Page 57 of Matched with Her Athlete Boss

If I wasn’t already in the water, I’d be jumping in right now.

Having Trey that close, touching me so intimately has every nerve ending in my face wanting more. A cameraman pops out from behind one of the trees, the camera aimed at us.

“We should probably get out of the water,” I say, turning away from Trey. I try to keep my cool and wait for more instructions to come through the ear piece. But there isn’t even a faint buzz. Did I kill the microphone when I fell into the pond? Please say yes.

“I’m surprised you don’t like to be touched so much that you fell in the water,” Trey says from behind me.

I push forward and climb out of the pond to sit on the grassy side. “Did you see that guy’s hands? He had a huge wart on his palm and then a few all over his fingers. I don’t need to get that virus from a guy I just met.”

Trey leans back in the grass and laughs.

“What?” I ask, laying back as well.

“There is never a dull moment with you around, Kenz.”

“That’s how I like it,” I say, trying not to register the shiver that goes through my body when he says my name like that. Like we’ve known each other forever.

A buzzing sound in my ear turns into someone talking. “We’re still on. We should probably hurry back to the dock.” I hop up and start walking that direction.

Trey shakes his head. “No, you're worried about Wart Vader.”

“I can’t believe you called him that,” I say, laughing so hard I snort. “It fits, though.”

We start running toward the beginning of the ride, and I’m grateful for the humid summer air or else I’d be freezing.

“So much for not falling in the water, huh?” he says, hitting my arm with his elbow.

“I wasn’t the one who made you fall in. You did that all on your own.” I laugh a bit before realizing how he’s looking at me. Almost like this is the first time he’s seen the real me.

“True. Now if anyone asks me how deep the pond is, I’ll tell them three feet.”

I give him a lopsided grin and say, “I doubt many people care.”

Laughing, Trey says, “I’ll make sure they care.”

We make it back to the dock and I can’t get his nickname for my date out of my head.

Instead of our dates worrying about us, they’re standing closely, talking animatedly about something.

Trey and I turn to each other. “Star Wars.”

“I can’t compete with that,” I say.

“Me either.”

“Cut!” rings out and we both turn, trying to figure out what’s going on.

One of the camera crew comes out from behind one of the bushes toward us. “You look disgusting,” he says, giving us a once over. “We’ll have to postpone the rest of this date until the two of you have dried yourselves off.”

“I don’t know if this date is worth salvaging,” Trey says, pointing to the couple behind us. “I think a match was made, just not the one on the schedule.”

I laugh at his words since he’s trying to be so serious. The camera guy cuts me a look and I stop and straighten, like I’m going to be punished with a seriously long cardio workout.

“I’ll have to call my boss. For now, go home and change.”

I turn to say goodbye to Wart Vader and it takes three tries to get his attention. “It was good to meet you.”

“Thank you for helping me meet Whitney. I’m sorry things didn’t work out between us.”

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