rules for a few minutes. I think I was the only one listening, like on the airplane when nobody pays attention to the flight attendant’s instructions except for people flying for the first time. Wes enjoyed the spotlight, regardless.
The sidelines filled with spectators, Luke’s fan club included. There were easily ten girls gawking at him. It was embarrassing to watch. He seemed unaffected by all the attention but that didn’t stop the girls from cheering him on. He shot them an occasional smile.
Cole put us in a huddle and told us who to cover. Ellie and I had double coverage on Luke. Now I was disappointed this wasn’t tackle-Frisbee. I would have enjoyed knocking Luke and his ego to the ground. Cole covered two of the girls. There was more running than I had expected, but I kept up. Luke enjoyed taunting me while we played. I didn’t want to show off, but I knew I was as fast as he was, maybe faster.
“How are you holding up cupcake?” He prodded. “Careful or you might get dirty and sweaty.”
“Careful or you might end up losing,” I said wanting to provoke him. “What would your fan club think of that?”
“Not going to happen,” he laughed arrogantly.
The game continued, each team having the lead on and off. Finally, the score was tied. Wes announced there were 47 seconds left, and Luke’s team had the Frisbee. We couldn’t call a timeout to strategize. I didn’t know why. I didn’t catch all the little rules. Ellie and I chatted quickly. We knew Brad or Troy would make a long pass to Luke. They threw the farthest, and he could catch about anything. Ellie stayed in front of Luke so he would have to reach over her to make his catch. I stayed just past Luke’s peripheral view.
Wes blew the whistle and I started to run full speed toward Luke. He had his attention on Ellie and the pass from Troy. He didn’t even see me coming. It was great. Ellie did her best to block him from moving forward too quickly and I came from the side. I planned to snag the Frisbee just before Luke caught it and fire it off to Cole. Great plan; poor execution. Luke jumped higher than I expected. We crashed in midair and tumbled to the ground. Luke landed first. I landed ungracefully on top of him. My reward for showing off was humiliation.
There was a cheer from our goal line. “Did we score?” I asked pushing my sweaty body off Luke’s. I hoped nobody saw us. Luke wasn’t so eager to let me go. His arms wound around me and with a slight tug he eliminated the space I had put between us.
Chapter 6
“Nice play,” he grinned, insinuating I meant to end on top of him.
“It wasn’t a play.”
“So that’s your story, huh?”
“Knock it off,” I said breaking loose. I stood up and brushed the sand off my clothes intent on restoring some of my dignity when Luke tossed me over his shoulder.
“Didn’t expect that from you.”
“I’m full of surprises; now put me down, Tarzan.” I looked back to see most of the girls scowling at me. My attitude shifted. They should have more self-respect. Luke pulled me off his back putting me into a cradle in front of him. “Not so tough when you’re off your feet, are you?”
This was wrong in so many ways. I was being carried by a stranger who I vowed to keep my distance from. Well, maybe I didn’t vow, but I knew better than to allow this. Something jolted through my body and out my toes; I was fairly certain it wasn’t adrenaline.
Instead of insisting he put me down, I continued to taunt him. “Awww is someone a sore loser?”
“You really come alive at night, don’t you superstar?”
“Too bad you’re so clumsy,” I laughed.
“Maybe you want to go swimming to cool down, show off?” He started running toward the water.
“Stop! Put me down!”
Firmly holding me, Luke began to wade into the water until it was just below his knees.
“Still want me to put you down, superstar?” Slowly he began to lower me toward the water, while I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Don’t drop me!” I laughed trying my hardest to hold on to him.
“You’re a fickle one, aren’t you? Put me down. Don’t put me down. How should I know what you really want?”
“Take me back to the beach. Where is Cole when I need him?”
“Now you bring up Cole. You were flirting with my buddy all night, and here I thought you had a thing for me.”
I wasn’t going to respond to that. It would have landed me smack in the water.
Without further prompting he walked far enough past the water’s edge that my sweats wouldn’t get wet and set me on my feet. From the look on his face, I think he expected me to run away from him. Besides not having the energy to run, I felt the need to show some act of defiance so I shoved him as hard as I could. He barely fell off balance.
“You’re a lot spunkier when you’re not parading around half-naked at the beach.”
“And the charm never ends.”
“You’ll get used to it, Tess.” He grinned and laced his fingers into mine so smoothly I hardly noticed his move. I should have yanked my hand away and announced I wasn’t one of his babes but instead I kept the ball in play.
“Wow, you do know my name. All this time I thought it was just too tough for you to remember all one syllable of it.”
“Easy, superstar, the water is just six strides away.” He raised his eyebrows daring me to continue.
We sat in the sand. There was a short awkward silence, which I made more awkward with my next question.
“So which ones are your girlfriends?” Not a smooth question, but I was curious.
“None of them.”
“You haven’t dated any of them?”
“I’m not dating any of them.”
“So you have dated some of them.”
“Some.”
“And?”
“And I’m not dating any of them now.”
That really didn’t tell me what I wanted to know, and I silently chastised myself for asking. I was no better than any of them; grateful for the attention he gave me. How pathetic. I took my hand back.
“Do you want to come to the beach with me tomorrow?” he asked.
“No.” And I’m not joining your team of showgirls either.
“That’s it, just no?”
“I have to watch my brothers for the next week or two while my mom is out of town. I won’t be able to do anything during the day.” There, problem solved.
“We
