Page 33 of Letting it Ride

I swing the paddle as the ball comes toward me and completely miss, almost hitting Grant with the paddle instead.

He’s grinning, amused, as I come back with the ball.

“How are you so good at this?” I grumble, hitting it back toward our opponents.

He bats the ball easily as it comes his way, a clean shot that scores us a point. “I played tennis in college.” He shrugs.

“Where did—” I break off as the ball comes to my side. I make contact this time, and the ball flies over the tiny net and lands somewhere beyond the table. Rats.

“Maybe we should go back to cornhole,” Grantlaughs, watching the other team go searching for the ball.

I shrug, smiling. “Or we can find something we both suck at.”

He laughs as the other team serves the ball.

Ultimately, we lose with only three points to our name, all of them scored by Grant, of course. Can’t say I’m not impressed.

“You want to sit and talk?” Grant motions to some lounge chairs.

“Sure.” I follow Grant in that direction. He bypasses the main sets of chairs, settling himself instead on something that looks suspiciously like a bed.

Grant kicks off his sandals and leans back against the pillows. “Glad we grabbed one of these. The daybeds are always taken.”

I chew on my lip. This is moving a little fast. But then again, I said I wanted a vacation fling, didn’t I? And we’re in public. Nothing is going to happen… right?

I slip out of my flip-flops and climb onto the bed next to him, far enough away that our bodies aren’t touching.

Grant laughs as he lounges, putting one arm on the pillows behind me. “Afraid to get too close to me?”

If I had any doubt that Grant was looking for avacation fling too, it’s gone now. But now that we’ve moved from easy flirting while engaged in another activity to this one-on-one, I’m feeling a little uneasy. Not like he’s a bad guy or anything, obviously. Just… he’s not the one I really want.

But then, that’s the point of all this, right? Moving fast. We have limited time. It’s not like I’m going to date him after all this, so we don’t need the slow burn, the buildup, the will-he-won’t-he spark of uncertainty.

Which, honestly, is disappointing, because that’s the best part of romance novels and, by extension, romantic relationships.

I’m torn as I lean away from him, just a little. I want a whirlwind romance, the spark and passion and all that stuff you see on TV and in the books. But I want something real. With Cam, it could be. A frown plays on my lips, one I have to fight to hide.

Is it too much to wish that I could have all that on this once-in-a-lifetime trip? Are my expectationsthatunreasonable?

I don’t see any of that with Grant. I’m about to excuse myself when another voice breaks in, sinking my stomach and putting me on the defensive with four words.

“What the fuck, Addie?”

13

CAM

I’ve been looking all over for Addie for almost an hour. I figured I’d give her time to cool off before I came to apologize, but I didn’t think I’d find her like this.

The guy she’s following onto the daybed reminds me of the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, luring his prey closer and closer.

He does the high-school move where you put your arm on the back of something, behind the girl you’re with and then let it slowly migrate down to her shoulders. It was sleazy then, and it’s sleazy now, especially if you’re a goddamn adult.

I storm over toward them, anger clouding my vision. Maybe he’s a nice enough guy, and maybe he’s not actually trying to get in her pants, but right nowI’m not in any mood to give him the benefit of the doubt. I don’t know what game she’s playing, but this isn’t the kind of guy she should be spending time with. I’m not sure I want her spending time with any guy, to be honest.

“What the fuck, Addie?” I snap as I close in on them.

Addie looks up at me, her mouth falling open.

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