I shrug, even though I absolutely know that it was then. “My point is, we’ve barely seen each other. I know we talk every day, but it’s going to be summer break soon.” I hold my hand out to him. “Let’s make a deal right now that we spend as much time as possible together this summer. Waterfall, fields . . .” I wink. “Rolling down the hill on Honeysuckle Lane?—”
Quick as lightning, his fingers reach out. This time, he digs right into the spot he knows will have me crying, laughing, and waving a white flag of defeat within seconds. “I’mnotrolling down that fucking hill.”
“Okay . . . okay . . .stop. No hill. But the rest?”
He settles back, grin wide on his face, dimples on show as he pulls my legs across his lap again. “The restwe can do. Still got that blue bikini for the waterfall?”
My internal temperature kicks up a few degrees. “I’m sure I can dig it out of a drawer somewhere.”
I hold my hand back out. “Let’s make this our summer, deal?”
He takes my hand and shakes it. “Deal. Nothing’s getting in our way.”
CHAPTER 22
Hendricks
“We could have literally chosen any other shade of pink?—”
“Al, stop complaining. It brings out the blue in your eyes?—”
“It’s the color of my face?—”
“All I see is a face of blood, sweat, and tears. But here. . .” Miles tosses a bottle of water to Alex. “Now, can you please pay attention to what I’m saying so we can win this fucking match? You’re dragging down my level of play.”
To anyone passing, they might think Miles is joking, but we know better.
There’s nothing that Miles takes more seriously than winning and how he plays. When we watch him during the regular polo season, we pay such close attention to the match, not because we can’t bear to miss a second, but because it’s better for our mental health not to miss a second of Miles. Which was his best goal? What did we think of his defensive play? How did he stack against his opposing number?
A pop quiz at the end of each match isn’t unheardof.
“Miles, I don’t need to remind you that this is a charity match.”
“No, Lan, you don’t. But that doesn’t mean I’ve dressed my ponies in head-to-toe pink and plaited their tails with little red hearts for nothing. I expect to win.”
Alex gives up looking at himself in the mirror and scoffs. “Your grooms plaited, you mean.”
“Actually,” Miles snaps, “I did Chester. Now, for thethird fucking time, can we please get back to discussing what’s important?”
Alex smirks behind a sip of water. Lando’s trying to hide his by dropping his head, and wipes his hands across his muddy jodhpurs, and I just sit back and grin. I don’t see the point in hiding anything. We all know how Miles gets, and as much as Alex and Lando love winding him up as the worst loser in our group, they also hate losing. So I don’t know why they woke up this morning and chose violence.
“Thank you. Now . . .” Miles’s jaw ticks, and he exhales loudly through his nose. “Alex, why is your hand up?”
Alex lowers it and shrugs. “I thought it was the correct etiquette for this situation?—”
“Al—”
“Just wanted to check you know that the other team is objectively, not to mention,statistically, better than ours.”
“Yes. I know that?—”
“But it seems like youdon’t?—”
“I do. They have four international players, all ranked between seven and ten goals. We have you threeand me. None of you has played since our last charity match.”
If Miles were the type of person to go red, he would be rivaling a tomato right now, but instead, his jaw is clenched so hard that he’s in danger of breaking a couple of molars. Lando dissolves into braying laughter.
I reach out a reassuring hand to Miles and squeeze his shoulder.
