Page 50 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

"My last year of college."

"Were they like…one-night things?" It felt like I was pulling the information out of him in an extremely awkward friendship way.

"You're suddenly awfully curious about my sexual history. What about you? You've only had sex with Aiden?"

I scrunched up my face. "Yeah."

My lifeguard laughed. "It seems like you want to change that."

"Maybe I do." I dug my heels into the sand. With you. Why couldn’t I just tell him that I liked him? Every time I came close, my lips seemed to press together, keeping my secret locked away. “So…about those other girls…”

He laughed. “You’re very nosy today.”

“And you’re avoiding the question.”

He turned away from me and looked up at the sky. "I told you that I'm not thrilled about my job this fall. I was kind of a mess my last year of college. I know that's not really an excuse."

"And I told you that I don't think you're a bad person."

"So you still like me?" He flashed me a smile.

"I really like you." I coughed. "As a frie

nd. Of course as a friend. You're my buddy."

"Right." His smile faded.

Fuck. What is wrong with me? That had been my best opportunity yet. Just tell him how you feel!

"You guys ready?!" Clint yelled over to us.

I was happy that I was being offered an avoidance tactic instead of just creating them in my head. I quickly stood up. I was still a little wet from my dip in the ocean. Hopefully that would prevent me from getting too sweaty. Whenever I worked out, I always seemed to get way sweatier than anyone else. And being nervous around my lifeguard wasn't going to help the situation. I was lucky that he wasn’t coming on my supposed five mile run tomorrow. He’d probably just keep on running away from me if he saw how sweaty and red I got.

My lifeguard slowly sat up, took off his sunglasses, and tossed them onto my towel. He looked up at me with his blue eyes.

I didn't want to play football. I wanted to fall asleep with his arms wrapped around me again. I wanted more than whatever it was we were. Somehow I needed to make him realize that. And since the words escaped me, maybe I could show him in a different way. By body tackling him into the sand during touch football, even if that was technically against the rules. It was the only logical option. I put my hand out for him. He grabbed it and I pulled him to his feet.

"Can I be on your team?" I asked. I didn't let go of his hand. Or would it be better to not be on his team? How could I flirt more? Tackling meant being on the opposite team. Unless I was going to throw in the towel and be really bad and tackle my own teammate. Which would be really hard for me to do because I loved winning. Maybe that’s why my being bad at love was so hard for me to accept.

"I'm not sure it's up to me, buddy." He squeezed my hand and then let it go.

"Oh, come on. You knew what I meant."

"Actually, I didn't. Maybe you could describe it in more detail." He smiled at me.

I knew he was messing with me, but it seemed like another perfect opportunity to tell him the truth. Why is this so awkward? I swallowed hard. His eyes were so distracting.

"Yo, guys! Come on!" Clint yelled again.

I smiled at my lifeguard and started walking toward the group of lifeguards that had formed away from the water. It was impossible to talk to him, so being more flirtatious was definitely the only thing I could do. I walked over to Clint. "Hey, your girlfriend seemed nice. Is she going to come play?"

"Who? Elle?" Clint laughed. "I don't have a girlfriend, Stalker Girl."

"Oh." Awkward.

"Okay, Reggie and I are the captains," Clint said. "I'll take J.J."

My lifeguard walked over and stood next to Clint. He whispered something in Clint's ear. My heart started beating fast. It felt like I was in high school all over again. I didn't want to be picked last. It was always so mortifying just standing, waiting. And I wanted to be on my lifeguard's team. I hoped he’d just told Clint to choose me next. I wouldn’t let them down. After all, I was a beast.

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