The Player Hater (Accidentally in Love 1)

Handsome guys like this are trouble, and I don’t know of a single one who could be faithful.

I don’t know a whole lot about Davis’s history but I do know he played professional ball, too, which can only mean he’s had his fair share of one-night stands and sleeping his way through every city they played in.

Don’t hate the player…

It’s hard to, honestly.

Davis is…

Ugh.

Decent.

I don’t hate him, but I’m going to do my best to be as leery as I am around Thad, keeping my brain and hormones in check as Mia should have been doing the night she met Thad and invited him back to her condo.

Killer grin.

Great body.

Easygoing.

What’s not to like?

Nothing. You like nothing, you are not going to date him, you are not going to like him. End of story, period point blank.

Let’s be real: any woman with a functioning set of eyes would notice how attractive either of these gentlemen are. And it’s not a crime to look, is it?

I mean, it’s either him or the clouds in the sky, or the lake, or the trees.

As the two guys pack up our stuff and pull the boat’s anchor out of the water, I mull over what my actual type is. Mull over what type of man would catch my eye in the wild, if I were looking for love.

It’s been a while since I’ve had a boyfriend and even longer since I’ve taken the search seriously; people think that meeting someone is a breeze, especially when you’re a funny, successful, and smart woman—but the ugly truth is, it’s not.

Not in the least.

Do you know how many bad dates I’ve been on with guys who completely misrepresented themselves on the dating apps? Dozens.

One single guy was married—the Married Single, we call that.

One guy drank twelve cocktails in an hour—TWELVE.

I had to call him a car.

Another? Told me he wasn’t interested in dating, he was just seeing what was out there—but if I wanted to have sex with him, that was cool, too.

Waste.

Of.

Time.

Dozens of wasted nights and hours and calories from meals I hadn’t wanted to eat in the first place and drinks I hadn’t wanted to drink when I could’ve stayed home on my couch instead.

In my wiener dog pajamas.

My eyes stray to Davis as Thad roars the engine to life, steering us back toward the shore, and I watch as he touches his bandaged-up ear every so often, his hair blowing in the breeze, sunglasses shielding his eyes.

It seems he hasn’t shaved in days, but that doesn’t detract from the goodness of his bone structure; square jaw and beautiful lips. Bet he’s smooth talked his way into plenty of panties with that mouth…

I scowl, eyes looking away.

Mia is watching me with a smirk on her face.

“What?”

She shrugs. “Nothing.”

“I can’t look in that direction?”

Now she laughs. “I didn’t say anything.”

She didn’t say anything with her mouth, but she’s saying it with her eyes, and I’m here to tell her, “Don’t be a shit. I am taking in my view.”

“I’d say you were.”

“Not that view. The trees and the lake.”

The engine whirs us closer to shore and as soon as we dock, I’m up and out of my seat, ready to climb out for land with Mia at my side.

While Thad and Davis handle the boat—the guide is back and going over logistics with them—my best friend and I walk back to camp, my stomach already growling.

“I’m going to take a nap,” Mia says with a yawn.

“Do you actually mean you’re going to take a nap, or do you mean nap nap?”

She wiggles her eyebrows with a laugh. “Depends on Thad, I guess.”

“Okay, so not a nap.”

“Probably not an actual nap—but I’ll try until he comes back.” She stops in front of my cute little camper. “They’re serving snacks I think—boxes they’re bringing to each camper, isn’t that cute?”

So cute.

“And I think dinner is at six, then they’re doing a bonfire tonight.”

“Oh, I love that! With s’mores?”

“I think so. It will be fun meeting everyone who arrived this morning.”

She hugs me before heading back to her tent and I manage to sneak inside my camper before Davis returns, closing the door to the tiny bedroom and flipping its little lock—climb onto the bed and pass out.

Why is it dark out?

I stir, blinking back the dark, raising my head to glance around, unable to see anything at all.

Where am I?

Why is it so damn dark out?

I just closed my eyes for a second, I couldn’t have slept the night away?

Moving my arm so I can see my watch, I poke at it to reveal the time.

Eight o’clock!

I slept the entire afternoon and no one came to wake me? What kind of shit is that? What about dinner? What about the bonfire?

I peek through the window in the camper’s bedroom and see the glow of a fire in the near distance slightly down the shore a bit, and people sitting around it.