Becoming His (17 page)

“She doesn’t drink at parties.” She neglects to add the keyword,
anymore.
Instead, she turns to Jameson, indicating that the conversation is over.

“Alright, Bosse, you and Ace going to be captains?” As soon as Jameson says our last name, I look to him only to realize he’s speaking to Kendall. They’re doing their perplexing dance of flirting again.

“Ace won’t be a captain. You can be the other one,” she says, reaching for the glass of nearly straight alcohol he’s still holding. I know she’s flirting, so does Jameson.

“What’s the wager, sweetheart?” he asks, grinning.

“If your team wins, I’ll go on a date with you. If you lose though—”

“Consider yourself committed.” Jameson answers confidently. “I’ll take Max and Jenny.” He takes another large gulp of his drink.

“That’s not how it works!” Kendall cries.

“I left you Landon! And Ace is half fish!” Jameson argues.

Kendall rolls her eyes but doesn’t argue as she takes a long drink from my cup, and Jameson dives into the water.

“What are the stakes if we win?”

Kendall looks at me and shrugs in response. “I was going to make him wait another month,” I laugh and shake my head. I’m sure she already knows we’ll all be helping to ensure that Jameson wins.

“Alright, so the rules are there are no rules,” Jameson announces as he palms the basketball in the air. “Kendall, Ace, and Landon are on a team. Max, Jenny, and I are on the other. The first to fifteen wins. Landon, I’m going to assume you’re jumping the ball,” Jameson teases with a grin since neither Kendall nor I clear his shoulders. Landon looks down from where he’s standing beside me, his lips twitching.

“That’s probably a good idea,” he answers, stepping forward.

Max goes up against him. Both of them smile as they trade insults with one another. Jameson softly tosses the ball into the air, and we watch as Max comes down with the ball, using a bit of excessive force that Landon anxiously returns. Although I’ve played basketball countless times against boys in this very same pool, I suddenly feel trepidation running through me as I sag, feeling the abundance of testosterone surrounding me.

Landon continues to play defense against Max, but Max seems to get past him with little effort before jumping and dunking the ball in the hoop.

“Ace, you didn’t even try!” Kendall cries out in accusation. I look at her in disbelief.
Was she not watching the same bull attack the basket that I just saw?

“Scared?” Jameson taunts. Kendall shoots him an icy glare that only makes him laugh as he passes her the ball.

Max covers Landon on defense, and Jameson immediately swarms to Kendall, obviously enjoying the no rules-rule as he finds every excuse to touch her. Kendall seems a bit taken aback until she realizes he’s more distracted than she is.

She easily tosses me the ball as he expends too much attention on touching her waist. Jenny is a good seven feet from me, giggling at their interaction, so I turn and shoot the ball. Kendall cheers loudly as she gives Jameson a giant smile.

“Okay, okay,” Max says, taking the ball. “We’ll give you that one.” I look at him incredulously, and he drops his head back laughing at my reaction.

This time Landon is on Max again, not letting him get around as the two push and shove violently at one another, making me feel slightly uneasy. Max finally goes to pass it to Jenny, and I intercept and head to the other side of the pool. I make it down and am able to score another basket before I’m snatched up in the air. I can tell just from seeing the hands, it’s Max that has me, and I wriggle to get loose with a laugh.

“Didn’t you play soccer?” he asks. I don’t respond to his rhetorical question as I get loose and swim back to the other side of the shallow end for defense.

Jameson swims toward us with the ball and Kendall goes to guard him while Landon guards Jenny. I get the impression they’re either working to completely throw this game, or they’re testing me to see my reaction. My latter thought is confirmed as Jameson stares at me until I make eye contact with him. He gives me a mischievous grin and tosses the ball to Max, still keeping his eyes on me as they turn expectant, and then he winks.“Show us your D, Ace,” Jameson calls.

I feel my head shaking as I approach Max giving him a couple of feet as a buffer. His limbs are long enough that I know if I get too close, he’ll just go around me in one fellow swoop.

“You look nervous, Ace,” Max chides with a grin.

Just pretend it’s Kyle. Kyle, Kyle, Kyle
. Max looks at me and the furrow of his brow tells me he’s trying to figure out what I’m thinking.

I wait for him to move, but he doesn’t.

At all.

I let out a small sigh and take a couple of steps toward him. He grins, but still doesn’t make any attempt to move. I roll my eyes in an exaggerated fashion and get a little closer. A small chuckle makes his chest shake as he takes a step closer to me so we’re nearly touching. I raise a hand, setting it on his forearm palming the ball, and he lifts his opposite arm and places it on my waist.

“Come on, where did your big game go?” he teases.

My lips pull up in a smile against my will, and I shake my head again. Max’s smile turns up to the nth degree as he takes another step closer so our bodies barely graze. He leans forward, pressing against my body to the point I have to lean into him so I don’t fall backwards. It’s impossible to pretend he’s Kyle at this point. I glance down to ensure my bathing suit hasn’t betrayed me and still covers all necessary parts before I shove against the weight he’s continuing to administer.

Thankfully, he passes the ball over to Jameson, where Kendall practically leaps on top of him.

“That’s how you play defense,” Max says with a nod of his head, making my grin go lopsided as I try not to laugh.

The game continues and is easily the most physical game to ever take place in this pool as everyone crashes into one another, holding onto arms, backs, legs, waists, and nearly every other body part. I think Kendall has resigned to the fact that we’re going to lose and seems quite giddy about it as she hurls herself onto Jameson’s back once again.

We’re down by six, and the competitive voice inside my head begins to throw a small tantrum for the laziness I’ve exuded the entire game, not managing to ever get comfortable participating in this aggressive standoff. Jameson goes to pass the ball to Jenny, and I jump for it and unexpectedly crash into Max, who hardly seems affected as he holds the ball above me with a teasing grin.

I grip his arm and attempt to pull it down, quickly realizing it’s a miracle we’re only down by six when he doesn’t even flinch. Max reaches down and his fingers constrict on my thigh as he lifts my leg, hitching it on his waist. My lungs and heart have both forgotten how to work as I feel his arm rotate below me, grasping my other thigh with his hand precariously close to my backside, and he jumps in the air. I clutch his shoulders so I don’t fall back and hear Jameson and Jenny cheer, indicating he scored.

“You’re such a show off,” I say with mock disgust, still clutching his chest.

He lowers his other hand and wraps it around my other thigh, holding me against him in what can only be considered an intimate position.

“We win,” Max says, squeezing both of my thighs in his hands. My own rest against his broad shoulders, interrupting the intricate design covering his left shoulder. My eyes travel his face, taking in his short, dark hair, and long fringe of eyelashes that glisten from pool water. My attention drifts across his cheekbones that are nearly sharp to his lips curved up in a smirk. My eyes flash up to his as his intake of breath reminds me of how close we are. His gaze follows me, making me feel shy and a bit uneasy by the intimacy of this moment.

He seems to sense my discomfort as he slowly releases his grip and I slide against his wet torso, intently working to ignore that our bodies are pressing tightly against one another leaving little to the imagination.

Jameson thankfully breaks the discomfort as he plunges into the pool, drenching both Max and me as we move to uselessly shield ourselves. Jameson surfaces with a hoot and holler as he wraps his arms around Kendall.

“I told you so,” he sings.

T
he four of them decide to go inside and watch a scary movie. It’s just an excuse for Kendall to sit on Jameson’s lap, but I don’t give them a hard time about it, nor does anyone else after all of the effort he’s put into trying to get close to Kendall. Max and I stay outside where we lie in the grass, the warm evening air drying our skin as we sit in a comfortable silence.

It amazes me that a little over a month ago I hardly knew Max, and now we’re so close.

“I’m glad we’re friends,” I think aloud.

“Me too.” His voice is soft, making me turn to look at him. He’s staring at the sky, the corners of his mouth relaxed. “Why are you trying to read my mind?” he asks, turning to look at me.

I smile at him. “Sometimes it surprises me how well you seem to know me. Generally people can’t read me as well as you do.” Max looks at me, taking in my words.

“I know,” he replies simply. He turns and looks back at the sky and the silence returns.

“You should break up with him.” Max’s words catch me by surprise. Since his comment at Maggie Lou’s, there haven’t been any instances that have come close to clouding the waters, making me question if what he’d said was some perverse joke. I focus on the stars as my mind races with how I should reply. “You seem happier when he’s not around.” This comment is a curve ball. I anxiously wait to see if there’s more, to know what’s going on between us. “He’s kind of an ass.” His words and tone make my lungs deflate. He sounds like my sisters.

Silence settles between us again.

“I don’t think we’ve ever really taken it all that seriously,” I say in an attempt to evade any more questions.

“Then what?”

I divert my eyes from the freckled sky to look at Max; I can only see the outline of his profile again.

“What do you mean?”

Max turns his head to face me and his eyes meet mine. There’s a seriousness that I can feel behind them, and I don’t even know how I know this. Nothing and everything seems different with the way he’s looking at me. “After the douche is gone, who’s next on the long list of Ace admirers?”

I blink several times and turn my attention from his to lighten the mood because I’m pretty sure I’m starting to hallucinate from all the chlorine I swallowed tonight. “Lately I keep hearing I’m dating the wrong kind of people, people that aren’t
my type
.”

“Oh yeah, who do they say is your type?”

You
. The word is on the tip of my tongue. I can hear it ringing in my ears, and I’m both shocked and a little disappointed it doesn’t leave my mouth. I shake my head to get the thought out and lift my shoulders in a shrug, focusing on an airplane flying overhead.

I look back over at Max and hold his stare a moment. My hand begins to itch with the need to reach out and touch him, to feel the rough stubble along his jaw.

I clear my throat and feel the familiar pull on my lips as I look up to his eyes that still appear serious.“What about you? What’s next for Max?”

“You.”

A meteor crashing down from the sky would shock me less than his admission. I feel my eyes widen slightly as I swallow, reminding myself to breathe as my eyes dance across his face, half anticipating to see a smirk, or a gleam in his blue eyes to tell me that he’s joking. He continues to stare back at me stoically.

“You’d get bored of me,” I admit.

“I think I’d be anything but bored.”

I don’t know if it’s the darkness or his admission that makes me suddenly feel brave as I continue to keep Max’s stare. He reaches out and gently cups the right side of my face, his thumb lightly gliding across my cheek so soft it’s a whisper.

“Ace!” Kendall calls, opening the patio door as I pull back, feeling my heart thrumming in my neck. “Guess what!” She races over to us and drops to her knees.

Her smile slides from her face as she turns her head looking from me to Max. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Pretend I wasn’t here!” She stammers, standing up.

“Woo hoo!” Jameson’s yell penetrates the night air as he jumps into the pool creating a colossal wave as the others follow him outside, cheering.

Landon sprints over to us. I’m still focused on Max’s words, and feeling his touch that I’m slightly startled to feel Landon grab my hand, pulling me to my feet before he grips my waist and hauls me up into a fireman hold. The pool is barely visible before we slice through the water.

T
he next morning Max and I go running. Things seem to have slightly transitioned between us as we hold one another’s eyes longer than necessary and gently brush against one another, not offering an apology as we do.

When we get back, Max stands in front of me, his chest heaving from our last sprint. “What are you doing today?”

“Jenny and I are heading to an art gallery that she’s trying to get featured in this morning. Then I’m supposed to go see Eric.” Max nods, as his jaw visibly clenches. “What about you?” I ask.