Page 6 of The Trouble with Players

He glanced down at his shorts. “The guy at the store said they were vintage.”

I winced. “He played you, dude.”

He shook his head and walked away.

“Not everyone can afford to pull off the ridiculously-expensive-but-trying-to-look-like-a-beach-bum-look you’re sporting,” a voice nearby said.

I spun around. Crew stood behind me sipping a beer. His eyes were nearly concealed by the Sharks ball cap he wore low on his head, his messy hair peeking out all around it. My teeth clenched. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we were pointing out other people’s indiscretions. Have we hit that point in our relationship already?”

“You don’t need to be such a bitch. The guy clearly thought you were cute and wanted to talk to you.”

“Just because someone wants to talk to me doesn’t mean I wanna talk to them,” I challenged. “Case in point.”

Crew’s jaw ticked as if dealing with me was so difficult. “You’re no better than him. You’re no better than anyone.”

“Excuse me?” I said.

“Nope. Excuse me.” He turned away from us and headed inside the bar.

“Holy shit,” Gina said.

My eyes jumped to hers. “What?”

“He’s even better looking up close.”

I hitched my thumb over my shoulder. “That’s what you took away from that?”

She shrugged guiltily. “I didn’t hear much. I was staring at his blue eyes and chiseled jaw line.”

I rolled my eyes. Good looks meant nothing. All they did was conceal lies and mask deceit.

Gina and I spent most of the night on the patio, avoiding straw hat guy and asshole ball players. I filled Gina in on all the places I’d traveled while abroad, my phone call with my mom, and my current room situation.

“Sounds like both of your parents made decisions for you,” she said.

“I’m an adult. They can’t tell me what to do.”

Gina stifled a smile.

“What?”

“Ironically, you sound very much like a little kid right now.”

I tilted my head to the side. “You know you’re one of the only people on this planet I’d let speak to me that way, right?”

She pressed her hand to her heart. “Honored.”

I took a swig of my beer to conceal my grin.

“Seriously, though, I think you and Crew need to get whatever’s going on figured out before it gets worse,” she offered.

“You know what? That’s a great idea.” I moved to the deck bar and ordered a couple tequila shots. I handed Gina one and lifted mine into the air. “To another amazing summer.”

“To another amazing summer,” she repeated before we downed our shots, the straight alcohol burning a path down my throat.

“Now, let’s go inside,” I said, starting to feel the effects of all the alcohol I’d drank.

“Oh,” Gina said, finally catching on to my true intent. “That’s probably not the best idea,” she called, following after me.

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