Page 32 of One Pucking Destiny

“Call it,” my mom says.

“Heads,” Beckett calls.

“Heads it is. Good job, babe.” She blows him a kiss before returning to her book.

“We’re first,” Beckett states.

“What?” Max snaps. “She doesn’t even have a coin!” His arms extend toward my mom.

“She didn’t even flip!” Jaden protests.

“Because she doesn’t have a coin to flip,” Max grumbles.

Beckett shoots us a cocky grin. “A coin flip is fair and square. Stop whining,” he says before pulling his team into a huddle.

“Come on, guys. Let’s get a game plan,” Bash says, motioning for us to join him in the middle for our own huddle.

“Dude. There was no coin.” Jaden’s eyes bulge.

“I know.” Bash chuckles. “Whatever. We’ll still kick their ass.” He gives us a little pep talk that, when summarized, boils down to “don’t lose.”

“Hands in, team winners,” Jaden cheers.

“That’s kind of a lame name. Don’t you think? Winners? It’s very on the nose. I think we can do better,” Max says.

“We don’t have time to debate a name. On three. One, two, three, winners!” Bash cheers.

“Winners?” My lackluster cheer comes out as more of a question.

I eye my mom, reading comfortably in the sunshine, and I’m jealous. Why am I here and not beside her there?

Bash places his hand on the exposed skin of my back. “You’ll do great.”

His touch does all sorts of things to me, but giving me false hope in my athletic ability isn’t one of them.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

BASH

The ball flies directly toward Ariana, her eyes wide and her body frozen in shock. I lunge toward her. My hand reaches the space in front of her face just as the ball hits my hand. The hit isn’t well placed, but Jaden gets to it and spikes it over the net. Eddy misses the spike, and a point goes to our team.

“Winners are on fire!” Jaden chants.

Ariana grabs my wrist. “Please don’t leave my side. Better yet, please get me out of this.”

I thread my fingers through hers beneath the water and squeeze. “I’m afraid it’s too late to get out of this one, but I’ll protect you.”

“That ball was coming right at my face. I saw it, butI couldn’t move. I just froze.” Her big brown eyes hold mine. “I’m not cut out for athletics.”

Looking at Ariana and her smoking body, I find it hard to believe that she’s ill-equipped to play sports. More accurately, I think she just never has and, therefore, doesn’t have the confidence to do so. From what I know about Ariana, she excels at everything she commits to. She has this fiery, stubborn nature to her. I’d guess that knowing nothing about volleyball makes her brain tell her body not to try.

I move to pull my hand from hers, but she holds me tight. “I’m serious. I don’t admit this often, but I’m over my head here. Get me through this stupid game without looking like a fool or getting a black eye, and I’ll owe you.”

So many snarky comebacks come to the forefront, but the genuine nature of Ari’s plea holds them back. At this moment, I’m not the guy trying to get in her pants. I’m the man making her feel safe, and that feeling is better than anything.

“You’re good. I promise.” I squeeze her hand again, not wanting to let go.

---