She looks tired. “Maybe I’m not that good at being sisterly.”

“I know, right?” I say wryly. “Anyway. That’s why I’m hanging out with Nick.”

“Well, awesome,” she says sarcastically. “He obviously likes you.”

“He’s being nice. That’s all.”

“Maybe he could be more than nice.”

I scoff. “So you’re single now. How about you look for some cute boy to hook up with? It should be easy for you. You’re so fricking beautiful. There’s got to be someone around here who—”

That’s when I spot him.

Michael Wong.

As in, Billy and Jenny’s oldest kid. The one who just graduated from college. The one with the supposedly amazing ass. He’s walking around with Abby and Peter and Josie, chatting with Jenny.

“Oh look, there’s Michael,” I say slowly, surprised and confused because Billy said at dinner that first night that Michael wasn’t coming to Hawaii. “What’s he doing here?”

“The same thing as the rest of us,” Afton says. “Getting dragged along by his parents.”

We’re both staring at Michael, and it’s like he feels it. He turns, smiles in our direction, and mouths the word hi.

Afton lifts her hand in the lamest wave ever. And then she actually blushes.

I give a disbelieving laugh. “Well. Okay. You should get on that. You said yourself that Michael would be the perfect rebound.” I look around. All that’s out there at the moment is a tangle of rain forest, so thick I can’t see anything beyond the crush of trees and bushes around us. Which feels like my current mood. “I mean, it could be awkward, if anyone found out you were getting busy with Mom’s . . . colleague’s much older son. But who cares? It’s what animals do, right? I say go for it.”

“He’s sweet, actually,” Afton says coolly. She smooths her hair over her shoulder. “He doesn’t seem to get how hot he is, and I like that in a guy. And he’s very smart.”

“Plus he has the stellar ass,” I fill in.

“True. We have a lot in common.”

Of course perfect people have a lot in common. Because they’re perfect.

“So I assume you’re going to have sex with him,” I say. “Like, it’s no joke anymore, right?”

We lock eyes in some kind of impasse where we’re both thinking better of mean things we want to say. “Who says I haven’t already?” she says finally.

“That’d be impressively fast, even for you,” I snap.

“Yeah, well, I’m nothing if not efficient.”

Right then Nick comes out of the bathroom, shaking his hands to dry them. He looks around and sees me. His eyes actually light up, and he starts walking over.