You have to check out this story! --Diary of a Nerd by Crystalbluu.
I have just finished reading it and it is obsessively good, it has over 1500 reviews and I aspire to write this well, one day :)
Chapter 3
The hot pants were definitely cute. The wedges definitely defined and showcased her toned legs to best advantage. The top she was having trouble with.
The black shirt that Henri had sold her was nice, but not right for a pool party. Gabi bit her lip, staring at the many bikinis sprawled on her bed.
A tiny idea flickered at the back of her mind as to something she could wear to drive Troy insane.
He loved it when she wore his clothes and she was in possession of a few of his things now.
His t-shirt, with a little alteration, could act as a cropped top, showcasing her belly- his favoured touching spot she mused- and covering up her chest until she chose the right moment to reveal her bikini.
Her hottest bikini. Now all she had to do was decide which one that was.
--
"Gabi, telephone!" Julia called up the stairs.
"Okay, coming!" She called back and padded down, frowning.
"Hey I got your letter!" Tom said happily.
"Hey! I was going to call you…" She chided.
"I know." She heard his shrug. "But I thought I'd surprise you!"
"That's good, because you do not know how much I need a boy's opinion right now."
"Oh god." Tom groaned.
"Shh!" She giggled. "Look, I'm going to a pool party. As a boy would you prefer a girl to be wearing a black bikini or a red bikini?" She wondered, divided between going with Troy's team colour and the traditional black bikini, in her opinion slightly bond-babe like.
"Wow…" He blew out a breath, trying to think from Troy's point of view. "Actually…" He gave up on that, giving her his honest opinion instead.
"Yes?" She said eagerly.
"I'd find it totally intimidating if a girl was in a sexy bikini. If I was hanging with Tammi, I'd like if she was just wearing a pretty flowery dress or something." He admitted.
"Think sexy, Tom!" Gabi demanded.
"I'm no good at fashion!" He objected.
"It's not about fashion." She said, realising she was asking too much of him because his answer was actually very sweet.
"How's the cooking going?" He checked then.
"I haven't done any, I've been too busy." She admitted.
"Well that's something; the people of Albuquerque are safe." He joked.
"Ha-ha."
"I better let you get ready for your party…" He led.
"Ugh, yes because I still have no clue what to wear." She sighed.
"Gabi…wear whatever you like. If he can't see your beauty then he must be blind." Tom said softly and Gabi appreciated her friend's words.
"Oh, he will." She said knowingly and bounded back up to her room.
--
Hand in hand with Taylor, a baseball cap adorning her head and holding up her curly hair, Gabi walked into the pool party with her knowing confidence burning quietly inside her.
It was still dimmed, faltering even, but she was about to prove to herself that it didn't matter how she dressed, Gabriella Montez was worthy of attention.
She had stuck with her original plan, her favoured hot-pants. She didn't want to completely lose her trademark look. But she had ditched the heels, found some cute black sparkly flip flops in her wardrobe and put them on, along with Troy's t-shirt that she knotted around her midriff, hinting at her belly.
Underneath, if she decided to swim, she was wearing modest black swim shorts and her Bond bandeau bikini top which had stringy ties around the neck halter style.
"Gabi I love how you rock the pool." Brenda complimented as Gabi smiled at her, wondering if she was being cute.
"I'm not." She argued.
"Seriously? You do that 'wearing my boy's clothes' thing so well." She assured and Taylor smiled knowingly.
"Brenda, meet Tay, my best friend. Tay, this is Brenda, my partner in crime" Gabi arched her brow as Brenda nodded at the description.
"Go find a lounger; I have sexy pool boys serving drinks…" Brenda supplied, winking.
Gabi smiled, leading her friend by the hand to the side of the pool, perching on a lounger where Taylor joined her and they sat up on their legs together.
"Seriously, how depressing is it that this is the End of Summer party?" Gabi pouted to her friend.
"Too depressing. I want to be back in Santa Monica." Taylor sighed.
"I know, I have to get cheer routines organised…" Gabi bemoaned.
"Hello ladies…" Came a warm voice and Gabi looked up quickly, shocked to see Troy dressed as one of the 'pool boys'.
The uniform seemed to consist of board shorts and nothing else.
Her gaze was immediately drawn to his chest, tanned, muscled to pretty much perfection, his arms promising a strong hold that she ached to experience again.
"Troy what are you doing?" She asked blankly.
"I'm serving drinks…" His brows drew together as if this was obvious.
"You're half naked." She stated.
He laughed. "Yeah, it's a pool party, go figure!"
"Cute." She said, and then pressed her lips together. He was blatantly teasing her. The same way she had planned to tease him only he seemed a whole lot more practised at this than her. Which disconcerted her slightly.
"What can I get you to drink?" He asked.
"I'll have a …" Taylor began
"Are you serving other girls?" Gabi demanded, cutting her off and both her friends looked at her, but only Troy's mouth was twitching with amusement.
"Are you jealous?" He asked in a warm, kind voice that just annoyed her deep down. How dare he condescend her?
"No." She denied quickly.
He lifted his brows, turning back to Taylor.
"I'll have a coke, please." Taylor recounted.
"And you, ma'am?" He smoothed, his voice making Gabi clench intimately.
"Same, please." She said coolly.
"If I'm not out of place saying this…" He said, role-playing to expert degree, "…you are the most beautiful girl here." He said and disappeared with a warm smile, one that anyone else wouldn't have been able to read.
But Gabi knew exactly what that smile was. He knew he had got to her and he knew he had turned her on, with just his look, his presence. And that just made her even more determined to make him break first.
He wanted to play this stupid resistance game? He didn't know what he was up against she mused, laying back and planning her strategy.
--
"Hey girls!" Max greeted them as they reclined.
The sun was hot so Gabi had lost the cap, letting her hair fan out as she laid front up to the sun.
"Hey Max!" Taylor and Gabi called back at the exact same time.
"Where's the man then?" He asked Gabi, confused at seeing one half of the famous couple without the other in immediate tow- especially if they weren't intertwined.
"I have no idea." Gabi shrugged.
"Did you have a fight?" Max asked next and Taylor shook her head quickly as if to warn him not to ask.
Gabi sat up, smiling pleasantly. "A fight?" She questioned and Max looked worried.
"Yeah…um…"
"No, because if we had a fight that would mean we weren't actually talking…whereas this punishment is far worse…" She muttered, flipping over as she spotted Troy coming their way, making sure he had a perfect view of her backside and the back of her bikini now that she had taken off his t-shirt.
"Hey ladies…" Troy said as he approached. "Need any refills?" He checked and Taylor shook her head.
"Max." He said as Gabi continued to ignore him, face down on her lounger, baring her jean-short clad backside to him where he squinted his eyes and let his gaze travel up the length of her body, dipping in at her waist, flicking over her small shoulders, eventually dropping back down to her perfectly formed derriere. She had definitely gained some weight he noted, it suited her curvy figure even more than usual and he couldn't wait to get his hands on her again.
"Miss. Montez." He said, lifting his brows at the other two when she didn't respond.
He looked to Taylor. "Is she…?" He mouthed, tipping his head to one side, laying it on his hands, mimicking sleep.
"No, I think she's just ignoring you." Taylor supplied.
"Ig…" He looked surprised. "Ignoring me, huh?" He mused, putting his hands on his hips as he twisted his mouth to one side mischievously.
"Fancy a dip?" He asked, scooping her into his arms where she squealed and batted at him and he chuckled, taking a running jump at the pool and landing them both in the middle where she spluttered angrily.
"What in the heck was that…" She searched for a suitably insulting name for him. "…Bolton?" She accused, taming her wet hair back as he trod water and he smiled into her angry face.
He shrugged. "You were ignoring me."
"Way to go to get me to speak to you, huh?!" She fumed, trying to swim for the edge.
"Gabi…" He said, sighing, seeing his plan to make her laugh had backfired.
"Don't touch me." She warned, just like the very time he had found her dancing.
"Hey, beautiful…" He called again, knowing he had really annoyed her now.
"You!" She pointed to a blonde boy, one she recognised from the pool party. "Help me out would you please?" She asked as Troy swam behind, feeling helpless.
"Hey, I'll help you…" He objected.
She merely flicked him a cool look as the blonde boy hesitated. "I'm ok, thanks."
The boy took this as signal to continue and swam her to the edge of the pool, even going as far to help her out as Troy climbed out after her.
"Talk to me…" He begged.
"I can't swim, Troy." She said simply, closing her eyes and shaking her head as she didn't even need to elaborate on her words, stalking away into the house and leaving him deeply regretting his actions.
How did he not know that? She had been in the pool before at the pool party but he remembered now; she had told him she wasn't a water baby. She had struggled to swim. And she had got that boy to escort her before. And he had helped her in.
He sighed, realising he had stepped over the line this time.