Page 28 of Playmaker

No distractions.

For now, we’ll have a fun-ass time together.

“CANNONBALL!” I echo Ethan and do a somersault of my own. It’s something my dad would highly disapprove of, considering there’s a risk of getting injured, but this is one day where I get to relax and enjoy time with my friends at a place I thought I’d never return to or enjoy again. I’m not going to pass that up.

The coolness of the water makes the heat and lust I felt moments ago vanish instantly, and I give myself a few seconds to enjoy the quietness of being submerged. It allows me the chance to clear my head and collect my thoughts.

Whenever I’m around Maddie I seem to forget right and wrong. The line is always blurred when it comes to her, but here, beneath the water, it’s quiet. I don’t have an angel or a devil on my shoulder trying to convince me what to do. I can bask in the silence without any expectations from my father. I can drown out the grief I feel about my mother. I can justbe.

When I reach the surface, I gasp and shake out my curls.

“What the hell, man?” I blink my eyes open to see Ethan swimming in place directly in front of me. “I almost had to start searching for you.”

“Is enjoying being underneath the water a crime?” I’m wearing the smile I’ve grown accustomed to displaying to appease others, and it seems to work on Ethan, who rolls his eyes and swims over to Maya without an ounce of shyness showing now.

I make a mental note to ask about their conversation later. Clearly, it went well.

Maddie’s gaze burns into the side of my face, but not with the type of heat I want. She seems to be the only one the smile didn’t placate. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. Maddie has always paid attention to me more closely than anyone else in my life.

Still, she doesn’t ask why I took so long rising to the surface. Instead, she swims closer until her body is inches from mine and says, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“Because your brother launched himself off the boat.”

“Cameron.”

I heave a sigh. “I don’t have an answer for you, Mads. It’s never been cut-and-dried for us, and you know that. What happened last night was complicated, and our next steps can’t be based only on the attraction we feel for each other. We need to talk about this and consider all the consequences.Reallytalk.”

She glances over her shoulder to where Ethan and Maya are in a splashing war with each other. A part of me feels like asking if she’s aware Maya is into Ethan, but I don’t want to upset her. Not when I’m so close to getting her to see me tonight.

“And how do you propose we do that?” she asks.

“Come to my house after I get home from the gym tonight. It’ll be a place where we’ll have no distractions.”

She scoffs. “No distractions? We can’t seem to be around each other for two minutes without eye-fucking each other.”

My lips tilt into a grin. “So, you’re admitting to eye-fucking me?”

“How could I not when you’re wearing hoochie shorts?”

I glance down at myself in the murky water. “Hoochieshorts? I am not wearinghoochieshorts.”

“Girls from two boats over were staring, Cam. They leave little to the imagination.”

“Are you jealous?” I reach a hand beneath the water and place it on her hip, my pupils dilating at the effect my touch has on her. Any doubts I had of her opinion about last night are gone. I can tell when I rub my thumb across her hip bone just how much she’s thought about it, anddamnI’m obsessed at how sexy she looks tugging on her bottom lip.

“How could I be jealous?” She closes her eyes as I skim my fingers right above her bikini bottoms. “I have no reason to be. We hooked up in a closet last night. That doesn’t mean we’re in a relationship.”

“Never said it did.” Flicking my eyes over her shoulder, I see Maya and Ethan are still distracted with each other, and with Maddie’s back facing them, it allows me to have some fun with her. “Just because we only hooked up once doesn’t mean you can’t be jealous. For example, if some other guy touched youhere. . .” She clamps down on a moan when I place my hand between her legs. “I would be very envious of them.”

“Cam,”she warns, wanting and breathless. “Ethan is—”

“I’m fully aware of where he is,” I croon, withdrawing my hand. “I only wanted to know if you’ve thought about me since last night, and now I have my answer.”

She holds my stare, regal and unflinching. “And if you’ve been wondering all day about my opinion, then I guess that means I have my answer too.”

“Maybe you do.” A beat and then, “We still need to talk about things, though. Can you be at my house by eight?”

She floats a few feet away, putting distance between us, and it isn’t until now that I realize how empty it feels without her nearby.

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