I Will Become the Greatest Chef

I glared at Rowena, who stood with her volleyball tucked under her arm like she'd just scored the winning point in a championship match. Her smirk was so smug I wanted to slap it off her face.

"What the hell is your problem?" I snapped, getting to my feet and brushing the sand off my legs.

"My problem?" Rowena asked, feigning innocence as she cocked an eyebrow. "I was just playing volleyball. It's not my fault my perfect aim saved you from a disaster."

"A disaster?" I echoed, my voice rising. "That was not a disaster. That was about to be the start of something fun until you decided to insert yourself."

"Fun?" She laughed, shaking her head. "Rhiannon, you have the worst taste in people. That woman is clearly trouble."

I crossed my arms, my irritation boiling over. "I don't care what you think, Rowena. I'm 21, and I can decide for myself who I want to have fun with."

"You're 21 and still making dumb decisions," she shot back, the teasing edge in her tone infuriating.

"I'm older than you by seven minutes!" I retorted, jabbing a finger in her direction. "Seven minutes, Rowena. I'm the older twin. I should be the one telling you what to do, not the other way around!"

Rowena scoffed, tossing the volleyball into the air and catching it lazily. "Yeah, older by seven minutes, but I'm obviously the responsible one. Someone has to stop you from getting yourself into stupid situations."

"Responsible?!" I barked out a laugh, throwing my hands up. "You set the training ground on fire last month trying to make a new skill!"

"It was an experiment!" she shot back, her cheeks flushing red. "And at least I don't go around flirting with sketchy people on beaches!"

"She wasn't sketchy!" I said, my voice rising. "She was—" I paused, my brain fumbling for a word that wasn't just hot. "She was… interesting."

"Interesting?" Rowena repeated, her grin widening. "Yeah, I bet her muscles were so intellectually stimulating."

I groaned. "Rowena, can you not?"

"I'm just saying," she continued, leaning on the volleyball like she was enjoying herself way too much. "You're lucky I stepped in. That woman looked like she could snap you in half without even trying."

"Maybe I'd like to be snapped in half," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" I snapped, glaring at her.

By this point, Luncindra, who had been standing awkwardly to the side, cleared her throat. "Um, I think I'm going to head out," she said, looking between us with wide eyes. "It was… nice meeting you, Rhiannon."

"Wait—" I started, but before I could say anything else, Rowena took a step forward, her posture suddenly more intimidating.

"Good idea," Rowena said with a toothy smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I'd hate for anything to happen if you stuck around."

Luncindra paled, muttered something about needing to check on her friends, and practically bolted.

I rounded on Rowena the moment Luncindra was out of sight. "What the hell, Rowena?! You scared her off!"

Rowena shrugged, looking entirely too pleased with herself. "Good. She looked like bad news."

"She wasn't bad news! She was—" I gestured wildly, my frustration making it hard to form coherent sentences. "She was… someone I wanted to kiss!"

Rowena's smirk only grew. "Oh, is that all? I was half-expecting you to declare your undying love."

"Why are you like this?!" I groaned, dragging my hands down my face.

"I'm your sister," she said simply, tossing the volleyball into the air and catching it again. "It's my job to protect you from yourself."

"I don't need your protection!" I snapped. "I'm a grown-ass adult! If I want to kiss someone—or sleep with them, for that matter—I will!"

"Sure," she said, her tone infuriatingly dismissive. "When you can prove you've got good taste, maybe I'll step back."

"Oh my god, Rowena, just leave!" I shouted, pointing dramatically toward the water. "Go terrorize someone else!"

"Fine," she said, holding up her hands in mock surrender. "But don't think I'm not keeping an eye on you, Rhiannon. Someone has to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

With that, she turned and sauntered off toward the volleyball court, leaving me fuming on the sand.

I sat down with a huff, grabbing my phone to distract myself. As I unlocked the screen, a notification caught my eye a text message from an unknown number.

Curious, I opened it.

"Join me in 1 hour next to the sauna. It's Luncindra ;)"

A smirk spread across my face as I read the message again. Looked like my plans weren't completely ruined after all.