She blushed again, and I couldn't deny she was damned cute when she was embarrassed.
“Well, I mean, if it really, really isn't any trouble,” she said hesitantly.
“Trust me, it's not.”
“All right. Thank you so much for your help this morning, Wade,” she said. “I honestly don't know what I would do without this little car. It may not be much, but it makes my life a lot easier.”
“No problem,” I assured her.
I didn't want to press the issue of the further maintenance or appear overeager to see her – even though I was – so I simply said a quick farewell, got into my SUV, and drove off. It felt good to have been able to help her – and to be able to get to know her a bit more. I had been pleasantly surprised to discover that she was way more than just a pretty face and a talented volleyball player. And, I was genuinely pleased to know she and I shared a taste in music. It felt like the age gap wasn’t so great.
It was there, though. There was well over a decade between us, and it was foolish of me to be thinking like this. I found her incredibly attractive, that much wa
s true. And now that I was learning more about her, the attraction was growing far more intense than it had been over just her looks.
But the fact remained that not only was there this age difference, but I was her coach, as well. Two fences stood between us, not just one, and it would not be good to continue to think like this. As hard as it was, I needed to try to get her off my mind.
It was still early in the day and I figured it might be good to get out of town for a while just to clear my head. I took out my phone and gave John a call.
“Hey, buddy,” I said when he picked up. “You wanna take a drive down to St. George Island, chill on that white sand beach for the afternoon?”
“Sounds like a plan!” he replied enthusiastically.
“You wanna leave in say, 40 minutes or so?”
“I'll be ready, man. See you then.”
I drove over to a coffee shop and got myself a coffee and a sandwich while I waited for John to get ready. After that, I picked him up, and we drove for around two hours, laughing and reminiscing about our college days and listening to lots of good tunes.
We got to the beach around one in the afternoon. It was just what I needed to get my mind off things. We set up our chairs and beach umbrella on the sand and prepared to relax.
After a while, some college-aged kids arrived and set up a volleyball net some distance down the beach. From the looks of it, most of them were girls and were dressed in skimpy bikinis.
“Well, well, well,” John said, “have a look at what just arrived! What do you say we go down there and show 'em a thing or two about volleyball, huh? I mean, I'm not a pro like you, but I can still throw down.”
“Nah, man, let 'em have their game. I'm in the mood to just relax.”
“I don't just wanna go there for the game, Wade,” John grinned. “I can't see ‘em too close, but it looks like there are some serious hotties there!”
“Yeah, man, and they're like 12 years younger than you. Let's just chill here.”
John looked disappointed, but agreed. We sat and sipped our drinks and chatted for a while, but then the wind started picking up. One of the volleyball girls served far too hard, and the ball sailed over their heads and started bounding along the beach, the wind carrying it toward us. Another of the girls sprinted after it, but because of the wind, it just kept on going, seeming to accelerate faster and faster.
If I didn't stop it, it would probably be blown off into the ocean. Reluctantly, I got up and ran out to intercept the ball. As I saw the girl running towards me, I couldn't help but stare. She was wearing the tiniest, skimpiest bikini I'd ever seen – it only covered a few square inches of skin, leaving almost nothing to the imagination, and she had one seriously killer body. As she came closer, I looked up and saw her face, and my eyes widened with surprise as I recognized her.
“Hi, Wade!” she exclaimed. “What a cool surprise, running into you out here! And, I hope you don't mind me saying so, but good God, you look hot without your shirt on.”
“Uh…hi, Tammy.”
Chapter Seven
Eryn
I stared at the car keys lying on my dresser.
I still couldn't quite believe it. After all this time struggling with my car, Coach Vinson — I mean, Wade — had fixed it with pretty much just one part! And yeah, he had told me that it was going to need a bit more work to get it running perfectly, but he didn’t know how stressed I’d been about the car for months. I couldn't help feeling an overwhelming sense of relief.
Not to mention, that one act of kindness changed the way I saw Wade Vinson. I mean, yes, I still had my suspicions about him. How could I not, considering his reputation and my past experiences with guys like him? After all, good-looking men — especially when they had power, status, and fame — so often acted like total dogs.