I Only Do Spiderman Shit in Nice Weather – Chapter 16

I own no characters, nothing but the mistakes. Italics are internal thoughts.

Chapter 16

RANGER

I tipped the bottle of beer and stretched my legs out on the lounger. Steph and the women were all doing the dress fitting thing, so I'd decided to relax before the family dinner tonight. We apparently had a private chef catering us a dinner to be served on the beach, which I knew was Dalila's dream. Mama always did have a pension to spoil her girls. I was honestly relaxed for the first time since we'd been on the island. I'd observed Vanessa and her luggage leaving the resort about an hour earlier. Since Mama had reserved the whole block of rooms, it was a simple process to have a guest removed. And on a nurse's salary, Vanessa couldn't afford to pay for her own new reservation. I'd suggested to Dalila that they change her flight reservations to get her off the island as soon as possible, and John let me know a few minutes ago that she was scheduled to fly out early this evening. Good riddance.

I peeled off my shirt and signaled the waitress by the pool for another beer when I saw someone take the lounger next to me out of the corner of my eye.

"Ric."

"Papa," I said, catching the waitress' attention and holding up 2 fingers. She did an about-face and returned in less than a minute with 2 Red Stripes.

"¡Cariño gracias!" Papa said with a smile when the server handed him a beer. (Thanks, Sweetheart!) She blushed and scurried away. "¿Estás listo para hablar de eso, hijo?" (Are you ready to talk about it, son?)

"¿Hablar acerca de qué?" (Talk about what?)

"Pensé que querrías decirme por qué esperas que creamos que Stephanie es tu novia." (I thought you might want to tell me why you expect us to believe Stephanie is your fiancé.)

"¿Por qué crees que no lo es?" (Why do you think she's not?)

"El hambre en tus ojos dice que esperas tenerla. No es que estés seguro de tenerla." (The hunger in your eyes says you hope to get her. Not that you are sure you have her.)

Well fuck.

He laughed and slapped me on the back. "Y un hombre siempre se da cuenta cuando alguien más está tratando de ejecutar su propia estafa en su contra. Eres el hijo de tu madre." (And a man always notices when someone else is trying to run his own con against him. You are your mother's son.)

"¿Qué? ¿Tu estafa?" (What? Your con)

"¿Sabes cómo nos conocimos tu madre y yo, Ric?" (Do you know how your mother and I met, Ric?)

"Por supuesto. Te conociste en clase mientras mamá estaba en la universidad." (Of course. You met in class while Mama was at University.)

"Ah, no." He switched to English.

"No?"

I was working as a busboy at a restaurant near the university. Your Mama came in with three of her friends, and for me, it was love at first sight. I had to know her. I bribed the waiter in their section to let me visit their table to deliver their food. I knew she was out of my class, but she was so beautiful and kind to me. I asked for a date the following weekend, and she said she would be out of town, so we exchanged numbers.

He stopped to take a drink of beer, as I sat riveted. My parents have been married nearly 40 years, and I've never heard this story!

I thought she was brushing me off, but the next morning she called me. I took her to lunch at a little diner – it was the only thing I could afford. She told me she had just learned the purpose of the trip she was to take that week was for her father to complete the arrangement of her marriage with a man she'd never met since she had yet to find a suitable husband. She looked at me with her beautiful brown eyes, and I asked if he would force her to marry if she had found a beau of her own. And when she shook her head "no" I didn't even think twice. We concocted a plan for me to accompany her on the trip. Both my roommates and her roommates pooled money with us so that I could buy a plane ticket – we were going to Ibiza. The day before we were to leave, she asked if we could tell her family we were engaged to be married.

What?!

I had already fallen for her, and probably would have done just about anything she asked of me. So, I sold my motorcycle, my bed, and nearly everything in the apartment that wasn't nailed down to scrape together enough money for a down payment for a diamond ring. I went down to Little Havana to a jewelry story, and the shop owner agreed to give me a line of credit so I could have a bigger one, though I knew it was still far too small for what she deserved.

"I can't believe this."

He switched back to his preferred Spanish. "Pasamos dos semanas juntos en Ibiza. Y, bueno, como estoy seguro que sabes, compartir la cama con una hermosa mujer ..." He smiled Santos' favorite smile. (We spent 2 weeks in Ibiza together. And, well, as I'm sure you know, sharing a bed with a beautiful woman…)

I cut him off. "¡Dios! ¡Papá! Te ruego que dejes de hablar. Por favor." (God! Papa! I'm begging you to stop talking. Please.

"Bueno, su padre dejó de hacer ruido sobre un matrimonio concertado y ella estaba encantada. Cuando regresamos a Miami, y descubrió que había estado durmiendo en un flotador de la piscina, insistió en que me quedara en su apartamento. Una noche se convirtió en una semana, luego en un mes. Y un año después nos casamos y Celia estaba en camino." (Well, her father stopped making noises about an arranged marriage, and she was thrilled. When we returned to Miami, and she discovered I had been sleeping on a pool float, she insisted I stay at her apartment. One night turned into a week, then a month. And a year later we were married and then Celia was on the way.)

I had so many questions. Papa leaned back in his chair, and leisurely finished off his beer.

"Does she know?" he asked, switching to English.

"Does who know what?"

"Does Stephanie know you're already in love with her?"

"I'm not."

Am I? How could I be? We've been on a handful of dates. We've slept together twice. How…

In true Papa fashion, he didn't speak, just raised one eyebrow and waited. Then he patted me on the back, stood and turned his attention to someone over my shoulder. "Hola amor," he said, giving my shoulder one final squeeze and leaving me alone with my thoughts. (Hello, Love!)

Eventually, I grabbed my shirt, and made my way through the hotel in my boardshorts. When I got back upstairs to our suite, Steph was changing into her bikini.

"Looks like I do have perfect timing," I remarked casually, causing her to spin around, bikini top in hand. She let out a little shriek, spinning around to give me a beautiful view of her incredible tits. I smiled, and when she saw me, her nipples hardened into perfect pink points. My cock twitched in response.

"You scared me," she said, making no move to put her top on while I crossed the room to her. "Celia said you were at the pool with Ricardo Sr., so I was going to change and come join you."

I caged her hips inside my hands and pulled her in close for a kiss. She rested her hands on my bare chest, and I was glad I'd skipped putting my shirt back on at the pool. When she slipped her tongue into my mouth, I slid my fingers under the waistband of her bikini bottoms, enjoying it when her skin erupted into goosebumps. She pulled back, locked her eyes with mine, and gently raked her nails down my chest, hooking her thumbs into my trunks and tugging. They dropped to the floor, followed by Steph dropping to her knees, grasping my dick, and putting her hot little mouth around it.

Madre dios! "Babe," I rasped out, desperately trying to hold onto control. The sight of her on her knees, topless, hair wild, lips wrapped around my cock was gloriously sexy.

"Hmmmm," she said, swirling her tongue and raising her eyes to meet mine through thick lashes. She was so goddamn sexy that I nearly blew my load like a fucking middle schooler. She kept her gaze locked with mine while she worked me over. Tongue, lips, hands… she was everywhere. The minutes passed, and I placed one hand against the wall to steady myself and let the other tangle gently in her wild curls.

"Steph," I ground out when I felt myself hit the back of her throat. "I'm about to…"

She cut off my warning with another deep "hmmm" and the vibration sent me over the edge, and I came down her throat with a groan. She swallowed down every drop, swirled her tongue across the head and released my cock with a "pop" of her lips. Then she stood up, delicately wiped her lips with the back of her hand and smiled.

"Ready to head to the pool?" she asked over her shoulder as she tied her bikini top in place. It was like my brain had been turned to cauliflower – I hadn't yet regained the power of speech. When I didn't respond, she handed me my board shorts with a laugh.

"Take your time, Batman," she said. "I'll save you a chair and meet you down there whenever you're ready."

She plopped a floppy hat on her head, grabbed her beach bag with sunscreen, water bottle, a book and a beach towel, snatched her room key from the counter and breezed out the door.

It closed with a definitive click. There I stood, just staring at the closed door, naked, board shorts in hand, having just shot my load down the throat of the most confident I've ever taken to bed. It was so damn sexy.

Holy fuck. I think Dad is right. I might be in love with her.

STEPHANIE

I'd only managed to finish about half a chapter of my romance novel when Ranger joined me poolside. He'd asked if I wanted a drink, but I was still a little gun shy from the drugged daquiri experience, so I opted for a Coke. Ranger instructed the waitress to bring a can with a glass of ice. It did put my mind at ease to watch him crack it open when she delivered it. No more crazy nausea and vertigo for me, thank you very much!

We lounged by the pool for a while reading. Ranger had borrowed some psychological thriller Lester had bought at the airport. After about an hour, he coaxed me into the water. We grabbed inner tubes and made our way down the lazy river that wound around the perimeter of the multiple pools and bars on the resort deck. Once we were situated in our tubes, Ranger grabbed the handle on my inner tube so we could float around the river without getting separated. He surprised me by chatting while we floated, asking about growing up, going to college, my marriage to Dickie, and my time living in Newark and working at EE Martin. For every question he asked, he also answered my return questions. I hadn't expected him to be this open and honest. He told me about a pregnancy scare he'd had while he was on leave during his early army years. It turned out the woman – Rachel – never was actually pregnant but was looking to try to trap a military guy into marrying her. The longer we floated, the more we talked, and it was beginning to feel like I'd known him forever. Somehow I'd shared things with him that I'd never shared with a guy before.

"We'd better hurry if we're going to be dressed in time for dinner," he said after the fifth or sixth time we'd floated around the whole river.

We quickly showered (separately, unfortunately) and dressed for dinner. That night's ambiance was a truly beautiful dinner, with small tables draped in white tablecloths situated next to the shoreline of the ocean. The children had all been left with a nanny, so it was just adults tonight. We sat with Celia, Matteo, Isabel, and Daniel. From time to time, it seemed like Ricardo Sr. was studying Ranger, or possibly me, but I convinced myself I was imagining things. After dessert – a gorgeous display of petit fours that I was obsessed with – Dalila begged and cajoled and finally convinced us to go out to the nightclub. An hour later, about twenty of us were piled into a stretch limo heading for a popular dance club in Ocho Rios. The Latin beat of the music was strong, and Ranger and I danced for hours, his hands never once leaving my body. Sweaty and tired, we tumbled into bed sometime around 3 in the morning.

I woke up Wednesday morning to a delightful scene: naked Ranger serving me pancakes and bacon in bed. I swear to God, there was a good 15 seconds where I really thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. Yes, he's that damn fine. We ate breakfast in bed; I was surprised to see Ranger eating crepes filled with strawberries and cream, and it didn't take much persuasion for him to share a bite with me. They were almost as good as my pancakes. I glanced at the clock. 9:45am.

"What time does the itinerary start today?" I asked, as we stacked the plates on the room service tray.

"We're leaving around 11," he said.

"Then I guess I'll grab a shower," I said, padding my way into the bathroom. I turned on the rainhead and waited while the water got to the perfect temperature. I brushed my teeth and opened the glass door to giant shower and stepped under the spray. It was heavenly. I tipped my head back to wet my hair and heard the snick of a condom rolling on. I didn't even get my eyes opened before I felt two strong hands palm my breasts.

"Thought it might be fun if I joined you," Ranger said, his voice low and husky. His fingers cleverly worked my nipples, and I groaned.

"I guess I can make room," I said with a dramatic sigh.

He laughed and dipped his head to press his lips to mine. My hands explored the incredible lines of his abs and pecs while our tongues tangled and danced. The water cascaded down around us, leaving our skin slippery and warm. The kiss deepened, and I moaned into his mouth when he dropped a hand between us to tease the folds between my legs.

"Fuck, Babe," he said when he found me wet and beyond ready. He tested me with two fingers and then three before slowly backing me up until my back was pressed into the tile wall. "Hands on my shoulders," he commanded, hitching my legs up and locking them around his hips. "Hang on tight."

Hands on my hips and using the wall as leverage, he slowly lowered me down onto his straining erection. He waited a beat for my body to adjust to his impressive size. Somebody moaned. It might have been me. His fingers dug into my hips, and he set up a delicious pace as I felt my desire building toward what promised to be an incredible climax.

"God, Carlos. Yes, oh yes!" My fingers dug into his shoulders, slick with water, but I hung on tight enjoying the shit out of the ride he was taking me on with him.

"Fuck, Babe. You feel so good."

I was impressed he could talk in coherent sentences, and he showed no signs of slowing. Unable to resist the temptation to get my mouth on him, I leaned forward to attack his neck. I felt him grow impossibly wider inside me, and when he reached between us to flick across my clit I spiraled over the edge into climax with a scream. I couldn't control myself as my teeth sunk themselves into the soft space between his neck and shoulder. He roared his own release and pressed kisses and nips onto my neck.

When I could stand again, we washed each other and climbed out of the shower. We had less than 10 minutes to get dressed and be downstairs on the bus, so I quickly donned my black bikini and red coverup dress while Ranger opted for black board shorts and a charcoal t-shirt. Seriously? Does he never wear any other colors?

The 45 minute drive to Dunns River Falls was loud and excited. This was the excursion I was most looking forward to this week. When we finally pulled into the parking lot and got off the bus, I was nearly bouncing with excitement. The tour guide clapped his hands for our attention.

"Ok, mon! Leave everything that you don't want to wear here," he said in a heavy Jamaican accent. "Bring whatever you need to climb the falls and keep your water shoes on."

Everyone started pulling off shirts and coverups. I wanted with rapt attention as Ranger peeled off his shirt. I hurriedly pulled off my coverup and tossed it on the growing pile of clothes from our group.

"Beautiful," Lester said as he sidled up beside me, a waterproof Go-Pro camera hanging from a lanyard around his neck. "Did you know this was the waterfall that was in James Bond Goldeneye?"

"Really?" I asked. "That's awesome!" Ranger looked impassive. "Let me guess," I said, searching his face. "You haven't see that one either."

"Sean Connery is the only James Bond worth watching," he said seriously. I rolled my eyes, and he looped his arm around my neck to drop a kiss on the top of my head. "Yes, Babe. I've seen Goldeneye."

"What's wrong with your back, Beautiful?" Lester asked.

"Huh?"

"There's a bunch of scratches and like indented lines between your shoulder blades."

I looked to Ranger for a clue and was met with a proud smirk. My cheeks heated as I realized what he must be seeing… the marks left from the friction of the tiles on the shower wall.

"Oh shit!" he cawed. "Rangeman, is that a hick-"

I didn't think. I just reached out and smacked Lester upside the back of his head. Hard.

"Fuck," he said rubbing the back of his head, and I immediately covered my mouth with both my hands.

"Ohmigod! I'm so sorry!" I said in a rush. "I don't know what made me do that."

Ranger was giving me all 1000+ watts of his smile. I don't think I've ever seen him smile this big in the whole time I've known him. He pulled me in closer to him, resting his hand lazily on the outside of my hip.

"Proud of you, Babe. Don't antagonize people, Santos," Ranger said easily. "Thought you would have learned that by now."

"He gets laid, and I get smacked. This trip sucks," he muttered. But he smiled and gave Ranger a punch to the bicep.

"None of the bridesmaids catching your eye?" I asked him. He wiggled his eyebrows.

"You should know by now I'm a one-night kind of guy, Beautiful. Though for you, I'd be willing to make an exception." He deftly ducked out of the way before Ranger could smack him again. "But I'm waiting to make my decision until the day of the wedding." He gave me a wolf grin.

We followed the rest of our group and made our way to the waterfall. The local guide explained the process for climbing the falls. It wasn't difficult or treacherous, but you did need leverage to climb. So, we would make a human chain and climb up together. They instructed us to get in line, and I ended up between Ranger and Lester. We waded into the knee-deep pool at the bottom of the falls to get into position. Ranger was standing close behind me, and I was enjoying the feel of his body against mine. The water was really, really chilly, and I was glad it was so shallow.

"Hey Steph!" a voice boomed out. "Over here!"

I instinctively swiveled my head to look around and was completely caught off guard when Ranger wrapped both of his arms around my waist and pulled me backwards in a controlled fall against the side of a rock, under a tiny spray of waterfall in chest deep water. It was fucking freezing and I screamed, even while I felt Ranger shaking with laugher beneath me.

"Perfect!" Lester crowed, pointing his Go-Pro at us. Ranger pressed a kiss to the side of my neck and tightened his arms around me. "Good work, Cuz!" Les shouted again. Then he gave a jaunty wave and turned his attention back to his flirt de jour.

I turned in Ranger's arms and playfully smacked his chest. He laughed and pulled me in for a kiss so hot it made me forget exactly how cold the water was. I would have been happy to go on kissing him, but we heard the guide calling for us to begin, so I reluctantly disentangled myself from Ranger's arms and got in line to begin our climb. The scenery was gorgeous, and we had a great time making the climb to the top. Once we made it all the way up, we had to take dozens of photos of various groups in front of the iconic Dunns River Falls sign. I was a little reluctant to join into the "family" group photos – but Ranger kept his arm firmly around my waist, so I just went with it. He insisted we take one last picture of just the two of us, and then we both pacified Lester by letting him join us for one final shot. Tired and wet, the group made our way to the bus for the trip back to the resort. We snagged bottles of water and climbed on board, heading to the back and settling into seats across from Les. We stopped at a casual, local restaurant that didn't even blink an eye at our various states of swimwear and coverups. Crowded around two long tables, the conversation and food flowed freely. I laughed as Molly and Emma teased their cousins and Mariposa tried to referee. Les looked like he was low-key trying to cop a feel under the sundress of the bridesmaid he was sitting beside. And while Ranger was in an animated conversation with Mariposa's husband, Peter, he never even blinked when Celia dropped a squirming Annabella into his lap. He easily propped the baby against his chest and rubbed her back, causing her whole little body to relax into him. My heart squeezed, and I had a brief flash of him holding another baby… this one with skin that was a mix between mocha latte and creamy white, with black curls and blue eyes and …

Oh shit. I think I might be falling in love with him.