Authors: Jennifer Comeaux
He swiped his shaggy blond hair out of his eyes. “I know I didn’t handle things well with us, but maybe I could call you sometime.”
“What? Don’t you have a girlfriend?”
“We broke up.”
My stomach twisted again. I’d meant so little to him that he’d betrayed me for a quick fling. I’d thought he’d ditched me for the love of his life or at least a long-term relationship.
“Are you serious? So you cheated on me for nothing?”
All three of our teammates were now staring at us. Liza’s mouth had taken the shape of a huge O.
Kyle turned his back to them. “Can we talk later?”
I gaped at him. “There’s nothing to talk about. I don’t want anything to do with you. Ever.”
I moved over to Liza’s side. “Let’s figure out this damn boat.”
Josh looked down at Zach’s sketch, but one side of his mouth curled up. Liza watched me, still wide-eyed. Meanwhile, Zach resumed drawing.
“Alrighty then,” he said. “Why don’t we calculate how big we need to cut the cardboard?”
Once we figured out the measurements, the boys did the cutting while Liza and I connected the sides of the boat. Pulling hard on the thick rolls of tape helped me let out my disgust with Kyle. He didn’t speak to me again, even when we all had to work together to make sure our vessel was secure.
Josh asked me to help him add another layer of tape to one corner, and he peeked up at me while we bent over the boat.
“You okay?” he asked.
I nodded. “I can’t believe he actually thought I’d give him another chance.”
“He’s an idiot.” Josh knelt and pressed hard on the boat. “In more ways than one.”
He lifted his head, and our eyes connected for just a moment, but long enough for me to see the intensity behind what he’d said. I fumbled with the roll of tape and winced as I had to unstick a long piece from my fingers.
“I think we’re good on this end,” Josh told Zach.
Zach came around as he inspected all sides of the boat. “This baby’s gonna win. She’s a lean, mean floating machine.”
I examined our creation skeptically. It looked sturdy, but once the five of us got on board, we might be at the bottom of the pool in a few seconds.
We were informed that our group would be first to sail, and our maiden voyage was only moments away, so we carried the boat to the pool. The guys stripped off their T-shirts while Liza and I shimmied out of our shorts, and then we all gathered around our captain Zach.
“Josh, you take the back and I’ll take the front,” he said. “Kyle, you’ll be in the middle, and then the girls can fill in.”
Liza went near the front with Zach, so that meant I’d be sandwiched between Kyle and Josh — the guy I didn’t want touching any part of me and the guy I wanted touching
every
part of me. Was I being secretly filmed for some sort of reality show?
Josh and Zach carefully climbed into the boat, anchoring each end, and Josh extended his hand to me. I gave him mine and slowly put one foot on the cardboard. When I set my other foot down, the boat wobbled and I swayed with it, stumbling backward. Josh gripped my hand tighter and grabbed my thigh, and his fingertips brushed the edge of my bikini bottom. The sizzling sensation only made me feel more off-balance.
“You um… you got it?” He took his hand off my thigh.
I eased down into a sitting position, settling between his legs, and I realized just how small the boat was. I had no choice but to back up against Josh’s chest.
I rocked the boat even more as I inched backward between his blue board shorts, and he held the sides to steady it.
“Sorry,” I said.
“You’re perfect,” he said softly.
I almost swooned overboard.
The temptation to look at him was so great, but I’d die inside even more if I saw those blue eyes right now. His arms rested on the sides of the boat, and it felt like we were sitting in a bathtub together. Being practically naked further enhanced that feeling. There was so much skin-on-skin contact between us that my body couldn’t handle it. Goosebumps were popping up everywhere, and Josh had a close-up view of the ones all down the back of my neck.
I turned my head toward him, and my ponytail swung with me. I heard “Pfft” behind me.
“Did I whack you?” I asked.
He chuckled. “It’s okay.”
Holy crap, he was close. Closer than the airplane, closer than the tango. I could feel the warmth of his body surrounding me. If I leaned back just a little, I’d be flush against him.
Yeah, that would go over real well with Stephanie and Mark watching us poolside.
I’d never experienced anything so torturous yet so achingly wonderful.
Kyle positioned himself in front of me, and I squirmed and moved my legs so they wouldn’t touch his. That resulted in my calves bumping Josh’s. What was another body part when we were already fused together everywhere else?
He leaned over my shoulder, and his hot breath wisped over my ear. “Can we still win if we push Kyle overboard?”
I grinned. “I’m tempted to find out.”
“Time to set sail!” Zach said.
We pushed away from the wall and paddled with our hands to steer the boat. All the other skaters lined the pool, cheering and laughing as we drifted away from the shallow end. When we crossed the center line, I felt water on my butt, and I looked down to find a layer of it seeping into the boat.
“Uh-oh,” I said.
“Keep paddling,” Josh said. “We can make it.”
Our arms flapped faster, but our butts were getting wetter. I could sense the rear of the boat starting to sink.
“We’re going down like the Titanic back here!” I yelled.
Zach leaned forward, paddling furiously, and we kept up behind him, even as we dipped further into the water. Soon the entire back of the boat would be flooded.
“Hurry!” Liza screeched.
The cheers grew louder, and I zoned into the finish line, smacking hard at the water. The nose of the boat touched the wall, and Zach threw his arms into the air.
“We did it!”
The water overtook us, and we all tumbled with laughter into the pool. I came up for air, and Josh and Zach were slapping hands and shouting, “Teamwork!”
Josh turned and pulled me into a hug, and I looped my arms around his shoulders. He gave me a gentle squeeze, and I relaxed into him. He was solid muscle everywhere.
Damn, this feels so
perfect.
It took everything in me not to wrap my legs around his waist and kiss the hell out of him.
As soon as we split apart, I met Stephanie’s lethal gaze from the edge of the pool, and the magic was gone. I boosted myself up and out of the water and went in the opposite direction, wringing out my ponytail as I headed for the stack of towels.
I stayed far away from Stephanie for the rest of the event, but I couldn’t evade her at the dorms. Dread filled my gut as I neared our room because I knew she was going to come at me full force with snippy comments about Josh and me.
When I reached the room, the door was cracked and I could see Stephanie talking on her phone. I was about to barge in, but I heard her say, “Mom, I told you they loved our programs. Why do you have to keep harping on the one negative thing?”
There was a pause and she let out a deep sigh. “We have time to get new costumes made. We don’t compete until September.”
More sighing followed another pause. “I don’t know why the judges didn’t like the costumes. You know how picky they are.”
I peeked inside and saw Stephanie throw her suitcase onto her bed. “I have to pack, Mom. I’ll call you when we get home.”
I backed away from the door to wait a minute before entering. Mommy Dearest sounded like one of those nitpicking skating moms who made their kids’ lives miserable. I could see how that may have helped shape Stephanie into the brat she was, but it didn’t excuse her awful behavior. Josh had managed to rise above the negativity surrounding them.
I went inside, and Stephanie gave me a cursory glance before returning to packing. She remained quiet, and I wondered if the conversation with her mother had distracted her from what she’d seen at the pool.
After I shoved all my dirty laundry into my suitcase and carefully packed my costumes in their garment bag, I sat on my bed to return a text from Meredith. Stephanie sat on hers and stared at me, so I stopped typing and braced myself for the end of our peaceful evening.
“I’m going to tell you this because I think it’ll save you some heartache,” she said.
I rested my head on my hand and glared at her. What kind of angle was she taking this time?
“You might think because Josh is nice to you and shows you affection that he’s into you, but he knows what we’re all fighting for, and he’s a smart guy. He knows if he gets you to fall for him, you’re not going to be as focused on skating.”
My God, there was no limit to the garbage that came out of her mouth.
I sat up straight. “You must think I’m really stupid if you think I’d believe Josh would be that calculating.”
“You don’t know him as well as you think you do. He’ll do anything to get on the Olympic team. It’s all he’s wanted for so long.”
I didn’t doubt Josh’s strong desire to fulfill that dream. I had the same goal pushing me every day. But the idea that he would cook up a scheme to hurt me was preposterous.
“I know him well enough to know he could never do something so devious. That’s all you.”
“You believe what you want. I was just trying to give you a heads-up because I don’t agree with what he’s doing. I’d rather beat you on the ice without any outside games.”
I looked down at the bed. There couldn’t possibly be any truth to what she was saying. Josh was one of the most genuine people I’d ever met.
You thought Kyle
was
genuine, too.
I shook my head. No, Josh wasn’t Kyle. Stephanie wanted me away from her brother, and making him seem like a jerk was the only way she knew how to accomplish that. I couldn’t wrap my mind around that level of shadiness.
I grabbed my shower kit and stalked to the door. “You’re really messed up, you know that? When I come back, don’t speak another word to me.”
Chapter Ten
My eyes slowly focused and adjusted to the daylight as I padded down the carpeted stairs. Oh, how I loved Sundays and being able to sleep past dawn. I moseyed into the bright kitchen and set my phone on the counter before pouring a heaping bowl of cereal. The house was so quiet since Sergei was at a competition in Germany with Stephanie and Josh, and the twins were spending the weekend with Em’s parents in Boston.
Carrying my phone and the cereal down the hall, I headed for my favorite room in the house, the library. Em sat in one of the big leather chairs with stacks of CDs surrounding her and her laptop resting on her knees.
“Morning,” she said.
I flopped down on the leather couch. “What’s cookin’?”
“I’m planning the Christmas show.”
“Already? Aren’t we still in September?”
“I know, but I got a late start last year and everything felt so rushed. The next two months will fly by.”
I spooned some oat flakes into my mouth and chewed slowly. The
last
two months had flown by. Mark and I had been working tirelessly on perfecting every detail of our programs for our first competition in a few weeks in Paris. I could tango in my sleep now. My time spent with Josh at the restaurant also seemed to have passed quickly. I felt like the big hourglass from
The Wizard of Oz
was hanging over us, counting down the days until Josh had to move back to L.A. Our friendship had continued to deepen, and I’d continued to sense that
somethin’
somethin’
simmering between us. But Josh had never made any kind of move, and as much as I knew that was for the best, I still couldn’t get him out of my head.
“What do you and Mark want to skate to this year? This’ll be your last Christmas show.” Em’s mouth turned down.
I curled my legs under me. “Maybe we can skate to ‘Blue Christmas.’ It’s kinda melancholy for the occasion, and my mom loves Elvis, so she’d be thrilled.”
“I was thinking we can also have a group number with you, Mark, Stephanie, and Josh like we used to do with you, me, Mark, and Chris. We had a lot fun with those.”
Skating with Josh? Best idea ever! Skating with Stephanie? Hell on earth!
“It was fun because we all liked each other,” I said. “This is a much different situation.”
“The four of you can find a way to work together. You’re the only senior teams we have, and I think it would be great to mesh your different styles.”
The opportunity to skate with Josh was definitely outweighing the pain of sharing the ice with Stephanie. Mark would hate the idea, but I had the feeling Em wasn’t going to make this optional for us anyway.
“Can we skate to ‘The Christmas Song’ by Nat King Cole?” I asked.
It was my favorite holiday tune, and I’d always had a secret fantasy of dancing to it with a special guy. Skating with Josh to it would be the next best thing.
“Sure.” Em typed on her computer. “Josh offered to cut all the music for me, so I’m making a list for him. I’ll put that on there.”
While she continued typing, I picked up my phone and trolled Stephanie’s Facebook to see if she’d posted any new photos from Germany. There was one of Josh and her posing with their bronze medals. They’d skated very well, and I was starting to get nervous about competing against them at Skate America in November.
“Is Josh still playing the piano at the restaurant?” Em asked.
“Yeah, on Thursday nights.”
“And Stephanie still doesn’t know?”
I shoveled more cereal into my mouth and shook my head.
“What’s up with that?” Em asked.
I took my time chewing and swallowing. “He just wants to do his own thing without her coming around.”
“I guess I can understand that since so much of their lives has been spent together.” Em picked up her mug of coffee from the end table. “You’ve gotten to know Josh pretty well, haven’t you?”
I shrugged. “We talk at the restaurant.”
And we text. And share long looks that make me crazy.