She laughed and hooked her feet behind his back. “I guess I’m partners with Hugh,” she announced, looking completely pleased with the fact she’d been forced into teaming up with him.
Oh, God. Was I going to have to sit on Les’s shoulders? I couldn’t do it.
“Coming, Lily?”
I looked down to see Les standing in the pool, looking up at me. He was muscular and his hair was sticking up from where he’d flipped the water out of it. He was actually pretty cute. Not as cute as Rafe, but decent. And he was looking at me as though he might actually like me. I peered at him. “Do you have a girlfriend?” I asked. Time to get certain things established before going any further.
His eyes widened. “No.”
Point for him. He was available. But I hugged my towel even tighter.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked, cocking his head curiously, as if he were trying to figure out why I’d asked the question.
“Uh...” I quickly surveyed the pool and noticed that Val was eavesdropping, waiting to hear my answer. Well, gee, this wasn’t an awkward moment, was it? I could save my reputation with my friends and say yes, which would then result in the asinine move of announcing I was taken to the guy I wanted to go to the dance with. I could say no, and show him I was available, and expose my full loser status to my friends. Um…
“You’re not answering me?” His eyes got even wider. “That means you do have a boyfriend?”
Crud. This wasn’t going to help me get a date to the semi, was it?
A sudden grin lit up his face, and interest flashed in his eyes. “Lily of many surprises. I like that.”
I blinked. He liked the fact I had a boyfriend?
Then I felt like smacking my head. Of course he would. If some other guy liked me, then there must be something good about me, right? Guys were such pains in the butt.
“Coming in?” he asked, splashing water over my toes.
I kicked off my hot pink flip-flops. “I just have to find a place to stash my stuff.” I held up my towel. “I don’t want it to get wet.”
“Just toss it on a chair.” His eyes were glittering now with anticipation. What? To see me in a bikini? Hah. As if he’d get the chance.
“No, I’ll just...”
Les pulled himself up on the edge of the pool. Water streamed down his shoulders, and I noticed the muscles in his arms flexing as he easily hoisted himself out of the water. His arms were almost as strong as Rafe’s, but he didn’t have a tattoo. “Come here. I have to ask you something.”
I got even more nervous. Was he going to ask me right now? To the semi? I bit my lip and leaned toward him. “What?”
“This!” He grabbed my wrist and yanked me off balance.
I shrieked, but I had no chance as I flew over his head and crashed into the water. Oh, I was mad now. What a jerk! I stood up and wiped the water out of my eyes. “Les!”
But I couldn’t see him anywhere. Where was he? I turned around quickly, but again, he was nowhere. Val and Erin were cheering him, and Delilah was climbing onto another guy’s shoulders, preparing for the chicken fight. “Where he’d go?” I asked my friends.
Erin giggled and pointed behind me.
I whirled around, but he wasn’t behind me. “Where—” I felt something brush against my legs. I yelped and jumped backwards, shrieking as Les swam between my calves. I tried to back up, but he grabbed my legs and stood up under me, lifting me out of the water on his shoulders.
I grabbed his head for balance, and he grinned as he flipped the water out of his face. “We’re ready,” he announced.
“No, no, no, I’m not doing chicken fights.” I could feel his bare shoulders against my legs. His skin was wet and warm and I was completely freaking out! I didn’t want to be on his shoulders! I didn’t want his hands on my legs! “Put me down!”
“No way. We’re going to win.” He sloshed through the water toward Val. “I’ll try to take out Hugh and you go for Val’s top.”
“You want me to rip off her bikini? Are you kidding?” I was so glad I still had my shirt on! Was this what my friends had been doing all summer? I had no experience with this kind of thing. I was in way over my head right now.
“She’ll let go of Hugh to keep it on, and then they’ll go down.” Les’s fingers tightened around my shins, and I wanted to kick him.
“My boyfriend would be completely ticked if he saw you grabbing me like this,” I hissed as he advanced on Val and Hugh. Erin and Delilah and the two other guys were already going at it with their own chicken fight, laughing so hard my head hurt.