She stood up suddenly, liquid cascading down her skin. I sucked in a breath, staring at her sexy body.
“Well, good luck with your training. Maybe I’ll see you next time,” Chloe spoke in her lyrical voice as she climbed out of the spa.
“Yeah, okay.” Her sudden departure caught me off guard. I wanted to ask for her number, her last name, anything that gave me a way to contact her again. But before I knew it, she’d wrapped a towel around her waist and scurried toward the girls’ locker room. By the time I called after her, she’d disappeared inside. Panic gripped me until I remembered what she said. She came here every night. I didn’t need her number.
I knew exactly how to find her again.
When I got home, Mom was lying on the couch watching one of those reality shows she liked so much. She wore sweat pants and a t-shirt. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and her face was scrubbed clean. A half-drunk glass of red wine sat on the coffee table. Other than the sound of the television, the house was silent. My stomach knotted. Clearly James was working late tonight. When Mom first started dating James, I’d been happy. After years of dating losers, James seemed like an upstanding guy – an accountant with a decent job, clean cut, attentive, and kind toward Mom. I was even okay with them getting married. However, I did make it clear to James that I wasn’t looking for another dad. I had one of those, no matter how uninvolved he was.
But lately James had been working late frequently and I was experiencing a sense of déjà vu. It’s reminiscent of the months leading up to my dad leaving. His late nights turned into weekends away, and the next thing we know he’s moving to another state and bringing his new girlfriend with him. Now my dad’s a sports announcer for the Akron Avengers. When I visited him I got to attend the games for free, so that was cool. Too bad I didn’t get to visit him that often and he pretty much never came here. Perhaps one day I’d play for the NFL and get to see him more often.
Shrugging away the thoughts, I stepped into the family room. My hair was damp, and the scent of chlorine wafted from my skin. Mom hadn’t noticed me because she was so engrossed in her show. I glanced up in time to see some botoxed, plastic-looking woman fighting with another equally fake-looking woman. Was this seriously the kind of thing my mom was into? By the enthralled expression on her face, I was judging yes.
“Hey, mom.”
She flinched, clutching her chest. “Oh, you startled me.”
“Yeah, you seemed pretty into your show.” I raised an eyebrow.
She smiled. “Always makes me feel better to watch people with even more problems than I have.”
Her words concerned me. “Everything okay?”
“Oh, yeah. Fine.” She waved away my words, and reached for her glass of wine. “You know what I mean.”
I nodded, but I didn’t. Rarely did I understand my mom.
She glanced down at my damp swim trunks. “So, it looks like you took my advice.” After taking a sip of her wine, a satisfied grin swept her face.
“And you say I never listen to you,” I joked.
“Did it help?”
I knew she was referring to my shoulder, but all I could think about was Chloe. “Yeah. It did.” I smiled.
“Good.” She set her wine glass down. “Then you’ll be all ready for the game on Friday.”
I bit my lip, hoping she was right. The door swung open behind me.
“James.” Mom’s eyes lit up. “You’re home.” She stood, moving around me.
By the time she reached him, he’d set his briefcase down by the door and he swept her up into an embrace. After planting a kiss on her lips, his gaze found mine. I narrowed my eyes, throwing him a stern look. I hope it conveyed what I meant it to. He better have been working late, because if he’s screwing around on my mom, he’s going to have to answer to me.
CHAPTER 2
Chloe
It was him.
Holden. The guy from the spa.
He sat a few tables over in the cafeteria surrounded by a rowdy group of guys. Even though I’d only met him once I’d recognize him anywhere. His tousled dark hair and rich brown eyes had made an impression on me. Not to mention that our meeting in the spa left hardly anything to the imagination. If his rock hard abs and well-defined arms were an indicator, then he spent a lot of time in the gym. Scouring his table, I didn’t recognize any of his friends. Of course that wasn’t exactly surprising. I’d been at this school a total of three weeks and I hadn’t met a ton of people. When he smiled at one of his friends, warmth spread through my belly. I remembered the seductive way he’d grinned at me in the spa. Shoving my sandwich away, I plucked up my water bottle and took a sip, hoping it would cool me off. Just thinking about Holden had caused heat to rise inside of me as if I was in the hot tub right now. Chatter swept around me as everyone at my crammed table talked over one another. I couldn’t catch an entire sentence, just a word here and there, fragmented phrases with no rhyme or reason. Biting my lip, my eyes locked on Holden again, and I contemplated heading over to him. I mean, what would be the harm? Wasn’t he the one who came on to me? He called me hot, right? And he’d made it clear he wanted to see me again. I was about to slide off the bench and walk over to him, but apprehension filled me. One conversation didn’t mean I knew the guy. He could be a total jerk. Maybe he hit on every girl he saw. That was the problem with being the new girl. It was easy for someone to deceive you. And trust me, it had happened to me plenty of times. So before I went rushing over to him, I needed a little more information.