Teacher's Pet

Moments later, Wade and his friend were close enough for us to hear their conversation. I tried to position my head at just the right angle to hear them, but hide my face. I felt like I should be in an episode of I Love Lucy.

“Good God, bro, those are two smoking hot chicks! Damn, Florida State volleyball girls seem to have gotten so much hotter since our days there!” the other guy chimed.

I waited with bated breath to hear what Wade's response would be, certain he was going to confirm his status as the douchebag I had made him out to be in my mind.

“Yeah. They're good-looking,” he agreed. I was about to begin my internal condemnation when he continued, “But, ya know, John, I've had more than my fill of girls like that.”

That was certainly not what I'd expected him to say.

“Are you serious, man? You wouldn't bang those two, like right now? ‘Cause I sure as hell would! At the same time, if that’s what they wanted.”

I shook my head and glared over at Leena, making sure she was hearing what I was hearing. This John guy wasn’t scoring any morality points at the moment.

“No, man, actually I wouldn't,” Wade heard him respond.

“What are you grinning at?” Leena whispered, peering over her magazine.

“I’m not grinning,” I denied the accusation until I realized she was right. She just gave me a knowing look. I made a face at her and focused back in on the conversation going on next to us.

“I went for a swim with them because they're on my team and I just wanted to be polite. But seriously, J, they're not the kind of women I want to be around anymore. And besides – I'm their coach! There are professional boundaries I have to think about. But even without that, like I said, they're not my type,” Wade added.

“They sure are my type, though, dude!”

“Yeah, well…if she has a pulse, she’s your type,” Wade joked.

As much as I didn’t want to admit it, a strange sense of relief washed over me. Wade Vinson did have some morals, after all.

But it seemed those morals extended to every member of our volleyball team. He was making it quite clear that he would not have anything to do with any of his players outside of the volleyball court, and I was as much a part of that group as Tammy and Kelly were. It was weird. Maybe I would have felt better if he had just said he didn’t want anything to do with Kelly and Tammy.

Not that I had a right to feel any way about it. Wade was, above everything, my coach, and volleyball was the top priority in my life. It had to be. Without that scholarship, I'd be out of college.

Wade and John settled into their spot next to us, and I flipped a page on my magazine to really sell the façade that I was reading it.

“Hey,” I heard John say to Wade in a quieter tone, “looks like we've got some

new neighbors.”

“It appears we do,” Wade replied before turning his attention to us. “Good afternoon, ladies. I hope you're having as good an afternoon as we are.”

Leena and I both dropped the magazines to our towels and turned to look in their direction. I watched Wade's eyes grow wide with surprise.

“Oh, hi, Wade,” I said with as much false surprise as I could manage.

Chapter Eight

Wade

I couldn't believe it. Two chance meetings in one afternoon! This one, however, I was a lot more pleased about than the previous one.

Kelly and Tammy had made me pretty uncomfortable with their blatant flirting. And seeing them in those micro-bikinis, or whatever you called what they were wearing, was even more uncomfortable. I couldn't deny that part of me found it tempting. But they really had left almost nothing to the imagination. I think the average washcloth had more material than the total of both of their bikinis combined.

Of course, John couldn't keep his eyes from popping out of his skull, and I guessed I couldn't blame the guy. Two practically naked college girls flirting outrageously with a couple of guys our age…hell, it was like a fantasy becoming a reality for John.

But I'd lived in Los Angeles. I'd had experience with girls like that. Both of them had fake boobs, for sure – I'd seen enough of those in L.A. to be able to tell. And really, I just wasn't into such blatant advances, such self-obsessed displays.

Still, I'd let John have some fun and had agreed to at least go for a swim. But, I was glad it was over. However, just when I'd thought we could kick back, relax, and chat up the cute women on the towels next to us, I realized that wasn’t in the cards. Two more members of my team. What were the odds?

This time was entirely different for me, though. While John was obviously having the time of his life, having enjoyed not one, but two pairs of bikini-clad young women to ogle at, this time I was the one fighting a stirring of attraction welling up.