“Relax,” I said softly, lowering my voice. “I’m teasing.”
She exhaled, her shoulders relaxing. “Okay.” Her skin was still painted rose pink. “But if you need anything...”
“Like somebody to help me with the soap.” I winked.
Her expression didn’t break this time. “Just ask.”
“Thanks.” I smiled, wanting to push her again, see if I could get her to turn a brighter red. “Don’t miss me too much while I’m gone.” I closed my locker, not waiting another moment before I grabbed my things and headed for the showers.
“I won’t,” she called after me, obviously trying to keep her tone firm, but I couldn’t miss the soft laugh that followed, echoing off the tile walls.
It wasn’t until I caught myself in the mirror that I saw my own face, a teasing, suggestive grin, that I realized what I was doing.
Flirting with Chloe Murphy was like playing with fire. I’d been burned before, but now I had more at stake than ever before. Besides, we were done playing nice now, our brief stint at doubles over. In a few weeks, she’d be opposite me again, and we’d already made a declaration of war.
To forget where I stood with her was to put everything back at risk, and I wasn’t about to screw up my career or a friendship for her.
No matter how tempting.
17
Chloe
Talk Too Much—Reneé Rapp
My cheeks burned for an hour after my interaction with Inés in the changing rooms. It was even worse when she came through wrapped in only a towel.
There had been nowhere to look. Down, and my gaze would rake up her long legs, taking in every inch, remembering how her thigh felt under my fingers. Up, and there was where her towel tucked in at the front, dipping down, revealing a tease of skin I’d never seen.
Back at the beach house after-party, I took a long sip of my beer, trying to wash the memory away, feeling that embarrassing flush across my skin growing again.
“You look worried.” Calvin appeared beside me, his own beer held in his hands.
I shook my head as if to jiggle the thoughts of Inés out of my brain. “I’m fine.”
He nodded once, leaning against the wall beside me, getting comfortable. “So, I thought we had an agreement.”
I sighed heavily, sending him a sidelong glance. “It was for charity! It seemed like fun, and you specifically said to go have fun.”
“I also asked you to stay out of the media.”
I remembered the headlines, the posts on social media of us dancing in the kitchen. Whoops. “It was nothing. At least nobody is mad at me anymore.”
“Fine,” he relented, washing away his annoyance with a drink from his beer bottle. “But it would be nicer if you followed the advice I give you.”
“I do,” I said, defending myself, but a quick glance at him and I amended my statement. “Most of the time.” Calvin’s eyebrows raised even further. “Someof the time.”
“Well, I have some more for you.”
I shook my empty bottle as I asked, “Am I going to need another beer for this?”
“Maybe.”
I peeled myself away from the wall and nodded towards the kitchen. “Come on.”
We battled through the thick crowd, filled with fellow tennis players who had been taking part in the event and some people the group knew in the area.
I kept expecting to stumble upon Inés somewhere talking to another girl, that flirty smile across her face. One I’d wanted to trace with my own lips, my tongue. But as I passed through each room, taking the long route to the kitchen, I felt my stomach twist further, missing the sight of her.
