Page 27 of Foul Line

Hayes even accepts a drink. Before long, he joins in on the camaraderie. He doesn’t exactly talk much, but he’s there and accepted. Every now and then, I’ll see Chase giving him a look. It isn’t until then I remember that Hayes interrupted Chase from kissing me earlier. I don’t know why I just sat there like that. I hadn’t meant to, and it certainly wasn’t nice of me to lead Chase on.

I stare at Chase, and it isn’t long before he feels my eyes on him. He turns around. When he sees my look, he frowns. “I know,” he says. “I shouldn’t have tried to kiss you. You’re confused right now and me doing that isn’t helping.”

“You’re too nice, Chase,” I tell him.

Damn my freaking body! Like what the hell? This guy is perfect, but I couldn’t care less.

Just so it’s clear, Chase is at the top of the really great human category. I’m in the middle. The Ballers are dead last.

14

Hayes slips his hand through mine as he walks me back to my cabin later that night. The crickets chirp, only drowned out by the sound of the tiny laps of the lake against the sandy shore. His thumb traces over my hand as we walk in silence. I already know I’m a complete goner when it comes to him. Holding myself back will be the hard part. “I’m glad you found me tonight,” I tell him. His hand squeezes mine and suddenly, I’m thrown back to when he pinned me against the wall, pushing his hips into mine in answer as to whether he liked me or not.

I’ve already decided I’m not going to ask him about Lake. I don’t want to go there with them—or him, I mean. Just him. I told Lake that night that we didn’t have to like one another. I told him I’d stay out of his business if he stayed out of mine, and even that wasn’t enough for him. I’ll be fine if we never talk about Lake again.

“Why did you go there in the first place?” Hayes asks, his voice coming out of nowhere until it sweeps over me in a sweet caress. I’m still not used to hearing the sound of his voice.

I look up at him. I barely make it to his chest. His pecs are pretty much in my face, but they’re damn fine pecs, so I don’t mind. If we ever kiss while we’re standing next to one another, I’ll have to climb him like a tree. I can tell Hayes isn’t happily on my same trail of thought. “That bothered you.”

He nods.

I stop in the sand and stare up at him. “I don’t think you understand how lonely it is for me sometimes.”

He blinks. I can tell, aside from the fact that he has the best poker face ever, that I’ve surprised him with that answer.

“No one likes me here, Hayes.” I try to smile, but I can’t make myself. “No one liked me at RHS either, except for Dawn.”

His tongue pushes against his teeth. I don’t really want him to say anything to that confession. I have a feeling he’ll just try to tell me that they do like me, but I’m done listening to excuses on that front. You don’t treat people you like like that.

“Dawn was supposed to come visit me this weekend, but her boyfriend had to visit his grandma, so she couldn’t make it.”

“If you’re lonely, I want you to call me from now on,” he says. Even in the moonlight, his blue eyes are mesmerizing.

I bite my lip. That was pretty much the perfect thing to say. If Hayes talks like that, he really should learn to talk more often. His hands slide down my hips. When they hit the back of my thighs, he hoists me in the air. My legs move around his waist, and we’re finally eye-to-eye and chest-to-chest.

I suck in a breath as his arms wrap around me, holding me like I’m nothing. “When I kiss you for the first time, it’s going to change me.”

The world around us stops. The sounds of the night go mute. All I can hear is Hayes’s breathing, and then the feel of his breath as it teases my lips. I lean forward.

Hayes pulls away slightly. “Not yet.” He reaches a hand up to place a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Not until all the doubts I see in your eyes are gone.”

I breathe out. “I kind of hate you right now.”

“I kind of hate myself. For a lot of things.” He lets me go gently, and I slide down his body. He wants to kiss me. He wants to do more, judging by the defined bulge in his shorts. “I know what it’s like to be lonely, Tessa. You can still feel lonely even if you’re surrounded by people. Sometimes it takes just one person to make you feel right again.”

Oh, God. This boy.“Are you sure you won’t kiss me?”

The corners of his mouth pull up. “I think you should stop asking before I give in.”

“I think—”

“Quintessa!”

Startled, I scramble away from Hayes. Oh, fuck. I know that angry voice. The voice only a father could have. I turn toward Hayes. “Go.” His brows pull together as he looks back toward my cabin. I’m hoping it’s so dark my father won’t have recognized Hayes yet. “Please.”

He hesitates, grabbing my hand again.

“Hayes, seriously,” I say to him. “It’s after curfew. Just go. There’s no sense in both of us getting into trouble.” Without looking back, I push away from him and keep my head down as I walk toward the cabin. I hope he’s not following me. I really hope not. If my dad just happened to try my room and found me missing, he might not make a big deal. If it’s two of us out after curfew, he might be forced to say something.

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