Whistles peppered the ocean air. I shrugged out of Lou’s hold to examine the field. Reagan had the ball and was running with Austin on her tail.
The crowd cheered and clapped as Reagan held her arms in the air, jumping up and down.
“Touchdown,” Jan yelled. Then she stuck out her tongue at Derek.
He grabbed her by the hips and hauled her into the water.
“Hey,” she protested. “We’re playing football.”
“No, you’re not,” Derek said. “You and I are going for a swim.”
Jan giggled as he carried her into the water.
Then, just like that, Nina followed suit, trying to pull Train into the water. He yanked his hand out of hers faster than lightning and stomped back to his blanket.
“Yikes,” I said as I watched Train.
Lou followed my line of sight. “Yikes is right. Now that his ex is back, it’s going to be a long year and even longer football season.” Then he jogged along the shore toward Elvira.
I didn’t move. The tension between Train and Nina was as thick as the humid air, and I wasn’t even close to Nina or Train. He dipped into his cooler, pulled out a beer, flipped the top, and guzzled the contents. Then he crushed the can. Elvira and Lou were right. The school year would be long and sucky.
Elvira ran up to me. “That was awesome. Your mom’s boyfriend must’ve been good.”
“He was the quarterback for the Naval Academy.”
As if Train heard me over the hum of the waves lapping at the shore, he whipped his head in my direction, glaring as though he had daggers shooting out of his sea-green eyes. Well, damn. Maybe I upset the sexy Southern boy along with Nina. After all, I had suggested that the girls play. That only served to drive Nina directly to him.
“Let’s go swimming,” Elvira said.
“You go ahead.” I dug my feet into the hot sand, oohing and aahing as I scurried over to Train. Once on the blanket, my burning feet thanked me.
I’d planned on apologizing to him until my stomach did one of those wild somersaults that got even wilder when he sized me up in a slow and languid fashion. Oh hell, if I didn’t run now, it would be Nikko all over again. Not that Nikko looked like Train. Actually, there were no similarities between them except what they did to my stomach. Where Train was six feet, Nikko was five ten at most. Train’s messy brown hair didn’t compare to the blond curls that Nikko had. Neither did the color of the eyes. I didn’t have a particular physical trait that I was drawn to when it came to boys. Well, maybe eyes. Nikko’s were stark blue, but so full of want and need and pain. With the exception of the color, Train had that same want, need, and pain in his eyes—more so now than when I’d met him in computer class.
I mentally shook off Nikko and Train as the sound of the waves rolling along the shore drew me back to the bubble of hell that I was trapped in as I stood with Train so close to me.
His nostrils flared. “Did you hear me?”
“Come again.”
“Normally, I wouldn’t repeat myself, but for you, it’s important.” His tone was deep and serious.
Again, my stomach was riding some massive wave. I wanted to say something, but my tongue seemed to be glued to the roof of my mouth, while my eyes traveled over his delicious chest all the way down to the line of hair that disappeared into his swim trunks. At that moment, all I could think about was one of my mom’s detailed descriptions in her book titledMy Heart to Take.
Train waved his hand again. “Forget it. You’re not worth it.” Then he grabbed his surfboard, or more like yanked the long board into his hands, and jogged into the water.
That went well.
Nina emerged from the water like some water goddess. She pushed out her small breasts when Train brushed past her. He didn’t get far. She wrapped her fingers around his arm. If he was talking, I couldn’t hear a thing. I moved over to my blanket, grabbed my sunglasses, and sat down.
Elvira said something to Nina and Train before she returned to our blanket, squeezing water out of her chin-length hair.
Train shook his head at Nina.
With my chin, I motioned at the couple. “Care to share.”
“Train’s pissed,” Elvira said. “Rightfully so. Nina’s going to be trouble this year. I can feel it.”
“He seems mad at me, though,” I said.
