I could feel Kai’s goody-two-shoes glare burning through my flesh.
“Sound fun.” I bounced on the balls of my feet, exaggerating my excitement to get on my brother’s nerves. “A bit of competition is always fun. Right, guys?”
Silas blew out a breath and gave me a half-shrug. “We’d be in the wrong business if we thought otherwise.”
Yara grinned. “Perfect. You guys will be excellent additions to the teams. We’ll start as soon as…”
She trailed off to scan the crowd in search of Dakota again. Someone called out, ‘finally,’ and people parted as Dakota made his way towards us.
I took care to keep my expression neutral when my eyes fell on him. The task proved to be more difficult than I imagined. Maybe it was because he dressed more casually, in jeans and a long-sleeved tee that hugged his arms to show the perfect amount of muscle? Or the way he let his hair hang loose today with strands escaping from being tucked behind his ears? Whatever it was, I needed to get a handle on myself. We could be friends. That’s it.
Dakota carried a cooler on his shoulders that he lowered at our feet once he was in front of us.
“You’re late,” Yara said in a flat tone.
“Got caught up at the craft store,” he explained.
Dakota gave her a smile that seemed to wash away her annoyance in a heartbeat. I didn’t blame her. The way his brown eyes sparkled when he seemed happy made me want to bottle the emotion for myself.
It took Dakota a moment to take in his surroundings. Once he did, his eyes fell on me.
“Someone didn’t call in the order,” he explained to Yara without taking his eyes off of me. His expression seemed to read, ‘you came.’
I offered him a smile, chewing on the inside of my bottom lip because my stomach fluttered. Why was I acting like a thirteen-year-old with her first crush?
“David,” Yara accused under her breath as she opened the cooler. Inside there were a host of dye bottles in every color of the rainbow.
“Bartered for these.” Dakota tore his gaze from mine to crouch down beside Yara to inspect the supply. “The soccer mom wanted my number and a few tickets to a game.”
Yara laughed. “Thank you for your sacrifice.”
“This isn’t campus sanctioned, is it?” Kai spoke up, eyeing the contents in the cooler.
“Nope,” Dakota confirmed. His eyes went back to me. “But we won’t get in trouble, trust me.”
“Definitely not,” Yara assured with a serious look. “I wouldn’t risk suspension this late in my college career for a silly prank.”
“Why doesn’t that make me feel any better about this?” Kai tugged at the collar of his sweater.
“It’ll be fine,” I promised my brother. “If it comes to it, we scatter. They can’t catch us all.”
“Comforting,” Kai grumbled.
Dakota grinned up at me and said, “I like how you think.”
Chapter 6
Thecrowdstartedmovingin closer. We all formed a tight circle around who I understood to be the team captains of the night: Yara, Kevin, David, and Dakota.
Conversation buzzed as Dakota worked to separate the colored dye into four groups. Silas and my brother found themselves entangled in conversation with a few guys from the team. I’m sure Kai was still uncomfortable with this whole ordeal. He’d thank me later for getting a chance to rub shoulders with some of the guys. If he wanted to become team captain — and I knew for sure he did — he’d have to get out and promote himself.
On the other hand, I was interested in something simpler this semester: drama-free fun. Something to remind me that moving to Westbrooke was a good decision. And that something looked good in the light of a sunset.
“I didn’t think you’d show up tonight,” Dakota confessed. He stood up as he spoke, reminding me of our height difference.
“Why not?” I shrugged. “Your offer was enticing enough.”
Dakota’s deep voice was low, so I leaned in a bit to hear his response. I didn’t mind the excuse to get close.
