Page 144 of Say It Isn't So

I raked a hand through my hair, shaking my head.This woman.

Knox:You do know I’m in public with guys I’d like to make a good impression on. I’m thinking me having an erection is probably going to work against me. You need to stop.

Bianca:But it works for me. In fact, I like the idea of you having a hard-on. It makes me wish even more that you were here so I could treat you like my own personal hot dog.

You didn’t need to say it, I already knew that taking her out for hot dogs that day was the worst decision of my life. Because the way she’d wrapped her lips around it and devoured it was something I’d never forget.And trust me when I tell you, she definitely applied the same dedication to—

Bianca:I have to go, but I’ll remind you this: I’m not a gagger.

Ohhh, what was she doing to me?

* * *

Bianca

Hi, yeah, it’s me, the girl who used every reason in the book to skip P.E. in school. You should have seen my male coach’s face when it came time to swim and I’d told himI can’t swim because I have my period. His face had been priceless.

And I’d had every intention of getting out of beach volleyball, too, but then this happened: Maria claimed she wanted a break from cooking so this could be a true vacation for her, so naturally, Allie, Perla, and I played rock paper scissors. Whoever lost was the designated chef for the night. I lost. I would be Chef Bianca for tonight and tonight only. Except I wasn’t happy about it, and I’d tried telling them no one else would be, either, but they’d said fair was fair.

Then I’d had a better idea—we’d sucker the guys in for a bet. We’d win; they’d lose; and they’d have to cook. How’d I figure that, you ask? Team Bianca did not lose. So genius idea, right?

But then Perla had to go and suggest we do it over a game of beach volleyball. Didn’t my sister know me? We were supposed to win. Hello, we’d already established that, so why decide to make a bet over a sport?

Anyway, Allie and Maria ran with the idea, deciding they’d make the usual one-on-one game four-on-four—guys versus girls.

And that was how we got here: me stretching one arm over the other and pulling, cracking my neck as I did. Then I pulled one leg up in the back and then forward, hearing something in it crack, too. I did the other leg next.

“Um, Bianca, what are you doing?” Knox asked, his breath dangerously close to my ear.

I whipped my head at him and gave him a don’t-mess-with-me stare.

Holding his hands up, he backed away slowly, a whistle rolling off his lips.

I didn’t catch what he did next, but heard my family laughing. Laughing! I was incredulous.

Then Knox walked up to me and whispered in my ear, “It’s okay. If you girls lose, I don’t mind cooking dinner for you.”

I arched a brow and stared at him. “Do you think we’re going to lose?”

He grinned. “Well, you’re not the most athletic bunch. Especially you, sweetness.”

Narrowing my eyes to thin slits, I shook my head. “I’m glad you’re okay with cooking because you’ll be doing that when you lose. We are going to win and I’m going to remember this, Knox Rhodes.”

He smiled and laughed, walking away when Maria called out, “Can we start already?”

Allie got up from where she was sitting on the sand and walked over to the lot of us by the net. “I wholeheartedly regret sitting on the sand. My butt is covered in it, isn’t it?” She swiped at it and turned her back to Brady and pushed her butt out. “Sand, no sand? What’s the verdict? Am I all clear?”

I smacked my lips and looked over at Knox, who only cocked a brow. Yeah, we were both thinking the same thing—did she really just do that?To which the answer was a resounding yes.

Brady ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat as he backed up slightly. “Um, yeah, you’ve got a little, but it’s no big deal.”

She frowned, smacking her behind more aggressively to get thelittleoff. “Did that do the trick?”

No, it did not.

“Yeah, it’s all gone,” Brady replied.

Liar.

---