Irresistible Bachelors: Books 1-5 by Landish, Lauren (bts books to read TXT) 📕

“Wow, that was delicious,” Tony says, licking the last bit of tea off his lips and filling my mind with ideas of what else he can do with that tongue. “Is dinner going to be this good?”

“That’s going to be totally up to you,” Wesley says, standing up and dusting off his shorts. “You’re going to have to catch your own dinner.”Anthony

The afternoon is beautiful, with the ocean glittering and large, puffy clouds in the sky occasionally breaking up the glaring sun. I can’t help but have a feeling that this land is doing more than just tanning my skin, like I’m being soaked in more than sweat and UV rays.

Wesley smiles at me as if reading my mind. Saying nothing, he turns left as we reach a section of beach that’s tidal pools and volcanic rock, leading us toward an area where the waves are huge and gigantic spumes of mist splash into the air as they crash.

As we cut inland and around the rocks, I can feel Hannah’s eyes boring into my back. Her struggles of finding her way keep running through my head. I dealt with the same thing for years, and it felt good catching a glimpse of the real her, not just an act to win. It drew me to her for more than just her luscious curves and sexy smile.

Thinking of the dance . . . the way she moved and brushed her body against me. Fuck. I want her. More than that, dancing together brought out something in me that I didn’t know I had.

I shake my head, trying to clear it. I made a promise and I need to re-focus. Besides, she might want to fuck me, but she hates my guts.

But what if she doesn’t? a voice at the back of my mind asks. What if it’s an act?

Questions swirl in my mind as we make our way along. When we reach the far side of the rocks, there’s a man waiting for us with a rack of gear.

“Bowfishing,” Wesley says, taking out an unstrung bow. “Have any of you ever tried it?”

“Does bobbing for apples count?” Cassie asks. “What about bobbing for—”

“Shh!” Hannah growls, smacking Cassie in the shoulder.

I hide a grin. During their down time from dancing, Cassie’s gone all in on the competition. Wearing her bandana around her head, she’s even painted her face, and somewhere, she got a feather that she’s wearing in her hair like some sort of Sioux Indian. I don’t know if it’s offensive to the Hawaiians or not, but I like her spirit.

Wesley chuckles and ignores her. He seems to be more interested in Hannah and me. “The plan is simple. Jay, here, is going to give you a quick lesson on how to use the bow, and you’ll have a little practice time. Then you’re going to work in teams, catching shore crabs for bait. You bait the water, aim, fire, and voila, dinner is served.”

When he’s done explaining, I feel a little anxious. I’ve fished before, but it was nothing like this. I usually just cast a line, sit there drinking a beer, and if a trout hops on my line, it’s great. If not, I grab dinner from the store. Apparently, it’s more complicated to fish for parrotfish in the ocean than brown trout from the lake.

Jay takes over, handing us all a sturdy looking bow. “This is a recurve bow,” he says, showing us each of the parts. After showing us how to string it, he checks each one. “They’re simple, and they’re effective, but the ones you have are not that strong.” We all listen to him explain. “Come over here,” he says when he’s done. “I have some targets set up.”

Shooting the bow is actually fun, and I find myself enjoying hitting the small balloon targets more often than not. I get frustrated, though, as Jay spends most of his time helping Cassie and Hannah.

“No, no, you’re holding your riser too tightly. Relax your grip,” he says softly to Hannah. He steps behind her and lifts his arms to mimic her stance and covers her hands with his own. “That’s it.”

I can’t help but feel a slight twinge of jealousy. Sure, let him put his hands on you . . .

“It’s a bow, not a cock,” I tease. “Just a light touch is all it needs.” Hannah’s next shot goes wild, making her growl. I laugh, earning a fierce scowl.

Jay gives us further instruction, and after we get practice in, we’re sent down to the tidal pools in the lava rocks with buckets to find bait.

Cassie, for all her fierce appearance, squeals and drops a crab back into the pools. “That crab—it tried to pinch me!” she wails. “Why can’t we just use worms or something as bait?”

“I got a big juicy worm you can catch, baby,” Caleb taunts her with a laugh.

“I hope you get a nice double set of claws to the balls!” Cassie shoots back. “Too bad it won’t give us much bait!”

Caleb winks at me, enjoying the chaos he’s causing. I know he’s not an asshole like that. He’s trying to sow discord. But I give him a little nudge. “Like football, man. A little trash is fine, but don’t get a damn penalty thrown on us, okay?”

Wesley’s giving us a little space to learn, but he can still probably hear enough. Caleb nods, and right then, Wesley blows a small whistle. “It’s time!”

Jay and Wesley lead us to a cove among the rocks where the waves aren’t too bad and we’ve got decent footing. “Remember, the waves come in sets. You want to try and shoot during the calm between the sets.”

Jay starts chumming the water, and soon, there are ripples between the waves. Fish. I nock an arrow, pull back just like Jay showed us, sight, and fire . . . hitting not a