Sitting around the pool with Dylan Chase's friends was fun after that bitchy girl left that kept on giving me an evil eye. I got the feeling she didn't like me for some reason but I had no idea why. Dylan's best friend Gabe was hilarious and charming and really handsome and he kept on flirting with me in very subtle little ways, like shooting me a flirty smile and a wink, swimming up close and just giving me this look with his eyes that said, "I want you."

My five year plan was to buy a house close to my Dad's, find a nice local guy to settle down with and get married, and have some babies. And I wanted those things to happen in that order. House, marriage, babies. I was 21 so having all of that by 26 sounded like a good plan. That was the dream anyway.

"Who's ready for a shot?" Gabe asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Shot? How about we try something a little stronger? I brought some blow with me," one of the girls said and brought out a little bag with some white powder in it.

My eyes widened. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had never seen that stuff in my life, only on TV.

Dylan was standing next to her and shook his head. "No. Put that shit away. I don't know what you're used to at other places but I don't allow it at my parties. We stick to alcohol."

She seemed bummed and put the bag away. Gabe poured two tall double shot glasses full of whiskey and handed one to me and one to Dylan.

"Cheers," Dylan said with a smile, clinking his shotglass against mine before drinking it down all at once. I did the same, tipping it back and feeling the burn as it slid down my throat.

Gabe cheered and whistled as I drank, giving me a high five and another flirty smile before pouring the three of us another shot.

Of course we didn't stop at two shots though. I had three and Dylan had three and who knows how many the others had. The music got louder and the noise of screaming and splashing water got louder too.

Dylan and I were left alone and I whispered to him, "I've never been offered anything like that before."

"I wish I could say that was my first time. It's crazy how many actors get caught up in that shit and it ruins their lives. I make it a point to stay away from people that do it, but Gabe brought her with him and I've never met her before. I'll say something to him later and tell him not to bring her again. I don't want that shit around me or in my house."

"Who's ready to play chicken fight?" Gabe shouted a few feet away and everyone else cheered.

"What's chicken fight?" I asked.

"It's where two girls sit on two guy's shoulders in the pool and the girls fight to push each other off the other guy's shoulders. The one that falls in loses," Dylan said.

We walked over and sat on the edge of the pool and I watched them play the game for a couple rounds laughing until Gabe shouted, "It's your turn Brittany! Get up on my shoulders!"

"It's Brenley not Britney," I said, before walking over that way.

"Oh you two are going to be partners?" Dylan asked, eyeing his best friend apprehensively.

"We sure are pretty boy and you're going down. Who do you pick for your partner?" Gabe asked him.

There were only two women to choose from now that the woman who gave me the evil eye left and the others were off who knows where. Out of the two left, one was a beautiful, exotic looking Asian woman who was around my height, 5'6. We would be a pretty close match up. The other was Abby, a tall brunette around 5'10 that literally could have passed for a fitness model with her buff arms and six pack. Not gonna lie. She was definitely intimidating and someone I wouldn't want to fight.

So of course, who did Dylan pick? You guessed it. He picked Abby, the woman that looked like she could crush cans with her biceps. She was going to break me like a little twig.

"Come on shortie. We got this," Gabe told me confidently before giving me a fist bump and I gave him a reluctant half-hearted smile. There was no way we had this. I watched Dylan and Abby high five with both hands and then they both jumped at the same time and bumped their chests against each other.

I slipped into the pool and Gabe swam under the water and put his head between my legs, grabbing my thighs and I felt myself being lifted up until he was standing up straight with me on his shoulders. I bent my knees and wrapped my feet around his back to make it easier to hold on. I had a pretty solid grip and felt pretty stable.

In front of us I saw Dylan come up out of the pool with Abby on his shoulders and she looked ready for a fight, popping her knuckles with a smug smirk on her face like she knew she had already won.

That sparked something inside me, a deep desire to win and wipe that cocky look off her face. I narrowed my eyes at her and gritted my teeth. I wanted to show her I wasn't as weak as she thought. I hated when people underestimated me.

The guys started circling around each other in the pool until they were close enough for us to reach each other. Without warning I felt a hard shove sending me backwards but I used my leg muscles to hold on tight as I slowly pulled myself back up and got my bearings, looking around.

Abby was smiling. I reached out and tried to shove her back but it was harder to reach her. She had way longer arms than me.

"Get closer! I can't reach!" I told Gabe and he got right up against them and I was quick enough to shove Abby really hard before she could shove me again. She flew backwards but didn't fall off unfortunately. When she sat up straight the smug smile was gone from her face and she seemed surprised. Apparently I was stronger than she thought I'd be.

"Yeah! Go Brittany!" Gabe shouted beneath me and I rolled my eyes.

"It's Brenley!" I shouted as the guys circled each other again. We shoved back and forth a few times before I finally caught her off guard and shoved with all my might and she fell back into the pool with a splash. I raised my arms above my head and cheered and everyone standing around watching was cheering and clapping for me.

I got out of the pool dripping wet and grabbed my towel to dry my face off, when I saw a tall figure standing over me. I looked up and it was Abby standing over me like a tree with a straight face.

'This is it. She's gonna kick my ass,' I thought to myself. The music turned down and everyone was watching us silently to see what was going to happen.

Then her straight face slowly morphed into a smile and she put out her hand to shake.

"You did really good. You're a formidable opponent short stack," she said with a grin.

"You were good too giraffe," I said with a laugh, shaking her hand.

The music turned back up and everyone started talking again and I went over to my lounge chair and decided to lay out some more. I really wanted to get a tan before I went back home. I had just closed my eyes and let out an exhale when I felt someone sit on my lounger.

I opened my eyes and saw Gabe sitting next to me with a white ball in his hands. He was sitting on the edge, leaning over my middle with his hand on the other side of the chair, trapping me in.

"You up for some volleyball?" he asked with his big white smile.

"Hey Gabe! Quit making moves on my girl before I have to kick your ass!" Dylan shouted from the pool.

That took me by surprise.

"I'm NOT your girl!" I shouted over at him with a laugh.

"Not yet," he shouted, shooting me a cheeky smile that made my face flush red and gave me butterflies in my stomach.

"Oooooh. Looks like Dylan's called dibs on you," Gabe said, smiling down at me.

"What? Is that supposed to make me feel special or something? He probably says that to a different girl every week," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Actually no. He doesn't. He hasn't had a girlfriend in almost a year. That was his ex that was here earlier that left. She was trying to get back with him and he didn't want any part of it."

"Why not?"

"Because she's a social climber. She slept with me and our other friend Jake just to work her way into our inner circle to get to him. She thought dating him could help her move up and make connections and it did. She slept with the director of Dylan's movie to try to get a movie part and broke up his marriage."

"Really?" I gasped with wide eyes. "That's terrible."

"Yeah. She's devious. So Dylan's had his guard up and hasn't dated anybody since then. When you're famous it's hard to know who you can trust and who just wants something from you. You constantly have to stay on your toes so you don't get used."

I exhaled and looked across the pool at Dylan, standing there in his navy blue swim trunks with his strong, broad shoulders and six pack covered with smooth tan skin, his shaggy blonde hair covering his forehead and that million dollar smile. It was hard to believe he hadn't dated in a year. He probably had women throwing themselves at him all the time.

"Yeah well. I don't want anything from him," I told Gabe. "I'm just here for a few more days and then I'll be gone and never see him again," I said, laying my head back on the lounger and closing my eyes.

"Right," Gabe said, sounding like he wasn't convinced.

"It is right," I said, without opening my eyes.