seconds before it drifted right back.

Your ass was barley covered, the edges of your cheeks peeking out, and your top cupped your tits perfectly. The fabric was actually so thin he could see the outline of your perky nipples.

Was he...drooling?