“No.” I add some distance between us because friends shouldn’t be this close to each other. His eyes flicker between the gap, pausing there momentarily before shifting back to me.
Thankfully, everyone seems to have moved on from mates and knots because they grab the volleyball and we start our third game.
At our fourth game and the other team’s third loss, Grayson requests a change of teams.
“These two are doing nothing for me.” He points at Angel and Pen who stare at him, annoyed. “And I’m sorry, buddy…” Now he’s talking to Noah. “But you also suck.”
“Are you high? Or where the hell is your mind because you sucked worse than all three of us combined,” Pen shoots back.
“I wish I was. That way I could pretend you guys weren’t shit.” He darts his attention to us. “Can I have Josie and Vi on my team now?”
“No,” both Kainoa and Daniel instantly reply.
A devilish smirk curls on Grayson’s face, and something glints in his eyes, almost like mischief or something knowing. I’m not too sure but he directs that look only toward Daniel.
“Don’t be like that, Danny.” It feels like there’s more to that sentence, but he doesn’t add to it. There’s something about his smile and the way Pen smiles, inserting herself in the unspoken conversation, that makes me feel weird.
I don’t have the time or energy to try to figure out what the hell is going on, so I turn to Vi. “Pen, you, and I with Grayson? What do you think?”
“Yeah, this game was getting boring. Maybe this will make things a little more interesting.”
“Hey! I thought we were having a good time together.” Kainoa sounds offended and follows Vi as she goes under the net.
“You’re abandoning me?” Daniel playfully asks.
“Just for a little. I’m kind of curious.”
“About?”
“How many wins it’ll take before you call it quits.”
There he goes, flashing me his crooked grin.Fuck, my heart.“Cute,” he patronizingly drawls. “So, this is what the game has done to you?”
“The game? No, I’m just a confident person who never loses.”
“Loser drives back home?” He arcs a brow. I can’t help the way one corner of my lips just merely curls. His eyes clock the movement and his own smile widens. “Deal?”
“As long as you promise not to be a sore loser?” I go under the net.
“Wow, okay. Let’s get the game started,” he orders and hands me the ball. “But just so we’re on the same page, once you lose, we’ll still be good, right? You won’t hold any grudges?”
I scoff and stand in front of him with the net between us. “Daniel?”
“Yes, Josefine?” His voice is light and teasing but haughty.
“Disrespectfully, fuck off.” Mine, not so much.
He throws his head back and laughs. “I like it when you’re mean to me.”
“I thought you were into being praised?” I say, a little quiet and playful.
“I’m into anything you do,” he murmurs just as quietly and playfully. Then he winks at me and we part.
We all gather just a few feet away from the ocean after three more rounds of volleyball.
The games were the most intense but fun I’ve had in, well, forever. I swam competitively all my life and that was intense, at times fun, but never left me feeling the way I do now. Even though we did lose the second round, we won the first and third.
And Gray—he insists I call him that just like Kainoa insists I call him Kai—hasn’t once stopped bragging about our win. Though Angel and Kai keep saying he’s lucky the girls and I were on his team because he was pretty much useless. But I know that’s a lie; they’re just messing to annoy him because the truth is he’s really good. I think it pains them to admit that.
