“You can’t let her coax you into dating her again,” Austin said. “I know you had mad love feelings for her. But remember, she gutted you.”
Oh, I hadn’t forgotten. My mom had counseled me on how first love sucked the life out of a person but that time did heal the wounded heart. The hole in my heart from Nina cheating on me now had a large fucking steel wall erected around it.
Nina glided down the beach toward me as if she thought she was an angel. “Hey, baby.” Her whiny voice hadn’t grated on me when we dated, but at the moment, her high-pitched tone was cutting through my skin like a razor blade.
She went to put her arms around me, and I jumped back, holding up my hands. “I am not your baby.” And so the fun began.
Austin crossed his arms over his chest. “Get lost, Nina.”
She stuck her hands on her hips. “Kind of hard to do. My dad’s job offer fell through. So I’m back. Sorry I missed the festivities at school today. My parents had to reenroll me into school before I could attend. But I’ll be there tomorrow.”
“Where’s your Clemson boyfriend?” I asked.
“We broke up. So, Train, I was thinking that maybe we could start over.”
Austin snorted. I literally choked.
She inched closer to me. “I miss you. We had such a great time together. I want that again.”
I scanned the beach. Everyone was watching us. I shuffled back into the surf. “Nina, you’re smoking some heavy dope if you think we’re getting back together.”
She squinted her gray eyes. “But we had plans for our future.”
This time I got in her face. “Until you fucked them up. Stay out of my life. I don’t date cheaters. So go find someone else you can cheat on.”
Feigning a pout, she touched her heart. “That hurt. But you’ll take me back.” She stomped away, and by away, I mean she plunked her ass down on the blanket with Montana and Elvira.
“Breathe, man,” Austin said.
Derek and Lou ran up.
“What the fuck?” Derek asked. “She’s not here, is she? Please tell me she isn’t going to ruin our football season like she did last year?”
Yeah, Nina had gotten in my head one too many times during football season last year. If we had a fight right before a game, that fucked me up. It shouldn’t have. The anger in me should’ve grounded me to play the game, and I should have been able to take out my frustrations on the field.
“She’s not.” I was as sure as I was that water filled the ocean.
Derek slumped his massive shoulders. “Good. Now let’s throw the football.”
He was all about football. Sure, he had a girlfriend, Jan, who was a cheerleader, and they were inseparable, but we were starting our last high school season. So I had to get serious too. Not to mention, it was time to get physical and blow off some steam.
“Today is not your day, dude,” Austin said. “I’m here for you.”
“So are we,” Derek and Lou said at the same time.
I knew I could count on them. But what could I do with Nina? Nothing. I couldn’t kick her out of school. I couldn’t do much except avoid her like the plague, and if I knew Nina, she would do everything and anything to get my attention.
I found myself locking eyes with Montana. Her big blues sparkled over the rim of her sunglasses.Yes, that’s my ex you’re sitting next to. And watch out for her because she’s evil,I almost shouted. Instead, I released a breath. “Let’s gather more guys to play.”
Once we had a group of interested men, I said, “No tackles. Touch football.” The last thing I wanted to do was get hurt or have any of the guys on the team get hurt. Coach would have a hernia.
As soon as we split into two groups of five, Montana ran down to us. Suddenly, football became history as I tracked every curve on her before settling on her chest.
Thankfully, Austin nudged me out of my lustful stupor. “You sure you don’t want to lick that? She would take your mind off of Nina.”
Montana’s curvy body was taking my mind off of everything. I was dying to shape her hips, feel the silkiness of her skin, her wavy hair, and so much more.
She stuck each guy with a sexy look. “Why don’t we play the girls against the boys?”
