I heard the doorbell ring and I shouted out, "I've got it!" because I was expecting some friends to come over. 

When I opened the door my best friend Gabe was standing front and center shirtless, wearing dark sunglasses, a pair of swim trunks and sandals with a beach towel slung over his shoulder. 

"Dylan!" Gabe shouted, giving me a bro hug, before walking in followed by six more of our friends, four of which were women wearing bikinis. He almost always had an entourage with him. 

I had met Gabe while filming a TV show a couple years ago and our personalities just clicked right away. He was always up for a good time and it was impossible not to laugh and smile when you were around him. He just instantly lit up a room with his big personality. 

He was even taller than me by a couple inches and very athletic and in shape. His Dad was black and his Mom was white which left him with a light caramel skin tone and honey brown eyes. He kept his dark hair trimmed short in a precise fade that he went to the barber to get cleaned up every week and a half to keep it looking fresh.

Gabe was a ladies man and usually had at least one woman on his arm, and today was no exception. He had a leggy redhead attached to his side with his arm around her shoulders.

"Who's ready to swim and get our drink on bitches?!" Gabe asked, holding a vodka bottle above his head as he led the way through the house towards the pool. 

As the rest of the group followed him inside I noticed my ex Tawny was with them and I instantly felt uncomfortable. I really wished Gabe hadn't brought her here with him, especially right now with Brenley in the house. 

Tawny was wearing a bright orange bikini on her golden tanned skin and her long blonde hair was down in messy beach waves. She stopped in front of me and looked up at me with those hazel eyes and I saw the light freckles across her nose and cheeks that I used to think were so cute. 

"Hey Dylan," she said, looking me up and down. "You're looking good. It's been a minute." 

'Not nearly long enough,' I thought in my head, but all I said was "Yeah" with a forced smile. 

I turned and tried to catch up with the rest of the group not wanting to be left behind with Tawny. Of course when we got out to the pool she took the sun lounger right next to mine and made a display of putting on suntan lotion very slowly right in front of me. Obviously she thought she was tempting me but honestly she was making me nauseous. 

Hooking up with her again was the last thing I wanted to do. I'd rather have a colonoscopy, sit through a 10 hour lecture, get audited by the IRS, and then be covered in a vat of snakes than ever hook up with her again. I know that sounds dramatic but it's the truth. 

When I first met this woman I thought she was beautiful and smart and funny. We had a great time hanging out. I asked her to be my girlfriend and she said yes and we were hot and heavy for about a month until I found out she had hooked up with two of my friends before me and was just using them to get closer to me, to break into my inner circle.

My co-star was crushed that she only slept with him to get closer to me because he really thought she liked him and he even introduced her to his parents. I didn't even know she had dated him or I wouldn't have even gone there. She wanted to be an actress and she thought dating me could help her get a good part. To her I was just some prize to be caught, a status symbol, a conquest, a bragging right, a stepping stone to bigger and better things.

When I broke up with her she immediately started hooking up with the director of the movie I was working on at the time because she thought he might give her a part in his next movie. Then she tried to get him to leave his wife and kids for her but when he refused she told his wife everything and disappeared for a while. And now here she was in my house hanging out with my best friend. 

I needed a distraction. I got out my phone and texted Brenley. 

'?'

'OK. I'll be out there in a few.'

I was relieved she said yes so I laid back on my lounger and closed my eyes for a bit, ignoring Tawny's incessant ramblings about her friends.

"Who is that?" I heard her ask a few minutes later and I sat up and noticed Brenley coming out of the guest house wearing a black bikini and a pair of black sunglasses with her long blonde hair down and curled. 

I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Her body was perfect. It had been a while since I had seen a natural body that didn't have breast implants and butt injections and lipo to give them overly exaggerated curves like the Kardashians. Brenley looked real and that was actually really refreshing. 

She also didn't spend half her life in the gym and didn't have a tan like the rest of the women here did. She was slim but she wasn't toned or ripped. She had hips that curved out just a little bit and her breasts were probably a B cup but I didn't mind. I would much rather have small than fake. What was I saying? I couldn't have her even if I wanted her. Melissa made it very clear she was off limits. 

I felt a smack on my chest and I turned towards Tawny and said, "What?!" 

"I asked you a question. Who is that woman that just came out of your guest house?" 

I turned back to look at the vision in a black bikini and said, "That's Brenley. She's my guest here for the week." 

I turned back and saw the look of jealousy on Tawny's face as she narrowed her eyes at Brenley, who was walking our way. 

"Hey," Brenley said, with a shy smile and a small wave. 

"Hey Brenley. I want to introduce you to my friends. That guy standing over there in the red trunks is my best friend Gabe. The girl on his arm is Abby." 

As I told her everyone's names she walked around and introduced herself with a smile and shook everyone's hands. I purposely left Tawny out and didn't introduce her. She wasn't one of my friends so why should I?

I looked over and saw Tawny glaring at me. 

"What's your problem?" I asked. 

"Who is she? Are you two together?" 

"What if we are? I don't see how that's any of your business. You and I aren't together anymore and we never will be again. You're a gold digging, clout chaser. As soon as a bigger, better deal comes along you're right out the door." 

She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at me. 

"That's not true and you know it!" she shouted. "I loved you." 

"Ha!" I said, shaking my head with a laugh. "That's hilarious. Let me guess. You loved my director too. You remember him? The guy you banged when he was drunk and then demanded he leave his wife and kids for you." 

"He tricked me. I was in love and I really thought he loved me too," she shouted. 

I rolled my eyes. "You were in love with his money and what he could do for your career. Not him. He didn't want you but you wore him down, pouncing when you saw a moment of weakness when he was drunk and he gave in. You ruined that poor guy's life. His wife left him and took the kids. Now he's an alcoholic and they've put his next movie on hold until he can get sober and straighten up."

"Really?" she asked, in a sad voice. Almost like she felt guilty. Imagine that. Tawny feeling guilty for once.

"Yeah really Tawny. What you did was really fucked up. You broke up a happy family and for what? The slim chance that it would help you land a movie role even though you're a horrible actress? Good people don't do shit like that. All you worry about is yourself and what you can get from people and never think about how much damage you cause."

Tawny sat there for a second with her head hanging low and I heard her sniffle. 

"You're right," she choked out. "Rick was a good husband and father til I came along and now I've ruined everything for him" she said, wiping her eyes. She stood up off the lounger, grabbing her things and said, "I shouldn't have come here. I have to go."

She walked around and gave her friends a hug and told them bye before disappearing back in the house. 

"Is this seat taken?" a female voice asked and I opened my eyes and saw Brenley standing over me pointing at the empty lounger where Tawny had been.

"Not anymore. You can have it," 

She laid down a towel and sat on it, looking rather self conscious as she pulled at the bikini, trying to cover more skin and covered her belly with her arms. It was a big contrast from the way Tawny had laid there, popping her chest out at me and posing as she rubbed on the lotion, trying to look as seductive as she could. 

Brenley was the first real, genuine person I had met in a long time but she was off limits and even if she wasn't, she didn't like me. Life was so ironic sometimes.