“We’re not getting married,” I said as seriously as I could.
He slapped a hand over his heart. “You know how to hurt a guy.”
We both broke out laughing.
“Let’s get a beer.” He lay down on his board and paddled.
“I’ll race you.”
He had a head start, but it didn’t matter. I always beat him. As we were reaching shore, I was about to pass him, when I glanced up and spotted Montana setting up a blanket not far from mine in front of my house.Holy mother of the ocean. Kill me now.Her breasts were practically spilling out of her baby-blue bikini top. I didn’t get to linger on her amazing body because a wave pushed me, causing me to fall off my board. Not a wave in sight for the last hour, and suddenly nature decided to make me look as though I couldn’t surf.
Austin was laughing at the shoreline when I got up. “Sucker.”
I threw him the finger as I waded through the surf to get my board, which was caught in yet another wave. As I did, I checked to see if Montana had been watching me make an idiot out of myself. But she was absorbed in something Elvira was saying as she shimmied her hips out of her shorts, exposing more of her curves and those long-ass legs that I was picturing wrapped around me.
“You better get your board before that wave comes in,” Austin shouted.
Before I could react, another fucking wave knocked me over. Once I resurfaced, I snarled at the sky or the sun gods for making me look as if I couldn’t swim. I was a lifeguard, for fuck’s sake. Good thing I wasn’t trying to save someone. Then I dove in and swam a ways before I got my hands on my board. With another wave on my tail, I hopped on my board and surfed in.
I tucked my board under my arm as I met Austin on shore. “I need a beer.” I had to get rid of the salt water invading my mouth, and I also needed to soothe my ego.
With our surfboards in hand, Austin and I trampled through the hot sand to our blanket, which was oh so close to Elvira and Montana.
“You want Montana so bad,” Austin said.
I glanced down at my crotch to make sure the semi-boner I’d had in the water was gone. “How do you know that?”
He belted out a laugh. “Did you just check your dick? See. You want her.”
“So what. I can look. Eye candy.” I wasn’t looking at Montana right now, though. If I did, I would have a permanent boner the rest of the day with my luck.
“Eye candy, my ass,” Austin retorted. “You need to lick that candy.”
Images of me licking Montana burned brighter than the sun. Before I had a chance to discard my board or grab a beer, Derek, one of our tight ends, trudged through the sand with a football in hand.
Derek tore off his T-shirt. “Let’s throw. We can warm up before practice.”
Fine by me. Anything to keep my gaze from wandering—or my mind, for that matter. I stuck my surfboard in the sand and barely eyed Montana. She was wearing big movie-star-like sunglasses with dark lenses, so I couldn’t tell if she was looking at me. I hoped she wasn’t since I was trying to calm my dick down.
I opened my hands. “Ball.”
Derek tossed the football to me. Within a second, other guys spilled onto the beach—some with their girlfriends, others with coolers and chairs. I jogged down to the water’s edge as Derek and our center, Lou, went long. Well, Derek went long. Lou, on the other hand, couldn’t run all that fast. He was all neck and gut, and rightly so for the position of center. I reared my arm back and threw a perfect spiral as the ball sailed down the beach and into Derek’s arms.
As I waited for him to return the ball, I caught a glimpse of auburn hair out of the corner of my eye.
“Heads up,” Derek shouted.
Before I could react and take my focus away from the girl with snow-white skin, the football hit me in the side of the head. I stumbled backward, not feeling an ounce of pain. Instead, a sudden coldness blanketed me even though the hot sun bore down.
Nina, the girl who’d cheated on me, was there. The girl was supposed to be living in Florida. The same girl who’d sliced and diced my heart into a million fucking pieces sauntered down from the private beach access along the side of my house. She was dressed in a yellow halter top and bikini bottoms. Her hips swung, and her average-sized boobs bounced with every step. She had curves, but not as defined as Montana’s.
What the fuck?I was analyzing the difference between a girl I’d just met and my ex. Maybe that was a good sign. Good sign or not, a haze settled over my brain. I hadn’t seen Nina since the beginning of our summer vacation when she’d tried to apologize for cheating on me. I hadn’t accepted her apology and never would. I also hadn’t counted on her being at school this year. I remembered the day Austin told me Nina’s father had taken a job in Florida and that the whole family was moving. I’d thrown a party to celebrate the great news.
Nina said something to Elvira, while Montana listened intently.Talk about trouble.That was Nina’s middle name. The girl thought she owned the school. I’d been blind to all the bullying she’d done to other girls who’d dared to look at me. In my defense, no one had said a word to me about her antics, and I hadn’t witnessed any while I dated her. Sure, she’d snarled at girls if they flirted with me, but I’d done the same to guys who’d flirted with her.
“Dude.” Austin’s voice snapped me back to the present. “I thought she moved.”
I couldn’t form words. My jaw hung open. My tongue was dry, and my mind was racing with how the fuck my senior year had just taken a nosedive. She would want to get back together, and that wasnothappening.
