Page 34 of Love At The Shore
Jenna crossed her arms and stood a little straighter. “Team captain.”
Things were getting more interesting by the second. He stared at her sweater—so prim, sobeige. “I’m having a hard time picturing that.”
Her cheeks flared pink and she laughed. “Why? Because I’m wearing a cardigan?”
“That might be part of it.” Plus he just couldn’t picture her being into team sports, maybe because of the fence that divided his patio in half.
“You know what, let’s go.” She gathered her hair over one shoulder and started twisting it into a braid with nimble fingers. Clearly, she meant business.
Lucas tossed the ball back and forth from one hand to the other. “Let me guess. You want to be on my team?”
She rolled her eyes. “You and me. First to ten.”
Was she serious? She’d just admitted she hadn’t played in years.
“So this is a challenge?” He peered at her more closely.
A spark of defiance flashed in her gaze. “Oh yeah. And if I win, no music past nine o’ clock. If you win, I won’t complain about your little mid-week matches anymore.”
Lucas glanced at Nick. A wager this serious needed a witness.
Nick nodded. Off came Jenna’s cardigan.
So he wasn’t just imagining things. Jenna Turner had actually just challenged him to a one-on-one volleyball war.
“You’ve got yourself a bet.” He tossed the ball in the air and caught it in one hand without looking. “Show me what you’ve got.”
The other players formed a curious circle around them, clapping and cheering when they realized Jenna had just thrown down the gauntlet. Lucas almost felt sorry for her. If she truly hadn’t played ball in years, she didn’t stand a chance. But this whole spectacle had been her idea, hadn’t it?
He served the ball with a gentle smack, nice and easy. He didn’t want to embarrass her, but he wasn’t about to let her win. If a challenge was what she wanted, then that’s what she’d get.
Jenna returned the serve with surprising force and it zipped right past him, eliciting a cheer from Nick and Ally. When Lucas turned to grin at them, he spotted Tank nestled happily between them. The furry little traitor.
Lucas chased after the ball and pitched it to Jenna since it was her turn to serve. He moved up a few steps, expecting it to barely clear the net.
Wrong move.
The ball sailed past him again. He dove for it and missed by a mile. Jenna was now up by two, and all Lucas had to show for his efforts was a face coated in sand.
“Eaten by the sand shark,” she teased.
He couldn’t help but laugh. Jenna was good. She wasreallygood, and to top it off, she could trash-talk, too. Who would have known?
He got up and dusted himself off. “Is that all you’ve got?”
She bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet and spread her arms out in the universal gesture forbring it on.
No more Mr. Nice Guy. Going easy on her had clearly been a mistake. The next time he hit the ball, he didn’t hold back. They volleyed back and forth, back and forth, until Jenna’s fingertips grazed the ball and it plunked to the ground. A very near miss, but Lucas was finally on the board.
The longer they played, the closer the score got. The advantage seemed to flip with every serve. As soon as Lucas was up, Jenna would win a point and vice versa.
The crowd surrounding the court multiplied and every time one of them missed a volley, they broke out into cheers. Lucas was pretty sure most of them were rooting for Jenna now.
When he won the next point, he showboated a little, bowing to the spectators. Tank let out a howl. Lucas couldn’t remember the last time he’d had so much fun playing volleyball. He also couldn’t remember the last time he’d been on the losing side of the net.
She wasn’t actually going to beat him, was she?
Miss Team Captain called out to him, all business. “Nine all. Match point.”
