Page 18 of Break Out

Cole grabs a chair and takes a seat on the other side of me. I have to admit it’s a nice day to be at the beach with friends.

“So, you and Aubrey, eh?” Cole asks, wagging his eyebrows at me and taking a sip from his water bottle.

“Can’t believe you kept that from us all season,” Caleb says.

“It hasn’t been all season.” I feel bad lying to my teammates. I do. But it’s better than them worrying about me. They have families that need their attention, not me.

“I didn’t believe it at first,” Cole says, scratching his head. “But I’m happy for you.”

“Didn’t believe what?” Wes asks, flopping down on the sand in front of us.

Hunter and Holt walk up behind him. Great. Party’s all here. Let the interrogation begin. Although, frankly, I’ve been expecting it since I casually mentioned that Aubrey and I were together in the group chat.

“Brody and Aubrey,” Cole says.

“Why’s that?” Hunter asks, his gaze turned toward the ocean, and I know he’s watching Madison and the girls in the surf like I am.

It’s a relatively calm day with not a lot of waves, but that doesn’t stop me from keeping an eye on them. Aubrey is a strong swimmer, she was on the swim team in high school, but I still worry about her. I heard her educating the other ladies on what to do if they get caught in a rip current, which made me smile. Always watching out for everyone else.

“When did you finally get your head out of your ass and ask her out?” Wes asks as I take a sip of water and nearly choke on it.

Shit. Aubrey and I didn’t come up with a story of how we got together.

“During the All-Star break,” I finally say. I make a mental note to tell Aubrey the first chance I can in case they ask her.

“You owe me fifty bucks, Wes,” Holt says, turning to Wes.

“What the fuck?” I ask, glancing between the guys.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Hunter says, putting his hands in the air. Caleb and Cole both shake their heads.

Again, what the fuck?

They bet on me? Or, better yet, on me and Aubrey getting together.

Wes chuckles. “It was clear on New Year’s Eve that you two were inevitable. It was just a question of how long it would take you to realize it.” He grabs a can of beer out of the cooler. “Anyone else want one?” he asks, holding it up. Everyone except Caleb and Cole put their hands out, and cans are passed around.

“How long’s your sister here for?” I ask Holt, changing the subject.

“A couple of weeks. She mentioned having a few photography gigs next month back home.”

I see Wes perk up out of the corner of my eye and glance out at women in the water. Is something going on there? I make a mental note to ask Hunter if he knows.

Wait, who am I, and why do I care who my teammates are interested in?

“And Kat?” I ask the question no one else seems to want to ask. “What’s the deal with her?”

Hunter sucks in a breath next to me.

“What’s this, an interrogation?” Holt mutters. “Kat’s my girlfriend from high school. Ex-girlfriend. We split up when she went to university and I went to play juniors. She got transferred to Orlando recently, so we reconnected. We’re seeing where things are going.”

“Don’t think Hadley likes her that much,” Wes mumbles.

Holt either doesn’t hear that comment, or chooses to ignore it because he asks Hunter what his summer plans are. The conversation shifts, and I reluctantly tell the guys about going to Key West with Aubrey for her sister’s wedding.

“That’s a big step, meeting the family,” Caleb says.

“I already know them. Remember, we’ve been friends since high school.”