Water dripped from my body as I climbed the spa steps, my hand gliding along the metal railing. Cool air circled me, causing goosebumps to rise on my wet flesh. The cement was like ice when my bare feet stepped onto it. I scurried to where my towel hung over a nearby chair. Yanking it up, I hurriedly wrapped it around my body and raced toward the locker room. The minute I walked inside where it was warm, my feet thawed. The locker room was filled with men in various stages of undress. Averting my gaze, I sidled past a naked older man to reach my locker. After inputting my combination, I opened it and reached inside for my bag. Liquid pooled around my feet, and I felt like an idiot.
“Hey, man, what’s going on?” Ryan’s voice sounded from over my shoulder.
I whirled around. “Hey, Ry.”
Ryan eyed my towel. “I was wondering why you weren’t out on the workout floor. Somethin’ you wanna tell me?”
Shaking my head, I rolled my shoulders. “Just working out the kinks in my shoulder.”
A look of skepticism came over his face, then was quickly replaced with understanding. “Is this about Spa Chick?”
Why did I tell Ryan anything?
“Dude, were you guys making some bubbles of your own?” He chuckled. “Getting your own jets going? Generating some heat?”
“Ha ha. You should become a comedian.” I turned away from him, snatching my bag out of the locker.
“Nah, man, I’m happy for you. Maybe now you’ll stop throwing like shit.”
I dropped my bag on a nearby bench. It landed with a loud thud. “Oh, so you mean I’ll stop throwing like you?”
Ryan just shook his head as if what I’d said was preposterous. Even though we both knew I threw better than him. “Tell me about the chick. She must be pretty damn special if you’re skipping out on your workouts for her.”
“Nothin’ to tell.” I fished inside my bag for a shirt. Once I’d located it, I yanked it over my head.
“C’mon, you can talk to me, man.”
Irritated, I shoved my arms through the sleeves. “I haven’t seen her since that first night, okay?”
His brown eyes widened, and he hit me in the gut. “Look at you, Rico Suave over here waiting around for some chick to show up. You’d never see me doing that shit.”
It was true. He never would. Ryan didn’t do commitment. He hooked up with new girls all the time. I’d seen my mom get screwed over too many times by the assholes she dated before she met my stepdad. There was no way I’d treat a girl like that. Therefore, I’d only had two girlfriends in my life. Stacy Bentley freshman year, and Bethany Tucker last year. But having a girlfriend complicated things. It cramped my style. They were so needy; taking up all my time. I liked guy time and playing football. That’s why my strange obsession with Chloe was even more surprising. My plan had been to stay away from girls this year. To graduate and get into Oceanside University where I could play ball. Ryan was right. I was no Rico Suave. So why was I acting like one?
Loud laughter reached my ears. The air in the room shifted. Before even looking up, I knew who had entered the locker room. One glance confirmed it.
“Look who it is,” Kade boomed from over Ryan’s shoulder. He was flanked by Chris and Trent. “Gold Rush’s biggest losers.”
Ryan’s face hardened. Crossing his arms over his chest, he pivoted in their direction. “Losers, huh? I seem to remember us kicking your asses last year.”
“Yeah, well don’t get too cocky. There’s no way you’re winning this year.” Kade glanced over at me, his gaze landing on my swim trunks. “What’s up, Drop ‘em?” Chris and Trent guffawed. What a bunch of idiots. He’d changed my name from Holden to Drop ‘em last year and thought it was the funniest shit ever. It didn’t even make sense. “You decide to quit football and take up swimming?”
Yeah, it was time to give up on the hot tub.
“It would sure make things easier on your team if that were the case,” I retorted.
“Play or don’t play. Makes no difference to us. We have a secret weapon this year.” Kade bumped fists with Chris and Trent. “Don’t we, boys?”
“We sure do,” Chris offered, while Trent just chuckled.
What did they mean by that? Kade was the quarterback of our rival team. We beat them last year, but barely. The year before that they beat us. It was my senior year, and I didn’t want to end on a bad note. I couldn’t let them beat us this year. Before I could press them further, they slinked out of the locker room. I suppose it was for the better. Clearly they weren’t going to divulge anything, they were just trying to get under our skin. Too bad it worked.