“Hey, queenie leader,” Sophie sings as she bounds on me.
“Please do tell me that you showered off all your hot animalistic sex.”
“I did, but then we did it in the shower. Does that count?’
I flip her off me as we both erupt in a fit of laughter. She knows nothing of last night’s encounter with Tuck¸ and I’m bound and determined to keep it that way. Seeing her sends thrills of excitement coursing through my body, and I’m not sure if it’s because of human contact or the fact she reminds me of everything cheer team.
“Hey, Lane and I are heading out to the beach for the rest of the day. Want to go?”
My ass is up and off my bed bounding around the room, and while I’m ripping through my drawer to find my bikini, she keeps talking.
“Noah’s going too.” She sounds nervous, so I turn to look at her and smile.
“Cool. He’s really nice.”
Her shocked expression is hilarious, but I don’t pay attention to it, as I need to get out of the room five minutes ago. Boredom nearly killed me off. I find my favorite black bikini and hurry to put it on and then begin packing a beach bag. Since I’m from Colorado, I’m probably going to look like quite the tourist with my matching beach tote and towel, but I grab them anyway and throw in a couple bottles of water, jerky, and some serious junk food. The last thing to land in the bag is an apple, and I only toss it in there to alleviate the guilt.
“I’m ready.”
I turn to Sophie, who is moving slower than slow, fiddling with her hair and then readjusting her bikini while studying all of it in the mirror. I’ll never understand girls like her who take more time than needed. I mean, hell, she already has Lane wrapped around her little finger.
“I’ll wait in the lounge,” I say, hoping she’ll hurry up.
When I walk out to the area with couches and a big screen TV, it’s deserted except for two people. Lane and Noah. I actually spark up at the idea of another individual accompanying us, so it’s not just a suck-face-fest with an awkward third wheel attached.
“Boys.” I flop down on the oversized yellow chair and prop my tan legs up on the ottoman.
They both nod at me, but I don’t miss the huge smile on Noah’s face when he sees me, and it makes my gut hurt because I don’t want to send him the wrong signs. I need to keep it in the friend mode with this guy and make sure it’s clear to both of us.
Lane is the first to break the silence. “Congrats on last night.”
“Thank you. I’m still in shock.” I rub my knobby kneecaps and try to play it cool.
“Yeah, I bet.” Noah winks at me.
“Lane, get in there and drag your girl out. I’m going stir crazy in this place.” I stand and start pacing.
“You got it.”
“And no funny business in there,” I holler.
Lane is in full stride, but takes a moment to look over his shoulder with a devilish grin.
“Oh my god, those two hump like bunnies. I’m not sure how Sophie can manage to walk sometimes.”
“Young love. I’ll take you in my car and send Lane a text to meet us.” Noah grabs my bag and heads toward the elevator before I have the chance to say yes or no, so I just follow him.
Friend mode, friend status, I repeat over and over in my mind, because after last night’s kiss, it’s clear my body is hardwired for only one man. And clearly that man has some attachment issues.
“We could wait.” I stall at the entrance of the elevator.
“I won’t hurt you, Blue, I know where your heart is.” Noah reaches out his hand to me once again, and still no combustion happening down in the lady parts. I grab it and hop on the elevator. I guarantee his reference was to cheering, and he was right, and that will be the perfect excuse to keep it in friend mode only.
Just like last night, he keeps everything relaxed and light-hearted. He opens the door to his sleek black sports car for me, and I raise an eyebrow at him.
“Damn, this is fancy for a college athlete. Someone paying you?”
He chuckles at my reference to the biggest no-no in college sports.
“Nah, it’s from back home.”
“Southern boys drive things like this?” I point to the dash.
“Some of us.” He dusts his shoulder with his hand as he settles in the driver’s seat. “The good ones, that is.”
I laugh at his joke as the engine roars to life. Everything about this man should turn me on. The more I analyze it, the more pissed I become at Tuck. I’ll give it one more day. One more day of hanging with Noah and see what happens.
Noah turns on the music to some extremely loud and very thumping tunes. It’s upbeat, and before I realize it my thoughts and the music have consumed the whole trip. When I look up, the beach is amazing, and it’s the first time I’ve been since arriving here in California. I squeal as I get out of the car and wrap Noah up in a great big hug from the sheer excitement. It’s just something about the sounds of the waves crashing in and the peaceful lull encompassing the atmosphere.
I didn’t even realize my legs had taken off around the front of the car. Thank god Noah is a star quarterback and wasn’t thrown off by my leap into his body. Brushing my hair back over my shoulder, I step back and try to play it real cool. The slight ocean breeze has the top of my hair swirling in circles. I try to calm it down when I notice Noah is staring at me.
“What was that for?” he asks with that sly grin.
“I needed this, Noah, I needed out of the dorms, and I mean…this is gorgeous.”
“It’s my favorite place here. Spent a lot of time here my freshman year coping with homesickness and going from top dog to low man on the totem pole.” Noah tosses my beach bag over his shoulder and I giggle.
“What?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.
“You look so cute packing that bag.” I point at the neon colored tote, scrunching my nose up. “You know I can carry it.”
“I’m a gentleman. I’d carry a pink purse for a lady.”
I just shake my head at him and wonder why in the hell god gave someone all the swoon factor. He bottled it all up in Noah and didn’t leave an ounce of it for Tuck.
“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?” My hand flies to my mouth when the question comes out. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that, it’s just…”
Noah picks up on my embarrassment and rambling words. “It’s okay, Blue. It’s pretty simple. Football is number one in my life and always has been, and the right girl hasn’t come into my life. Still waiting on my princess who doesn’t mind if I live in a gym and can share me with football.”
“Guessing there’s not too many of them out there,” I reply.
“Right. I could ask you the same question.”
And with a silent stare he waits for my answer.
“Same as you.” I grab my towel and lay my claim on a piece of the sandy goodness, kicking off my flip-flops and letting my toes sink into the warm sand.
“Sometimes I want a girl, but other times I know it will never work out.”
I shrug, full well understanding the words that just came out of his mouth. I didn’t date much in high school, and now it seems the only man I want has no desire to be with me.
“Noah.”
“Blue.”
“How well do you know Tuck?”
He grins as he pulls his tank off over his head, sending his sandy brown locks flowing in that light breeze. God, I should be dry humping my towel for this hunk of a man in front of me, but I’m not. I hear some giggles and look over my shoulder and notice a small crowd of college girls whose ovaries just melted from the blonde Adonis.
“Why?” he finally asks.
I just shrug and really don’t know how to answer him, so I don’t.
“Tuck’s a good guy.”
And he simply leaves it at that. No more information is given, and I sure as hell don’t want to act overly interested. Lord knows Sophie is already on a rampage about me even looking at Tuck. She’d flip if she knew I was digging for information from one of his teammates.