Hidden Hollywood

“Stranger things have happened,” Jake said. Like Mad being in a romance book club. He kept that little jewel to himself for revenge against Mad’s next prank or leverage, whichever came up first.

Ty rubbed his scruffy jaw. “You here for Hailey?”

“No.”

“Cool. As long as she’s not on my team. She doesn’t even know it’s called a point. She keeps saying she’s going to score a goal.”

They chuckled quietly.

“Come on,” Ty said, pulling his shirt over his head. “We’re skins. Five on six. The girls are shirts, six on their team to make up for Miss Pink. You call the other three since you’re the visitor.”

Jake pulled his shirt off, tossing it on the grass. “Josh—”

“Twin freak,” Ty said.

They always picked each other because they worked flawlessly together without needing to say a word. The guys broke them up most of the time because the teams were better balanced that way. Jake lowered his voice. “He doesn’t want to be on her team.”

They both knew what “her” they were referring to. Mad was really good at basketball, despite being the shortest at five foot four. She had speed on her side and great shooting skills. Probably all those hours she put in shooting hoops by the garage when they were kids.

“Fine,” Ty muttered. “You, me, Josh, who else?”

He eyed the prospects. He knew all their flaws, all their plays. He picked two of their friends. “Ethan and Marcus.” Ethan was a cop, in tip-top shape. Marcus was former varsity basketball in high school.

“Yes!” Ty barked and jogged over to the guys, telling them how it was going to be.

“Why’s he get to pick?” Mad asked. “Jake’s home the least. I should get to pick since I brought someone new.”

“Yeah,” Hailey said, chin in the air.

Josh groaned.

Ethan and Marcus took their shirts off and Hailey stared, seeming to be in awe of their pecs and washboard abs. Man, Ethan had a twelve-pack going on or something. Get a life. Josh made a big show of taking off his shirt, but Hailey didn’t give him a second look. It was hysterical.

Josh and Alex faced off at center, brothers about the same height, same laid-back attitude. Except Josh was unusually aggressive today, smacking the ball away and over to Marcus. Awesome. The more aggressive one of them got, the rest got into it too. Testosterone rush.

He dove into the fray. Running and body checking and sweating his balls off, careful to avoid the delicate-looking Hailey. Though she didn’t shy away from the intense game, frequently jumping in and trying to get the ball. Josh let her once—so fucking obvious they all groaned—but then Ty immediately stole it. Mad passed her the ball a couple of times. Once Hailey threw at the wrong net and they all cheered her on. Mad cursed them out. The other time Hailey tossed it right back to Mad, who scored.

Final score: Skins 90, Shirts 40.

They headed for the metal bleachers nearby to sit for a few minutes and hydrate. Hailey produced a cooler, wheeling it over to them. “I brought Gatorade and orange slices. Help yourself.”

She opened it, and they all went for it, thanking her profusely. That was a real nice gesture. They all settled back on the bleachers with their refreshing loot.

Jake took a seat next to Hailey and Mad.

“Thanks for including me today, even though I stink,” Hailey said.

“You weren’t that bad,” Mad said generously.

“You did all right,” Jake said.

“Thank you,” Hailey said, taking a sip of Gatorade. She didn’t really need to hydrate. She didn’t even look like she’d broken a sweat. “Where’s Josh?”

Mad jerked her thumb behind her where Josh was sitting on the top row of the bleachers. Hailey gestured for him to come down and sit with them.

Josh pulled his shirt on and took a drink of Gatorade.

She gestured again.

He gestured for her to come up to him.

She gestured frantically and all the guys turned to grin at Josh.

“You’ve been summoned!” Ty called.

They all laughed.

“Shut up,” Josh said, stepping his way down to them. He stood a row behind them, towering over Hailey. “What?”

Jake scooted down to make room for Josh next to Hailey. Josh didn’t move, and Ty gave him a shove. Josh shoved Ty back and sat next to Hailey.

“Jenny would like to meet with you if you’re free tomorrow,” Hailey said. “At Baldwin Park.”

Jake’s ears perked up.

“Yeah, I could do that,” Josh said. “How’s morning?”

“Afternoon,” Jake said. “We’ve got that thing in the morning.” He needed time to make plans.