Page 58 of Those Summer Nights (Sweet Cravings 2)

He smiled and shook it. “Reggie.”

“Nice to meet you. Thanks for letting me join you guys tonight. I know it was super last minute.”

Reggie glanced at me and then back at her. “Oh um…yeah, no problem. You ladies ready to head out?”

“Yup.” Kristen walked past both of us and outside. I closed the door and locked it.

Reggie cleared his throat. “So…is it just the two of you that live there?”

“Yes, we got so lucky. Well, I got lucky. Mila was in need of a roomie and I was in need of a place. It was a match made in heaven.”

“That is lucky,” he said. “I live in that big apartment down the boardwalk and I have three other roommates. It’s always hectic.”

“Oh…do you live close to J.J.?” I asked.

His eyebrows lowered slightly when he turned to me. “He lives down the hall from me. A bunch of the lifeguards live in that building actually.”

“I didn’t know you were a lifeguard,” Kristen said.

“Yeah, Mila didn’t tell you?”

“She mentioned that you played football with her. And that you were really bad, but that’s about it.”

He laughed.

“I did not say that.” If Reggie wasn’t standing between us, I would have hit her. “I just told her we lost.”

Kristen shrugged. “Logical conclusion then.”

He turned back to me and smiled.

I noticed how he seemed more intent on looking at me than Kristen. I never knew with my lifeguard, but it was very clear with Reggie that this was supposed to be a date. It was refreshing. I thought I no longer knew the difference. But at the same time, it also made me feel horrible. He seemed really nice and he was definitely cute. But I had a thing for tall, dark, and handsome idiots.

“I don’t know if Kristen plays any football, but she plays volleyball and she’s a seriously amazing runner,” I said. “She runs like five miles every morning.”

“Oh really?” He turned back to her. “I run every morning too.”

“On the beach or the boardwalk?” she asked.

“The beach of course. Running in the sand is an even better workout.”

“I know! I can’t believe how many people I see running on the boardwalk. Amateurs.”

They were definitely hitting it off. I was starting to like running, but they were on a whole different level. I mean…what was wrong with running on the boardwalk? At least you wouldn’t get sand in your shoes.

“Well that was easy to find, I probably didn’t really need an escort,” I said as we stepped onto th

e boardwalk. The music could be heard as soon as I had exited my apartment. It would have been impossible to miss it. A huge stage had been erected on the beach and there was a live band playing music. At 8 a.m. none of this had been here. It was impressive how fast they’d put it together.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to make sure I got to see you again." Reggie smiled at me.

Stop it. "Psh. But I sucked at football. Like…hard."

"You don't suck at football. It was ridiculously unfair that they put J.J. on you. He's one of the best players."

I sighed at the mention of J.J.’s name. And over the fact that Reggie was staring at me instead of Kristen again. “So where do you two want to sit?” I asked.

“Oh.” Reggie glanced at Kristen and then back at me. “The three of us? Well…” He looked around the crowd as we walked toward the stage.

---