*Please listen to the song above! It's a major vibe for this chapter. Also, the scene below at the end of the chapter actually happened to me and it made 15-year-old Bri SWOON. I need to stop being toxic with this book's characters, BUT I CAN'T HELP MYSELF.

And hey, at least I'm getting these chapters out! And I did mention I didn't want this book being as long as the first, so the pace is getting a little more picked up now. For reference, the first book was 60 chapters and I'm hoping this one will be right around 30-35 at most.

Anyway, enjoy my loves!*

Brunch was . . . eventful.

Ruth tried her best not to look at Raffo sitting across from her, but it was nearly impossible not to. Like a moth to a flame, her eyes found their way back to him. There, she'd make eye contact with the one guy who drew her in like no other.

Emily's eyes were dark and mysteriously pulled her in like the waves on a shoreline. But Raffo's? His were warm and dewy, reminding her of chestnuts on a fire and warm summer nights over hickory flames. The stark contrast of the two wasn't lost on Ruth, and she never thought she would be sitting in front of Raffo again, questioning the heart palpitations whenever he so much as held her gaze. His jaw would clench in time with her thighs and his subtle smirks were haunting.

She downed two glasses of mimosas easily when searching for desperate distractions, but they did nothing for her. Not even the hint of a buzz, and that's when she gave up on drinking altogether for the rest of the morning. She stuck to the water instead and prayed it would be enough to keep her desires at bay.

But, as one could guess, it did nothing.

By the time they got up and made their way to the pool, Ruth was antsy to lie out and soak in the sun's warmth. Though the guys were going to spend their day at the pool as well, Ruth made it a point to stay as far away from her very own trouble as she could get. He'll be with the boys, and she can hang out with the girls. Easy.

Flanked by both Chey and Kat in the layout chairs beside her, she finally took in a big breath of fresh air. She had to refocus; center herself. She had to avoid the partially naked Raffo who was climbing in the three to six-and-a-half foot pool with the other guys, beach ball in hand. Though the pool area wasn't extremely busy, there were still a good amount of people out enjoying the sun and the water. Mostly young folks and a few children, but it was still a decent turnout.

"So, Ruth," Kat drawled, lowering her sunglasses to wag her black brows at her. "You and Raffo have some history we don't know about?"

Ruth avoided her gaze by smoothing out some sunscreen on her legs beneath her bathing suit cover. "What do you mean?"

Chey, overhearing the conversation, leaned over. "Oh, come on! You think we didn't notice the way he was staring at you all of brunch while you tried to pretend like he didn't exist?"

She grimaced. "Tried?"

"Sorry, boo. But you didn't do a great job at it. Not that I blame you, that man is fine as fuck," Kat whistled. "I mean, Devon's the hottest boyfriend I've ever had. But Raffo? Fuck, just look at that man."

All three of them looked at him in the pool, his muscles rippling and on clear display for their hungry eyes. And it wasn't like they were the only ones, either. From what Ruth could tell, much to her annoyance, the guys gathered a decent amount of attention. Especially Raffo, who looked absolutely stunning beneath the sun's rays. His backwards hat made him the hottest guy at the pool, even outshining the groom.

The Indigenous Adonis, Ruth had once called him. Unfortunately, that never changed.

"He really is," Chey agreed, before turning to look at Ruth with a raised eyebrow. "Anyway, I'm guessing you guys had a thing long before Emily?"

Ruth nodded, biting her lip. "It was sort of a complicated break-up. Obviously we've both moved on though—"

"Oh, he clearly hasn't moved on. I was at the other end of the table and I could definitely tell that man still loves you. Or at least has the hots for you," Kat smiled, winking. "Not to mention he was looking for you last night at the club!"

"Yeah, he freaked out when he realized we had no idea where you went. Almost fought Johnny for telling him to calm down," Chey added.

Ruth hated the way their words sparked excitment in the center of her warming chest. Her limbs were lighter, almost shaky as she laughed a breathless little laugh. "No, no. We don't have feelings for each other anymore. I think we're trying to be—I don't know, civil?"

Liar.

She ignored the unhelpful voice in the back of her head to witness the shared look Chey and Kat gave each other.

"So, you guys are only civil?" Kat repeated, slowly.

Ruth bit the inside of her cheek. "Yes."

"And it wouldn't bother you, let's say, if some girl was tryna get at him?" Chey asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ruth's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Chey nodded her head over towards the pool, and Ruth followed her gaze. A girl who was swimming around with her friends before they arrived had just 'accidentally' bumped into Raffo and was currently patting his arm apologetically. Raffo, not at all bothered that the blonde stranger was grabbing onto him, only smiled down at her, reassuring her it was fine.

Ruth's fingers dug into the sides of her thigh, as a hot flash of irritation burned in the pit of her stomach. She clenched her teeth and the desire to swat at Raffo and the unknown girl was rising higher and higher in her tingling hand. Especially when said girl asked if she and her friend could join in on the volleyball festivities. The other girl was respectful enough not to flirt with the other guys, but that didn't stop little miss Cinderella from staking claim to her Pool Charming.

Her Pool Charming who chose to have her on his team.

Miss Cinderella smiled a wide, flirty smile. With her perfect teeth, perfect slender body, and perfect blonde waves. Not to mention those blue eyes were probably killer up close, considering they looked radiant from where Ruth was glowering. She didn't know why she couldn't look away again, especially when the sight before her was even more painful than the one at brunch. It wasn't for anything longer than five minutes, but she knew she probably looked like a psycho glaring at the two of them from her chair.

Kat and Chey offered her a few shots of liquid courage, enhancing her carelessness and pulling at her determination to get Raffo's attention back on her. The thought of him preoccupied with another hurt her, even though it shouldn't have. She shouldn't be so bothered. They weren't together anymore.

She shot a drink back and got a quick vision of something that happened the night before. Raffo . . . admitting to . . . not wanting to leave her? Was that a memory or a dream? She couldn't be sure, but something about the thought nagged at her. Something that told her he still cared about her, that he hadn't wanted to leave her, and she needed to figure out why.

And figure out why finding the truth was so important. Did she think . . . did she think that was what stopped her from wanting to be with Raffo? Did she even want to be with Raffo? They'd barely just started 'talking' again, and yet, she couldn't block out the allure for him. Being around him felt too good to ignore. Especially when she wanted to slam her lips to his—

Whoa. Girlfriend, Ruth. Girl. Friend. Emily, remember? The woman you're sharing a life with in New York?

Raffo and Blondie scored the winning point, resulting in her obnoxious cheer as she wrapped her bikini'd body around his in a victory hug. Ruth tensed.

Fuck it.

"You know what? I think I am gonna go in the pool," Ruth bit out, tired of being the good girl all the fucking time. She was always the good student, the good nurse, the good girlfriend, the good daughter, and she was sick of it.

She didn't want to be good anymore. She wanted to be like everyone else and give into her desires for just a moment. Why couldn't she be happy if just for a day? For once, she wanted to willingly give into imperfection. She knew once their vacation was over, everything would go back to normal. And when things become normal again, that's when she'll get the truth from him.

Though the thought of getting chlorine in her curls made her cringe, she still pulled the hair tie out of her hair and allowed the unruly curls to tumble about her shoulder blades and breasts in sweet coils.

Kat, who loved a challenge, grinned wildly. "We got you girl."

Jana moved her head forward. "Got what?"

"Ruth's back! She's gonna go get her mans back from Blondie over there."

"Oh," Jana replied, laying back on the chair and shoving her sunglasses on her face with a smile. "Have fun, Ruthie babes!"

"We 100% support," Terry said, throwing her a wink. 

But . . . why?

Like Ruth said before, she'll get her answers after their mini vacation. She wasn't going to let any of them get away with it any longer.

When Ruth stood up and removed her cover up, Kat and Chey wolf whistled like children and commented loudly on 'how fucking sexy' she looked in her two-piece. She was not as small as Cinderella, and filled out her bathing suit in more ways than one, but she still felt just as empowered and beautiful. Though the set was plain black, there were tight strings and bare skin that highlighted the curves to her body. With her top, there were straps above the cups that enhanced her already full breasts and as for the bottoms, the sides were cut out in thin lines to mold along the outside of her curvy thighs. Her backside was mostly covered, though some of her flesh still managed to escape underneath.

The illusion of the bottoms hinted at her voluptuously soft hourglass figure, and Kat and Chey made the moment all the better as Raffo glanced back from the commotion. Ruth spied him out the corner of her eye and nearly smiled at the fumble of the ball from his hands and the sharp movement of his chest resembled a man gasping for air. He was wide-eyed and couldn't seem to tear his hungry gaze away from her body as she turned to face the pool. Her thick legs moved forward and led her closer and closer to his frozen body, teasing him. The game continued behind his body, but he didn't.

Instead, he left his poor teammate to failure as he eagerly headed in Ruth's direction.

Temptingly, she slowly sat along the edge of the pool so only her bare legs were dipped into the water. Raffo looked at her the way one looked at a siren. In fear, in awe, in unfiltered lust meant only for her. She knew if she looked below the water, the proof of his lust would be standing to attention just for her. And she remembered exactly what that looked like.

Warmth pooled between her clenched legs as he neared her, Cinderella all but forgotten. Ruth tried not to boast at that.

"Hey," she greeted, flipping her curls over to the other side of her head. She smiled at him and he cleared his throat, his ears tinging pink.

"Nice bathing suit," he complimented, his eyes shamelessly raking her figure.

Ruth, throwing caution to the wind, felt good by his compliment. She moved back onto her hands as Raffo's standing figure grew nearer to her legs and glanced down at her body on display. "You think so? Not too plain?"

Raffo swallowed and shook his head. "Fuck no. You look beautiful."

Her smile softened like a stick of butter. "Thank you."

"Did you want to go for a swim?" he offered, gesturing to the water. Ruth glanced over his shoulders and made eye contact with the glaring girl who clearly wanted him to come back and join their game. The boys paid neither of them any mind, and Ruth was happy for the privacy.

She ran her tongue over her bottom lip. "I'm um—not the best swimmer, actually. I can swim, but when I have alcohol in my system, I'm lazy and I sink."

It was true. Though she could stay afloat most of the time, her body usually struggled with pools she couldn't touch the floor in, and considering the deep end was six and a half-feet, she didn't know if she could do it.

But Raffo—sweet, sensible Raffo, always knew just what to say.

"I'll swim with you," he piped up. "And I'd never let anything happen to you."

She pursed her lips, unsure. "You don't have to. I don't want to interrupt your game."

He snorted. "Who cares about the game? I was just waiting for you to get in. And now that I have you sitting here, I'm not gonna let you go back out until you swim with me."

Ruth couldn't say no to that. Especially when it sounded much more fun than laying on a chair falling asleep while the girls sunbathed. "You promise you got me?" she whispered, her lip glossed lips drawing his gaze in.

She tilted her neck back to look up at him as his waist aligned with her knees now. The water glistened temptingly down his hard, bronze chest and it took all of her willpower not to give in and follow the water trails until they disappeared into a place she shouldn't even be imagining.

He reached a hand towards her sunglasses and moved them off of her eyes so that the shades could rest on her head while he captured her gaze. Her heart nearly stopped in her chest as he ran his fingertips down the side of her cheek in a warm stroke that had her spine curling and body shuddering. She almost closed her eyes to appreciate the tingling sensation that followed those sinful fingers as she blinked up at him, but she didn't want to leave the moment.

Despite caring deeply for Emily, her touch never made her feel like that. And the alcohol pushed away any sensible thought, encouraging her to engage in the dangerous. Encouraging her to let go for a few hours. For just a day, the possibilities were endless again. For a day, she was in her early twenties again, and only the two of them mattered.

"I always got you," Raffo whispered, moving his hand from her face.

Yep, that'll do it, Ruth thought as she wiggled her hips forward into his awaiting palms and allowed him to lift her from the pool's edge to set her in the water. Her hips loved the way they fit into his hands, but it didn't last long, as he respectfully let her go to grab both of her hands instead to draw them further into the deep end.

Her fingers clenched around his in panic when her toes could no longer touch the floor, but he was quick to move forward and wrap his long arms around her waist, keeping her shoulders well above the water. She breathed out a sigh of relief and rested her arm around his neck to balance herself. Playfully, he grabbed her other hand and led them into a water waltz as she laughed lightly.

"You sure you don't want to dance with Cinderella over there?" Ruth joked, giggling as he pulled her away to twirl her in what felt like slow motion before drawing her back to the close circle of his arms.

He rolled his eyes. "You would call her that. I think her name's Crystal, by the way."

"Close enough. They both start with a 'C'."

"Hmm. You almost sound jealous," he teased, though a hopeful gleam twinkled in his eye.

"Almost," she echoed, though that was a blatant lie. She was absolutely jealous.

"Well," he drawled, dipping Ruth's shoulders and head back in a partial dip. She didn't care at that point that she was getting her hair wet. She'd rather play along and join Raffo's pool dance for as long as she could. "I guess it's a good thing brunettes are more my type."

She moved her head back up, her wet curls caressing her damp cheeks as she gave him a dazzling smile, registering the brunettes comment. She couldn't snuff out that warm feeling throughout her body if she tried.

"And pretty brown eyes," he whispered, mesmerized by everything her, like she was the ocean's missing heart found at the bottom of the sea.

Ruth smiled shyly, her fingers diving into the damp waves at the back of his head and twirling the damp ends. He shivered under her careful touch. "Pretty, huh?"

"Very pretty. Curly lashes too," he winked, and she mentally swooned.

"What about curly hair?"

"Won't have a woman without it."

She stroked the fine hairs with careful fingertips as their legs moved and brushed against each other. "That combination's difficult to come by," she warned.

Raffo didn't deny it. "It's a good thing only one girl fits my type, then."

Her heart squeezed in her chest at that. "Raffo, I—"

"I know," he interrupted, quietly. "I just want to enjoy this moment with you. Even if nothing comes out of today or tomorrow, I want to just be with you for as long as I can. Okay?"

Stunned, Ruth could only nod.

"Believe or not, I've missed the shit out of you, Ruth. And I want to get as much of my lost time back as I can before it's all over," he murmured.

Ruth nodded again, still speechless. He said exactly what she had been thinking aloud, and it made her feel less alone and more sure of herself. They both wanted to pretend in their own little world, and neither of them found an issue in that. Like always, they were on the same page with words unspoken. She didn't have to tell him; he already knew.

Raffo and Ruth knew each other better than they knew themselves, like its always been.

"So, what you're saying is . . . you want me to be yours for a day?" Ruth asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.

He shook his head, but before her unfaithful heart could plummet to the pool floor, he was quick to correct her. "No, I want you to be mine forever. But what I need is to be with you, just for a day. I'm not asking you to do anything unfaithful to your girlfriend when I say this. Even this is enough for me."

It's enough for me too, Ruth thought to herself.

"Pool dancing?" she teased.

Raffo's lips tilted up into a sexy smile that set fire to the butterflies in her stomach. "Would it be better if I sung to you?"

Ruth gasped and grabbed his cheeks between her palms. Slightly buzzed Ruth was back, and for at least the next hour, she was there to stay. "Would you?" she begged.

He chuckled, his smile radiant. "Yes."

Her gaze lit up. "What song?" she asked, eagerly.

"Whatever song you want," he answered, curling a few wet curls behind her ear.

"Do "A Whole New World"!" she practically squealed.

Raffo playfully rolled his eyes. "You want a kid's song?" he teased.

"1. It's not a kid's song. 2. I'll go back with the girls if you don't sing it," she warned.

"Okay, okay. I'll sing it for you."

"Good. I'll sing it with you while you pull me around the pool."

"So demanding."

Ruth ignored him and comfortably situated herself in his arms that were still wrapped around her waist, keeping her afloat. With her hand still woven in the strands of his hair around his shoulder, she used the other to wrap around the other side of his neck as he scooped her up bridal style.

And when he began to sing, Ruth was taken to a whole new world entirely.

When he sang, he would look directly into her starry-eyed gaze. His voice was amazing before, but now that he's had an extra three and a half years of practice, he was incredible. He blew the actor playing Aladdin out of the ballpark easily. She, on the other hand, didn't sound nearly as good for her parts, but that didn't matter.

It only made them laugh harder and their sides pinch longer as they stayed trapped in their simple moment.

Ruth knew she was in trouble. She knew she had some shit to figure out back home. But for now, she couldn't find it within herself to care. Even when he pressed his forehead against hers and sung the last few lines of the song with her, she was done for.

"I'll chase them anywhere,

There's time to spare,

Let me share this whole new world with you.

A whole new world,

That's where we'll be,

A thrilling chase,

A wondrous place,

For you and me."

*****