When she met his stare again, she found him smirking at her, obviously not having missed the way she’d dragged her gaze along the length of his body.
“Shall we?” he asked, gesturing to the pool behind him, the water the exact shade of his eyes.
Jessica nodded and padded across the sun-heated concrete until she reached the ladder. The instant she dipped her toes in, she nearly backed out, the temperature a shock after basking in the sunshine for hours. Instead, she gritted her teeth andlowered further until the water reached her chest. Then she fully submerged, goosebumps breaking out on her skin.
“You guys here on spring break?” she heard Jack ask Bethani when she resurfaced.
“Yep!” Bethani grinned. “You, too?”
Jack nodded. “College? High school?”
“We’re high school seniors,” Jessica said, and Jack turned toward her voice, as though he’d forgotten she was there. Then he and Bethani followed her into the water, and Jack waded toward a group of guys gathered around the net strung up across the shallower end.
Over his shoulder, he said to Jessica, “You can be on my team. But you should know, I’m very competitive. So don’t screw up.”
Jessica nearly volleyed back an insult, and got as far as opening her mouth, but Bethani cut her off. “I think we can keep up.”
Jessica smirked. Both she and her friend were four-year varsity volleyball players at their high school, and their senior season in the fall had culminated with a state championship victory.
“You better,” Jack said, then swam away.
“Asshole,” Bethani breathed.
Jessica laughed, her eyes glued to the muscles of Jack’s back as they bunched and jumped with each stroke through the water. “Hot, though.”
Bethani shot her a look. “What’re you thinking?”
Jessica smirked. “Nothing at all. Just pointing out that he’s extremely attractive.”
Bethani’s lips twisted into a knowing smile. “For what it’s worth, I say go for it.”
“Chop chop, ladies!” Jack yelled.
“Damn, he really is an asshole,” Jessica muttered, and Bethani laughed.
“The upside is you don’t have to talk to him, if you know what I mean,” she said with a wink and an eyebrow wiggle.
Giggling, they waded through the water and joined the group formed by Jack and his three friends.
“Boys, this is Jessica and her friend…”
“Bethani,” Jessica’s friend supplied.
Jack nodded sharply. “These are the boys. Tyler, Zach, and Chad,” he said, pointing at each in turn. “We’ll play three-on-three. Me, Zach, and Jessica against Tyler, Chad, and Bethani.”
The group dispersed, Jessica following after Jack and his curly-haired brunette friend. Jack positioned her in the middle about ten feet from the net. Across from them, Bethani’s black hair barely bobbed above the surface of the water as Jack’s other friends directed her about twenty feet off the net as they lined up on either side near the antennas.
Jessica was prepared to show these boys her skills. She’d been a defensive specialist on her high school teams, which meant Jack had unintentionally placed her exactly where she would’ve lined up normally.
The thing was…water volleyball wasnothinglike normal volleyball, and she made an absolute ass of herself.
Jessica stood halfway between five and six feet tall, and the five-foot deep pool water sloshed around her shoulders and chest as she dove for balls. More often than not, she wound up missing entirely and going under. By the time the game ended, her nose and throat stung from all the water she’d unintentionally inhaled.
Jack hadn’t been lying about his competitive spirit. He took every opportunity to point out her mistakes, and Jessica found herself wondering what about him she’d found attractive in the first place.
Yeah, he was hot, and he was clearly some sort of athlete based on the way he instinctively knew where the ball would be thesecond one of his friends made contact, rising from the water like Poseidon to block shots and slam the ball back into his friends’ faces. But this was supposed to be a friendly game on vacation, not the Olympics. Unfortunately, Jack didn’t see it that way.
“Move faster!”
