“It might be worth it,” I muttered.
He moved toward me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders before pulling me close for an aggressive hug, twisting us side to side to make waves. “You know you love me.”
“Maybe.” I admitted, goose bumps rippling along my skin. I wanted to sink into him and stay there.
“Are you guys done with your foreplay? Can we play now?” Isaac said, joking.
Kevin and I were around each other all the time and were comfortable with each other’s touch. I’d never thought anything of it when he wrapped an arm around me, because he was always offering comfort. At least, I’d tried not to, but deep down, there was no denying the thrill that made my heart skip a beat when we touched.
“You seem awfully eager to get beat, Lowell,” Kevin taunted.
“Yeah, we’ll see,” Isaac said. “You can go against Gwen and me first.”
Kevin ducked under water and pushed his head between my legs before he stood up. I swallowed hard at feeling his long fingers grabbing tight onto my thighs. My heart pounded in my chest a mile a minute. No matter how often we played chicken, I never got used to having his head between my legs. And didn’t that conjure up one hell of a picture? I hoped everyone blamed the hot sun for the reason that my cheeks were turning red.
This was my friend.
My best friend.
Not someone I let my thoughts wander with. Usually.
“You ready, A?” Kevin asked.
Taking a deep breath, I cleared my head. “Let’s get ‘em.”
Kevin lunged forward and one of my hands gripped his scalp as the other reached out to shove Gwen. When I was finally stable enough to let go of Kevin’s head, I used both arms to latch on to Gwen. She got a good shove in that almost knocked me down, but Kevin gripped my thighs tighter, digging in deep. The pain was sharp and rippled up my legs pulling an ‘ow’ from me.
“Sorry, A.”
But the sharp pain he delivered made my skin burn for a whole other reason. I couldn’t help but look at his fingers gripping the soft flesh of my thighs and wonder if there would be a bruise tomorrow.
Another shove brought me back to the game and I needed to end it and get off Kevin’s shoulders before I made a fool out of myself. A few more minutes of laughter and I finally succeeded in dismounting Gwen. We went up against everyone, but Kevin and I came out victorious every time.
We were high-fiving when Sean came over. “All right, let’s see if it’s you or her that has the most skill. Ana, I’m claiming you as my partner.”
His eyes scanned my face, only dropping to my chest for a few seconds before he looked up and smiled. He knew I caught him staring at my breasts and shrugged instead of apologizing. I rolled my eyes, a little impressed by his lack of apology.
Jane hopped into the pool from her spot on the ledge. “I’ll be Kevin’s partner,” she said, moving toward him.
Sean dove under water and slipped between my legs. His hands softly gripped my thighs, unlike the firm clasp Kevin had used. It still sent a thrill of excitement to be in a position like this with him for the first time. Just not the same kind of thrill I’d felt when I imagined Kevin bruising me with his grip.
“It’s definitely me that brings all the magic to the team,” Kevin said.
“Whatever, he’s just a pretty boy to hold up all my awesomeness,” I tossed back.
Sean joined in. “Don’t worry, babe. I can hold up all this awesomeness, and we’ll take ‘em down.”
We went at each other and put up a good fight. I was impressed with how long Kevin lasted because Jane sucked. She would have been a goner on her own, but Kevin somehow managed to keep her up there. But eventually, they fell and Sean began running around in the pool singing “We are the champions.” I held on for the ride and laughed the whole time. It felt good to feel the butterflies take flight in my stomach with someone other than Kevin.
As many times as I’d told myself we were just friends, there was always that small flicker of excitement that went beyond friendship when I thought of him. Maybe Sean was the guy to divert my attention and really make me let go of any attraction I had to Kevin.
It was worth a shot, and I’d be an idiot to not try with the gorgeous blonde currently toting me around like a queen.
Chapter Eight
Kevin
“Man, Ana is hot,” Sean murmured to me as we grabbed drinks and popcorn for the movie. Everyone else was settled in the bonus room.
Hearing Sean confide in me about Ana irritated me. Not that it should since it was what we always did, talking about girls and what we thought about them. It should’ve been no different with Ana. But it was, because I felt protective of her. I didn’t like the way he’d leered at her the past few weeks. Ana’s bathing suit this summer accentuated her new chest. Friend or not, it became increasingly difficult to divert my attention from the perfect boobs that seemed to have grown overnight.