At that moment, I felt like a million bucks.
As Cash jumped down into the shallow end, he raised his hand to help me into the pool. As I was lowering myself into the water, my eyes caught Storm’s. She was standing with Reed and Phoenix!
BOOM, Nix! Was it wrong that I hadn’t thought about him for the last thirty minutes? My stomach flip-flopped. I wondered how long he’d been there.
And then Storm smiled and slowly nodded her head, like she approved of me somehow, and my joy spiked. I felt validated. My school nemesis was looking at me with a genuine expression that said GO GIRL!
I smiled back and gave her a little wave. This earned me a nod of acknowledgement. Maybe shehadchanged?
The water felt amazing.
Phoenix’s broad back was facing me, and he turned around, glancing at the pool to see who or what had Storm’s attention. Our eyes tangled, and a zoo of butterflies kicked off in my belly. I purposefully glanced away.
Ignoring that feeling of his gaze burning holes in my skin, I leaned against the side of the pool with my handsome pool partner and continued to ride my buzz. I tried to refrain from making eye contact again with Phoenix for as long as possible, as I knew he wouldn’t approve. Even though Cash was Hudson’s closest friend now, and Phoenix’s gym buddy.
You clearly warned off the wrong guys, I thought as Verity kindly delivered our drinks to the poolside.
Cash was extremely touchy-feely, and I liked that. “I always liked you, you know. At school, I mean. But you were so young,” he said, after chugging his beer. He was so naturally sexy as he cupped some water from the pool and splashed his body. “Fuck, it's hot.” The way the rivulets of water ran down his pecs almost made my mouth foam. I nearly agreed, but I would have been referring to the view.
I screwed the bottle back on my water. “I thought you fancied Molly?” We were standing in the shallow end, and the water line fell under my gold-encased breasts.
Cash glanced over to where the loving couple was. Hudson was massaging Molly’s shoulders. The girl had that boy's balls in the palm of her hand, and she didn’t even know it. “Nah, not really. I flirted with her to piss off my ex at the time.”
Well, that made sense. “Tate Parker.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah. She wasn’t getting the message. But it was you I liked.”
I tilted my head and looked up into his baby blue eyes. “Really? You noticed me?”
Cash placed his bottle on the poolside, his fingers caressing his chest with his thumb. My tummy fluttered. “Yep. I tried to speak to you a few times, but you always shot me down. Plus, I had to be careful around Hudson. You know what he’s like when he loses his shit.” Yep, like a category four hurricane.
“You say I shot you down? I never,” I laughed, playfully patting his arm.
He dashed a hand across his jaw. “Yeah. You were quite brutal about it.”
“Stop. You’re lying.”
He grinned and pushed a chunk of hair back from my face. “Nope. I’m not. You once told me to—and I’m paraphrasing here—err, crawl up my own ass and die. Or—no, wait a minute.Jumpup my own ass and die. That was it.”
I laughed behind my hand; my eyelashes automatically do that batting thing I’d read about. “Oh my. That does sound like me, too.” I took a deep breath andplaced my hand on his chest. It was hard and warm. “Sorry. I was probably just being paranoid that you’d approached me as part of a bet or something.”
He lifted my hand from his skin and threaded his fingers through mine again. “What type of bet? Who can get the prettiest girl in school?”
“Oh, you’re good,” I panted almost breathlessly as he lifted my arm and turned me in the water. I could feel his eyes all over my body as he gave me a spin.
“I try my best.”
Once I was facing him again, he leaned a hip against the poolside and let go of my hand.
And then his face became serious. Oh no, here we go. “Can I ask you what you did to your back?” Cash said, his voice soft, his eyes intoxicating. The fact that he just came out with it and didn’t appear awkward was refreshing. I didn’t feel any of the usual shyness I felt.
My tongue came out to wet my lips as I replied. “I was in a fire when I was young. Does it bother you?”
His brow creased. “Not in the slightest. Why would it?”
“Well, it’s ugly, isn’t it?”
“No. I don’t want to downplay it as I imagine it hurt like fuck at the time. But you can hardly see it, Harper. I only asked because I care about how it happened.”
