Page 7 of A Heart Worth Finding
“How did you miss that?”
“Have you ever even seen a volleyball match before?”
Thankfully they held on to win by two points, but Jessica’s jaw ached from clenching her teeth together.
“Nice game,” one of Jack’s losing friends said to her and Bethani when they all gathered at the net.
“Bro, were you watching the same shit I was?” Jack asked. “She”—he pointed at Jessica—“was terrible.”
“Oh fuck off,” Jessica said, then swam away in the direction of the bar at the far end of the pool.
Bethani caught up with her and waited until they’d ordered drinks before saying, “So…still think he’s hot?”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “You know he is, but I have zero desire to spend any more time with him. Let’s hope we don’t see him again this week.”
That night, after washing the chlorine, sunscreen, and sweat from their bodies—and sneaking in a quick nap—Jessica and Bethani found themselves at the bar in the lobby of their resort.
It was barely past nine p.m., the sun having long since disappeared below the horizon, but the bar was packed with spring breakers like herself. Jessica pressed through the crush ofbodies and slid up to the counter to order drinks while Bethani grabbed them a seat at a nearby table.
“Can I buy you a drink?” a voice next to her asked, and Jessica turned to face him.
He was probably in his mid-twenties, with close-cropped hair an indeterminate shade between brown and blond, and nondescript brown eyes. Some sort of military tattoo was visible on his right deltoid below the short sleeve of his white button down. Jessica squinted in the dim lights and made out the wordsSemper Fi.
Marine, then. That explained the buzz cut.
He stared at her expectantly, and Jessica realized she hadn’t answered his question.
"They’re free,” she said finally.
Buzz Cut shrugged. “So?”
Jessica snorted. “Alright then, sure. I’ll take a marg. But get one for my friend, too,” she said, hooking a thumb over her shoulder in Bethani’s direction.
Buzz Cut nodded and signaled the bartender, who efficiently moved around, splashing tequila, mix, and ice into an industrial blender.
Over the whirring of the machine, the guy asked, “What’s your name?”
“Jessica!” she said.
“Joe,” he replied, holding out a hand.
Joe’s palm was sweaty against hers, his callouses scraping her skin, but somehow she didn’t mind. Briefly, she questioned why someone so much older than her was even giving her the time of day. Maybe he didn’t realize she was still in high school. Either way, she had to admit the attention was nice.
The bartender set their drinks on the sticky bar top in front of them, and Jessica grabbed hers and Bethani’s, turning away from Joe with a, “thanks!” before heading to their table.
Joe followed. “You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” he said, voice low, mouth close to her ear.
Jessica fought a shiver, and Bethani’s surprise was evident when Joe trailed her to the table like a lost puppy.
“Bethani, this is Joe. Joe, this is my friend Bethani.”
“Nice to meet you,” Joe said, then abruptly yelled, “RICK!”
Joe hurried away from their table, and Jessica whipped her head around as he pulled a similarly dressed man into one of those single-arm, back-pounding hugging rituals only true bros participated in.
“Two hot guys drooling over you in one day?” Bethani said next to her. “I’d be annoyed if I didn’t love you so much.”
Jessica gave her a playful shove. “Jack was hardly drooling over me,” she said, then nodded in Joe’s direction. “Andhe’snot that hot.”
