Page 22 of The Heartbreakers
“Well, what took so long?” Drew asked. He eyed Oliver suspiciously.
“Oliver was cooking.”
Drew blinked and turned to Oliver. “You were?” His reaction mirrored what mine had been, and Oliver nodded his head. “Well, that’s…unexpected.”
“You didn’t make anything for me?” JJ asked. The rest of the guys had joined us at the table, still dripping wet from the pool. JJ was frowning. “I didn’t eat dinner yet.”
“You had two Quarter Pounders on the way back from the signing,” Oliver responded.
“So?”
“Do you want to die of a heart attack?”
“I’m a growing boy, Oliver,” JJ said and pointed at his muscles. “Sorry that’s something you and your scrawny arms will never understand.”
“Lean, not scrawny,” Oliver corrected him. The two continued to bicker as JJ tried to explain the importance of daily McDonald’s runs.
“So,” Xander said as the rest of us tuned out the stupid argument. “You guys have any problems ditching Aaron?”
“Nope.” There were the two girls from the stairwell, but I didn’t think they were worth mentioning.
“Good,” Xander said. “I don’t remember the last time we ditched our bodyguard. I was afraid Oliver might be out of practice.”
“You’ve done this before?” Drew asked.
“We used to, loads,” Xander said. He looked like he was going to say more, so Drew and I waited, but then a loud yell and splash filled the room, echoing off the walls.
“Jerk,” JJ complained when he broke the surface of the water. Oliver was standing next to the edge of the pool with a guilty smirk on his face. JJ pulled back his arm and sent a spray of water in his friend’s direction.
“Dude, what the hell?” Oliver yelled and jumped back. “I still have my clothes on.”
“Good,” JJ said and continued to splash a wall of water in Oliver’s direction.
Alec turned silently to Xander before glancing back at Oliver. Xander smirked as if he knew exactly what Alec was thinking. “You take the left side. I’ll get the right.” Alec nodded before both boys dashed toward Oliver. They grabbed his arms, lifted him up, and threw him into the pool, clothes and all. Everything happened in a split second, and all I could do was blink in surprise before Oliver resurfaced. He sputtered for a moment and then pushed his bangs, which were plastered to his face, out of his eyes.
“You’re both assholes,” he said.
Xander and Alec gave each other a high five. “That’s for giving my phone number to that crazy chick in Dallas the other weekend,” Xander told him. JJ was laughing so hard he had to clutch the metal ladder for support.
“Very funny,” Oliver grumbled as he swam over to the side, waterlogged clothes weighing him down. “You two better sleep with your eyes open the next few nights.”
Drew nodded in the direction of the pool. “You coming in?”
“Yeah, hold on a second.” I quickly stripped off my shorts and camisole, folded them up, and placed them on the table where they wouldn’t get wet. I turned back around to find my brother glaring at me. Putting a hand on my hip, I snapped at him. “You didn’t pack a swimsuit either! What did you expect me to wear?”
As much as I wanted to keep my cami on, I needed something to sleep in at night. Drew muttered something under his breath, picked his T-shirt up off the table, and handed it to me.
I crossed my arms. “Do you want me to drown?” I asked, refusing to take it. The shirt was an extra large and would fall well past my knees.
“Stella,” Drew hissed, “you’re about to go swimming with a bunch of famous, probably horny guys…in your underwear!”
“What difference does it make that they’re famous?” I questioned him and put a hand on my hip. “Do boy bands suddenly have the ability to impregnate girls with devilish smolders?”
“You know that’s not what I meant.” Drew sighed, clearly unimpressed with what I thought was a rather funny remark. “They are probably used to getting whatever they want.”
My face turned red at his words. “Are you suggesting I’m easy?”
“No!” Drew snapped, and threw his hands up in frustration. “All I’m saying is that your outfit might give someone the wrong idea.”
