"What are you doing here?" I was slightly in awe of Asher standing in front of me. His tall body leaned against the counter while he held an ice cream cone that someone else had obviously made for him. His usual white t shirt fit snugly across his chest, emphasizing the muscles underneath. There was a slight stubble shadowing his jawline, matching the chestnut brown color of his messy hair. It would be an understatement to say he looked good.

"No hello?" He teased, his eyes alight and playful. This was the Asher I liked best, even with his cocky smirk and appraising green eyes.

I rolled my eyes in response. "Hello, Asher."

"That's better." The smirk was back in full force.

I heard a clunk as Lu came rushing out of the door. Her tiny body was almost running as she came to a stop right beside me.

"Who's this?" She whispered with a sly smile.

"Umm... Asher, this is my boss Luanda. Lu, this is my friend Asher."

Her eyes lit up, and I knew what was going to happen before she even spoke the words. "Is this the Asher you were just telling me about?"

Shit.

I could feel myself blushing as my cheeks burned. Asher's smirk just grew until it was a full grin. Cocky asshole.

"Lu." I muttered harshly under my breath. She didn't care, and just winked at me in response.

"He's cute. You want anything else, sugar?" Luanda leaned against the counter and looked back and forth between us. Her silvery hair seemed to bounce up and down as her head swiveled between us. She was obviously loving the situation. She never passed up an oportunity to embarrass me.

"No thanks." Asher shook his head. His eyes never left mine even though his voice was directed at Lu.

"Now I hear you and my Olivia are getting very close."

"Lu!" I burst and tried to push her away as she laughed to herself.

"Asher knows I'm kidding-" She winked at him, causing him to bend over in laughter "-now you two go do something fun. You can end your shift early darlin'."

"That's okay. I still have a few hours left." I paused to glance at Asher's cocky smile again. I really wanted to avoid his questioning after Lu's little exposing session.

"Not anymore! You're free. Now get."

Most days I would love to leave early, but my cheeks were still warm from the embarrassment. Asher was going to gloat about this for ages.

Neither one of them listened to my protests. Asher hopped over the counter (athletic much?) and wrapped an arm around my waist before escorting me towards the door.

As we were leaving the restaurant, I heard Luanda's loud voice pipe up to give me one final round of embarrassment. "Safe sex kids!"

I'm never going to live this down.

Asher chuckled as he walked me to his shiny black Jeep. His arm stayed around me the whole time, and I tried to ignore the jitters it gave me.

"M'lady." Asher opened my door with an exaggerated panache, gesturing to it and bowing like a chauffeur.

"Thank you, kind sir." I joked along with him, climbing not-so-gracefully into his giant car. I heard him laugh quietly behind me before he walked around the car and easily hoisted himself into the driver's seat. Show off.

"Where are we going?" I asked as Asher pulled the car out of the parking lot and sped down the road in the opposite direction of my house. His car accelerated quickly down the road despite him barely paying attention. His eyes switched back and forth from me, to the palm trees and blue sky surrounding us, to the road ahead.

"The beach." He smiled, running a hand through his tousled hair. Despite being in its usual state of messiness, his hair was still a work of art. It always looked like he had just walked out of the hair salon.

"I don't have a bathing suit?"

The car abruptly jerked to the side and I was slammed against my seatbelt. Asher had made a quick turn, pulling into a strip mall beside us. The tires skid in protest of his sharp turn and fast pace, but Asher didn't seem to hear it. He just continued driving with one hand on the steering wheel, his sunglasses placed firmly on the top of his nose.

"No worries. Let's get one." He sped into a parking space and got out of the car before I could even comprehend what was happening. "Er- do you want me to get the door for you again?"

I scrambled out. "No, it's fine."

"Let's go." Asher grabbed my hand this time, leading my to a small store in front of us. The clothes in the window looked cute, so I trusted his judgement. His hand felt slightly rough against mine in the best way. I let his warm grip lead me into the store and straight to the racks of swimwear. Almost every store in Hawaii had a large variety of swimsuits.

"Welcome in. Let me know if I can get you anything." A slender girl said from behind the counter, not even looking up from her phone. She seemed bored as we walked past her.

I started searching through the racks of clothing to find a suitable bikini to wear. Asher shuffled through the hangers beside me, occasionally holding one up to get my opinion. I hadn't realized before, but he was wearing black swim trunks with some red accents. They were a bit too short and didn't seem like his style.

He caught my gaze and immediately glared. "Don't say anything. It's the only thing I have."

"How do you only have one bathing suit? We live on an island."

"I just moved here. I haven't had that much time to go to the beach yet." He explained.

"You've been here for over a month."

He rolled his eyes. "I was busy."

"Right, busy. Just like always." I immediately wished I could take it back when I saw the annoyance flash in Asher's eyes. I shouldn't have said anything.

Asher just shook his head and grabbed another bathing suit. "What about this one?" His mouth pulled back into his signature cocky smirk as he looked between me and the piece of string he was holding up. Just like that, the tension between us was diffused.

"No way. That wouldn't cover anything." I shook my head at him. His eyes raked down my body and his smirk grew.

"I know."

Okay then.

I ended up trying on a few different bathing suits— some cute ones that I had picked out, and some very risqué bikinis that Asher liked. I started with the most conservative bikini that Asher had chosen, even though it was still barely there. Looking in the mirror, the bathing suit was much prettier than I had thought. The forest green color complimented my olive skin tone and brought out the hazel flecks of my eyes, while the tiny triangles of the top accentuated my chest strikingly. I had to admit that I was kind of feeling myself, even though it was way less clothing than I was used to.

"Hurry up." Asher banged on the door impatiently as he waited for me to come out of the dressing room. "Let me see."

Glancing in the mirror again, I suddenly felt uncomfortable. I was basically naked in the tiny string bikini and walking out to face Asher was honestly nerve-wracking.

"Come on." His impatient voice rang out again, jolting me from my thoughts. After a moment of hesitation, I gathered the courage to unlock the door and walk out to face him. Asher was leaning against the wall across from me, his eyes angled downward while he scrolled through his phone. At the sound of the door opening, he looked up to see me and his mouth dropped open. He gulped noticeably, his eyes travelling up and down my exposed body. His eyes finally came up to meet mine and they had darkened considerably.

"Uh... you look...fuck, you look good." His voice had dropped an octave and came out much rougher than before.

"Um, thanks." I stuttered right back, wrapping my arms around my body uncomfortably. He took a step forward, grabbing my hands and moving them.

"Go change. I'll buy this." He said, giving one last long look at my body.

"Wait, what? I haven't even tried on the other ones."

"Wear this one." He smirked a little bit, his confidence already back. "It looks good."

I blushed again from his compliment, my cheeks turning red.

"You do that a lot, you know."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Blush." He smirked again, reaching out slowly. His fingers traced over my flaming cheeks softly, barely touching me. I felt my cheeks burn even harder in the trail of his fingertips.

"Everything alright?" The store clerk walked by with a stack of folded shirts, eyeing us suspiciously. Asher begrudgingly stepped back and retook his slouched position on the wall.

"Yep." He muttered at the lady without looking at her. I awkwardly turned back and pulled the door of the dressing room shut, trying to calm my rapid heartbeat. As I changed back into my dress, I couldn't help but smile, remembering Asher's compliments. He was still waiting outside for me when I finished getting dressed, and he silently grabbed the bathing suit from me when i walked out. We approached the cashier as I dug around in my bag to find my wallet.

Asher put the bikini on the counter and pulled out his card. "Just this."

"Wait, Asher, I got it." I gestured to the cash in my hand. The bathing suit was sure to be expensive, based on the quality material and designer-look, but I felt awkward with him paying for it.

"Nope." He grinned at me, forcing his shiny black credit card into the lady's waiting hand before I could.

"I can pay, it's fine."

"I want to." He rolled his eyes at me. The cashier looked back and forth between us nervously. She was obviously unsure of what to do.

"Asher."

"Olivia."

"The bathing suit is for me. Let me pay." I tried to hand the lady my money, even though she was already holding Asher's card. He caught my hand halfway, closing his fingers around mine.

"Can I please just pay for you? It's not a big deal." He unleashed the full force of his green eyes on me, making my heart flutter crazily.

"Fine. But I'm paying you back." I finally relented. I could sense the cashier getting annoyed and I didn't want to hold her up. Asher grinned in victory before handing me the bag.

"You're quite the gentleman." I teased Asher as we walked back to the car, thinking of how he opened the door for me and insisted on paying.

"Anything to impress, angel." He responded with a debonair smile, opening my door again.

I hopped in, smiling slightly at the nickname. Asher walked back to his side, hoisting himself up into the tall car. As we embarked again, I savored the feeling of the wind in my hair from the open windows. Asher rested one hand on the steering wheel while the other dangled outside the window. The radio was quietly playing a song I had never heard, but I liked it.

"Why are we going to the beach?" I asked, breaking the comfortable silence. Asher glanced at me quickly before facing the road once again.

"Shawn told me he used to surf with you."

"Oh, yeah. Do you surf?"

"No, that isn't really a New York thing." He chuckled.

"Well, you're in Hawaii now. You better learn."

"Actually, I was hoping you would teach me." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, keeping his eyes focused on the road. There was a faint pink hue to his cheeks that matched the embarrassed tone of his voice. God, he was cute.

"I would love to!" I reassured him, watching his nervous expression fade away. "But, we don't have boards."

He looked at me in disbelief.

"What?" I asked.

"How did you not see the boards on top of the car?" He asked incredulously, chuckling to himself. He parked the car by a beach access and I hopped out quickly to check. Sure enough, there were two giant surfboards tied across the bars on the roof. I recognized the aqua blue color of my surfboard next to a darker green one that was a few feet longer.

"How did you get my surfboard?"

"Mia." He responded simply, and I laughed to myself. Of course she was behind this. "I'm borrowing Shawn's." He explained further.

We untied the boards and Asher grabbed both of them, gesturing to the boardwalk that led to the beach.

"Oh, no you don't." I quickly snatched my board from him, securing it under my own arm.

"I can carry it." Asher insisted, flexing his biceps cockily. They were huge, I had to admit.

"No one touches my baby." I warned him in response.

"Come on, I'm trying to be a gentleman!" He called from behind me, but I was already ten feet ahead of him as I started off toward the water. I giggled and shook my head at him as he trailed behind.

Asher had thankfully brought towels, too, and a small cooler with drinks and food. We placed our stuff on top of the boards in a secluded area of the beach before I headed to the bathroom to change. This time, I was not scared to walk out in my new bathing suit. Asher's reaction was similar to before, which made me laugh, but soon it was his turn to impress me. When I got back, he pulled off his shirt to reveal his tanned abs in all their glory.

"I think you have a little drool right there." Asher smirked at my dazed expression.

"Oh, shut up."

Leaving our clothes and phones on the beach, we dragged our boards down to the sparkling turquoise water. It felt cool as it lapped around my ankles, saving me from the scorching heat of the September sun. I pushed farther out until I was waist deep in the water, with Asher following me once again. When I turned around, however, he wasn't there.

"Asher?" I called out, with no response. I noticed something under me in the clear water right as it grabbed me. My scream was muffled by the water as Asher pulled me under the water, drenching my hair and startling me. I thrashed against him as we both rose to the surface, Asher laughing while I was fuming. His angelic face grinned at me unapologetically. Tiny water droplets fell from his hair down his face and chest. His happiness must have been contagious, because I was laughing along with him soon.

"Sorry." He said with a cheeky grin, but he didn't look apologetic at all.

"You're gonna pay for that." I threatened.

"Oh really? How?" He stepped closer, trapping me against my board.

"You'll just have to wait and see." I said breathlessly.

He hummed in response before stepping back and grabbing his board. The dark color looked incredible against his tanned skin and emerald eyes, and I felt myself staring at him for a few moments too long. He noticed and smirked at me, but didn't say anything.

"So, are you ready?" I asked him to change the subject. He nodded and we both hoisted ourselves up onto the boards and paddled further out into the ocean as the waves grew and started crashing around us.