"Annie," a voice whispers.

I mumble something incoherent and turn over in my bed, pulling my covers over my head. "Go away. I'm sleeping." I hear a chuckle then my bed dips in.

"Don't make me turn to dirty tactics," the voice whispers.

I freeze, and slowly roll over. My eyes open and I see every single family member standing in my room with water guns. I shoot out of my bed and put my hands up in surrender. "I'm up, I'm up."

"Good. We're going to the beach today, so get ready," Carter says, and I realize he was the one sitting on my bed.

I look at the alarm clock on my bedside table and I glare at them. "Really? It's seven in the morning."

"It's California, Annie. We need to get there before the sun starts beating down," Bradley replies, rolling his eyes at me.

Charlie runs over to me and I lift him into my arms. "Don't get snippy, Bradley. I used to live in Indiana, remember?"

"Yeah, Bradley. Be nice to my sissy," Charlie says in his cute little voice.

I look at him in awe. "Did he just?" I look up to see all of them smiling at me.

"You are my sissy, aren't you?" Charlie asks, a small pout on his face.

My jaw drops and I look at the rest for help. They just nod. "I um... O-of course."

"Yay! Let's go see the fishies!" he chirps happily, jumping out of my arms. I continue to look at him in awe as he runs out of my room.

"Well, get dressed! You have ten minutes," Mr. Emerson says and walks out of the room, tapping the watch on his wrist for effect.

"You're going to catch some flies if you keep your jaw dropped like that," Randy comments.

I shut my mouth and look at him. "I'm going to get changed so...leave."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am." Carter salutes me and marches out of my room. I roll my eyes and laugh at him.

"See you in eight minutes, Annie!" Austin calls as him, Nick and Ryder walk out of my room. Tyler waves to me and walks out, leaving just me and Mrs. Emerson.

I look up at her, knowing why she's still in here. "So, what am I wearing, Miss Designer?"

She snickers and hands me a Versace bag.

I stare at her, stunned. "A Versace bathing suit? Seriously?" She smiles and walks out of my room, shutting the door behind her.

I pull the bathing suit out of the bag, and stare at it in awe. The top is a white halter neck with gold starfish in random places. The same design is on the bikini bottoms as well. I strip off my pajamas and pull on the ridiculously amazing bikini.

I pull on a pink crop top and a pair of black shorts to cover the bikini, along with a pair of gladiator sandals, designed by Mrs. Emerson. I grab a sun hat, my phone, sunglasses, and put them into my VS tote bag.

"Ready to go?" a voice says outside my room.

I open the door to see Ryder standing there, shirtless in a pair of red Tommy Hilfiger swim trunks. "Yeah, I'm ready." He nods and leads me downstairs. Everyone is standing by the door, chatting amongst themselves.

This family is full of good looking guys, but when you see them shirtless, oh my goodness. Carter, Nick, and Ryder. All shirtless. That's just a little too much to handle. Why can't they put a shirt on? But then again, it's pretty great.

"Annie, you will be riding with Austin, Carter, Nick, and Ryder." Mr. Emerson says. My eyes widen. Is he kidding with me right now? In a car with the guys I was just drooling over? Other than Austin, of course.

"We're taking my car. Let's go, kiddos," Nick says, walking out the door.

"I call shot gun!" Austin exclaims, running after Nick. Great, so I have to sit in the back with Ryder and Carter.

"I'm not sitting in the middle," Ryder comments, walking out the door.

"That means Annie is," Carter says with a smirk.

I roll my eyes and trudge out the door. Seriously, just put a damn shirt on. Not that hard. "Seriously? Why do I have to sit in the middle?"

"Because you're the smallest," Carter says with a shrug. He opens the back door and motions for me to slide in. "In you go, m'lady."

I slide into the car next to Ryder, and Carter slides in on the other side of me. "How long is the drive to the beach?"

"Since there seems to be a lot of traffic, about an hour," Austin says, checking his phone's GPS. You have got to be kidding me.

"You do realize we're going to the beach, right?" Ryder asks, examining my outfit.

"Well, unlike you guys, I don't parade around with barely any clothing on."

"So, that means you're wearing a bikini, am I right?" he teases. I blush slightly and roll my eyes at him.

"You just have to wait until we get to the beach to find that out. Actually, scratch that, you won't find out."

"You're not going to swim?" Nick asks, glancing at me through the front mirror.

I shrug, trying to hide the real reason I don't want to swim. "Nope."

"Well why not? You get to go to your first California beach, and you won't even go into the ocean?" Carter asks, his eyes narrowed.

"I've never really liked swimming." Lie. Other than being a cheerleader, I was on the swim team. Austin looks at me through the rearview mirror and I shrug.

"You definitely have the body for it," Ryder mumbles.

My jaw drops and the guys just chuckle at my reaction. "Don't say that!"

"Hey, enough. That's my sister," Austin grimaces.

"Why? It's true," he retorts.

A blush forms on my cheeks and I shake my head. "No, it's not."

——

The rest of the ride to the beach was silent, thankfully. We come to a stop and join the rest of the family by the car that they had taken. I look around and notice that every single person in this family is extremely fit. Well, except for Charlie, he's only six. Even Mr. and Mrs. Emerson are in great shape! And I'm just... Ew.

"Come on, Annie." Mr. Emerson calls to me.

I glance up to see everyone walking towards the beach. "Oh, coming," I mumble and walk behind the bunch.

"Everything okay?" he asks, waiting for me to catch up.

"Yeah, everything's fine." He nods and walks with me towards the miles and miles of endless sand, beautiful water, and the early morning sky.

It's breathtaking. Especially since it's so early, so the pink and orange in the sky make it look absolutely beautiful. There's a lifeguard stand to the right of me, and multiple food carts to the left, but they're a ways down the beach.

There's also a bike trail and a place where you can rent a bike. Next to the bike rental is a small surf shop, selling anything and everything that has to do with surfing. Past the surf shop is a souvenir shop. The jewelry hanging on little hooks shines in the morning sun light, making me smile.

"Good. Go have fun." Mr. Emerson says.

I tilt my head to the side for a second, then remember what we were talking about. "Okay, I'll try." He chuckles and walks over to where Mrs. Emerson went. He helps her set up the beach chairs and sits down next to her.

"Come on, Annie! Let's go swim!" Austin says, grabbing my hand. I try to keep my feet planted to the ground, but he's stronger than me. With a sigh, I let him drag me over to the rest of the boys.

"Hey, Indiana," Carter says, wiping down a black surfboard that has a crazy red design on it. "Decide to go swimming?"

I let myself drop to the cold sand before me, and I cross my arms over my chest. "Nope."

"Aw, come on! You've got to swim. It's your first time at a California beach," Ryder whines.

"Please, Annie?" Randy begs, sticking his bottom lip out for effect.

"No, I don't want to swim." Charlie walks over to me with his arm floaties on and sits in my lap.

"Will you go swimming with me, Annie?" he asks, his big blue eyes looking into mine.

I stare down at the innocent child, already giving in. "Sure, buddy. Let's go."

"How the hell does he do that?" Nick mutters, shaking his head. Charlie smiles and stands up. I stand up as well, feeling all eyes on me. Slowly, I pull my crop top off over my head, then kick off my sandals and wiggle out of my shorts.

"Holy shit," Ryder mumbles. I slowly look up to see all of their eyes on me. Except Austin who's in the water already with Mr. and Mrs. Emerson.

A lump forms in my throat and I swallow hard. "Stop staring."

"I don't think that's possible," Bradley retorts. I quickly grab Charlie and hurry out to the ocean, ready to be covered by the water. Their voices carry towards me and I blush at their comments.

"I feel so perverted right now," Ryder says.

"I shouldn't be thinking things like this towards someone who's like a sister to me," Randy mumbles. They act like they've never seen a girl in a bikini before!

"How could she expect us not to stare?" Tyler mutters. I roll my eyes and look back at them as Charlie splashes around in the cold water. I lock eyes with Carter, and he smiles at me. He's the only one that didn't say anything. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

"Come on guys! You wanted me to swim, but now you aren't?" They all seem to snap out of some kind of daze and run towards the water. What the hell is up with them? Carter's the first one that reaches me.

"Wanna explore?" he asks, holding up two pairs of goggles.

I smile excitedly and take the light blue pair of goggles from his hands. "Yeah! Let's go." He chuckles at my excitement and dives under the water. I dive under water and almost gasp at how beautiful it looks. But...I would have choked... and died... so I decide against it.

He grabs my hand and starts to swim further down. My eyes widen as I see pink starfish and a light purple colored type coral. A fish that looks like nemo swims past me, making me smile. I see a beautiful angel fish and point to it. Carter smiles at me and swims farther out, bringing me along with him.

He smiles at me and points upward, telling me to surface. I didn't even realize how long we had been under, and my lungs are burning from the lack of oxygen. We swim to the surface, and once I take a deep breath of air, arms wrap around my waist, pulling me back under.

I squirm around, trying to escape their arms. Finally free, I turn around to see Nick grinning at me. I roll my eyes and swim to the surface. He surfaces seconds later and starts to laugh. Why, I don't exactly know.

"Did you think I was going to drown you?" he asks, looking completely amused.

I roll my eyes and splash water at him. "Possibly. Plus. I didn't know who you were."

"Hi, I'm Nick. I think we've met before," he says, sticking his hand out to me.

I laugh and shake his hand. "Hey, I'm Annie. And no, I don't think that's true."

"You would have remembered these good looks, huh?" he retorts with a smirk.

"I would have remembered how egotistical and creepy you are. Who just grabs a random girl and tries to drown her?" Oh, I got him now. He just chuckles and lifts me over his shoulder. "Put me down right now, Nicholas!"

"Uh oh, Nick's gonna get it," I hear Tyler tease.

I roll my eyes and start to hit Nick on the back with my fists, but he doesn't flinch. "Put me down!"

"No can do, sweetheart." He snickers and starts to carry me over to the sand. Thinking quickly, I flip my legs up, flipping out of his arms, and land feet first in the water.

"How the hell did you do that?" Bradley asks, staring at me in awe.

"Twelve years of cheerleading," I reply with a smirk. Nick turns around and his jaw drops.

"I thought I dropped you!" he exclaims.

I snicker and walk towards the shore, where Charlie is making a sandcastle with Austin. "Hey guys, need some help?"

"Of course! Austin's not doing it right," Charlie says with a pout. Austin sighs and looks at me exasperated.

"Help your brother out, huh?" He says and I laugh.

I grab my towel from my tote bag and place it on the sand, to make sure sand doesn't stick to my butt. "Well, we'll just have to fix that won't we?" Charlie nods enthusiastically and hands me a shovel. "How do you want your castle to be?"

"He wants it to be as tall as the sky," Austin mutters, shaking his head.

"Then that's how tall it will be!" Charlie grins at me and Austin just laughs. "Come on Austin, don't be a party pooper."

"Yeah, what she said!" Bradley says, taking a seat next to me on my towel.

I smile at him and start to scoop some sand into a bucket. "So, you want to tell me why you guys were acting like little spazoids earlier?"

"What are you talking about?" he asks, not looking at me.

"It's simple," Another voice says. I look up to see Mrs. Emerson smirking at us. "They think you're hot."

I feel a blush rise to my cheeks. "W-what?"

Me? Hot? She has got to be kidding me. Why on Earth would they think that? It's obviously not true. Though...they didn't object to what she said. I glance around and notice none of the older Emerson boys will make eye contact with me. Could it really be true? They think I'm hot.