Page 72 of Sporty Girls Don't Fall For Loners

“What? No. I’m just happy he won’t be alone.”

“Uh huh.”

“You guys are getting along so much better now than you did when he first moved here,” Rylee says. “And I catch you looking at him from time to time.”

“I do not,” I insist.

“Uh huh,” they both say.

“We’re friends now,” I say. “And my seeing his naked chest has nothing to do with it.”

Mia and Rylee’s jaws nearly hit the cement. “What?” they both nearly yell.

My cheeks heat up when I realize what came out of my mouth. I wasn’t even thinking about his bare chest. I haven’t given it much thought since…Okay, fine. Maybe I do sometimes think about it. But that doesn’t mean anything…

“Spill now,” Rylee demands.

I sigh. “It’s no big deal. Just, Kade happened to be walking to the bathroom the other day without anything on but jeans. I may have glanced at his naked chest…”

“Oh my gosh, this is major news!” Mia says, then lowers her voice when the surrounding kids turn our way. “I mean,” she whispers, “this is super juicy material. You saw Kade without a shirt! How does he look? Does he have a six-pack? He looks pretty muscular.”

“Um…he’s got abs,” I admit.

“Was he sexy? He was totally sexy, wasn’t he?”

“Mia, you’re blowing things way out of proportion—”

“Did he know that you looked?” Rylee asks. “I mean, did he do it on purpose?”

“Why would he do it on purpose?”

Mia playfully jabs her shoulder into mine. “To show off to you.”

“And why would he do that?” I ask.

“Hey, Rylee, Mia, and Zoey,” Mason says as he joins us. “I’m so happy I’m part of your group, Miss Fearless.” He leans forward to kiss Rylee’s cheek. “Sucks about Zoey, though. Maybe you can complain? You’re the QB and have status, right?” He glances from one to the other. “Uh, was I interrupting something? I was totally interrupting something, wasn’t I? I’m sorry. I can go…”

Rylee grabs hold of his arm. “You don’t have to go. Zoey has just informed us that Kade purposely walked around her aunt and uncle’s house without a shirt.”

“I didn’t say it was on purpose—”

“What do you think it means?” Mia asks him. “Was he trying to show off? Zoey said his abs are awesome.”

“I never said—”

“Was he trying to get a reaction from her?” Rylee asks. “Maybe to see if she finds him attractive?”

“I’m like standing right here…”

“Hmm…” Mason rubs his chin. “Maybe he just wanted to walk around without a shirt? Maybe he was on his way to take a shower? Or did he just wake up? Lots of guys sleep shirtless, you know.”

Mia and Rylee frown. “That’s not romantic,” Mia grumbles.

“Who said anything about romance?” I demand.

“He’s kind of a bad boy, isn’t he?” Mason asks. “Maybe that’s what guys like him do.”

“He’s not really a bad boy,” I say. “He’s just, well…” I look at him and see that he’s still standing on the side, all alone. “He’s just had a hard life.” I turn back to my friends. “Can we just forget about it? I’m going to ask him to join us. I can’t stand him being there all alone.”

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