Page 102 of The Pact

McKayla sighs. “Yeah, I think so. She has a fever again. I’ll keep an eye on it. We should get the DNA results any day now. Johnny is going to add her to his health plan with the army as soon as paternity is confirmed. At least we won’t have to worry about medical bills anymore.”

I don’t tell her that my new job will come with health insurance and I could inquire about making Skye my dependent if needed. I keep that possibility to myself because now that Dad is involved, I won’t bank on having that job until it’s official. I don’t trust my father; he’s gone back on his word other times in the past.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to stay? I know Skye keeps you up all night when she has a temperature ...”

Mc shakes her head. “Just go to LA and enjoy the beach for me too. Just be careful out there.”

She gives me a probing look and I blush. Since the night of the party with Ashton, Mc has been giving me knowing looks. I wonder if she can somehow tell that I had sex.

Does one look different when she’s no longer a virgin?

My phone buzzes again in my hands and I decide to tell her when I get back. This isn’t a conversation we can exhaust in a few minutes; I’m sure Mc will want to know all the details.

I run out of the door and climb into the backseat of the Jeep.

The atmosphere at the beach is intoxicating. There’s a crowd between athletes with their teams, specialized press and general public here to see the races.

Holden meets us by the registration canopy with passes for everyone including me. The guys are given thick A4 envelopes with the schedule of the races for different disciplines and promotional material including some set times for photos with the sponsors. There’s also a party on the beach organized for tonight.

A strong arm surrounds my shoulders and Shep’s clean scent invades my nostrils. I instinctively move closer, intimidated by the whole environment. “This is going to be your job soon,” he comments. “Getting our registration packets, making sure we’re ready for promo events. You’re gonna be busy.”

The way he says it, wiggling his eyebrows and smiling makes me think that there’s an innuendo somewhere in his words and he doesn’t mean that I’ll be busy just with actual work.

When I meet his gaze my hunch is confirmed because he lowers his head to whisper in my ear. “I love having you here, Smokey. The thought of having you waiting for me after the race will make me compete with a constant boner.”

I’d laugh but he looks absolutely serious. “So then maybe I shouldn’t be here? I don’t want to be a distraction,” I offer.

“Nah.” He chuckles. “You’re the good kind of distraction. Just so you know, the guys and I have a little wager today. The one who places better and gets the higher score overall gets to call dibs on having you in his room tonight.”

This time I laugh, slapping the back of my hand on Shep’s solid chest. “Ha. I see how it is. I’m nothing but a trophy to you.”

His smile widens. “The best kind of trophy. So I gotta win because I have some wickedly good things in mind if I get you all to myself.”

The warmth in his voice causes a wave of excitement to run down my spine and settle all the way between my legs. “I’ll be cheering you on then,” I say a little breathlessly.

“Yeah, you do that. But I have plans even if Ashton wins. It isn’t hard to convince him to share normally.”

I look at him a little perplexed. “Wasn’t sharing the whole point of our game?”

Shep nods. “Yeah. And eventually we’ll play all together. But what I have in mind doesn’t require such a crowd.”

I’m about to ask him for more details when the first elimination heat for the Freestyle category is announced.

My gaze moves to Kelley, who walks toward the front where Holden has all his stuff ready.

Shep and I walk toward him and I’m about to go wish him good luck but a pretty brunette in a pink wetsuit precedes me. “Hey Kel, good luck out there. I hope to see you later at the party ...”

An immediate pang of jealousy works its way through me but I’m stunned by Kelley’s rude reaction to the obvious flirting of the girl.

He just walks away without a word, as if she were invisible.

“What did just happened?”

Shep shakes his head with a smirk on his handsome features. “Yeah, that’s Theresa.”

I almost gasp. I heard some stuff about that girl, mostly here and there from the guys. “That Theresa?”

He nods. “Yeah.”

---