Page 265 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 9
"I'm sure I do somewhere." I leaned over to rummage through my bag again, but he grabbed my hand.
"Here," he said. He held my hand as wrote his number on the back of it. He rubbed his thumb against the ink and it smeared slightly. I wasn't sure if it was because I was sweaty or because I was wearing sunscreen. Just the thought of sunscreen was a lie. It was definitely the sweat. I was a mess.
Reggie brought my hand up to his mouth and blew on it. I swallowed hard and looked up at him. He was handsome. He had sandy blonde hair and his skin wasn't nearly as tan as the other lifeguards. There was something about him that just seemed normal and somehow familiar and comforting. He was more like a person than a model. But he was still ripped and his smile was bright. I quickly looked away when he dropped my hand.
"Thanks. I'll text you later."
"Okay, great. I’ll see you next week if I don’t see you sooner. It's going to be lots of fun."
"Sounds good."
"It was nice meeting you, Mila." He went to hug me at the same time I put my hand out for him to shake, so I ended up rubbing my palm against his chest.
"Oh, sorry," I laughed.
"Geez, you're already trying to feel me up? I'm going to have to keep my eye on you. See you later." He smiled at me and walked away.
I sighed and went down to the water. The breeze coming off the ocean felt refreshing. I didn't want Reggie to like me. I wanted J.J. to like me. I folded my arms across my chest. Liking J.J. was like being on a rollercoaster ride. I just wanted us to both be on a carousel or something instead. I was done with the ups and downs.
"Hey," J.J. said. He had run over to me. "It's Grottos night. You in?"
I looked behind me. The girl with blonde hair was staring at us. "I'm all sandy. I think I just want to go take a shower. I'll come next time." I smiled at him.
"You sure? You can just rinse off on the boardwalk. It's not a big deal. I'm sandy too."
"That's because you kept cheating and tackling me."
"Tackle football is more fun. Come on, let's go."
"I just feel all gross. I'll catch you later. Besides, tons of other people are going with you. You don't need me."What am I doing? Am I just giving up?I'm such a coward.I looked out at the water. I didn't want to compete for his attention. This was exhausting. I wanted to curl up in my bed and go to sleep. Where had my boldness from earlier gone?
"Are you okay?"
"I just feel really tired. All I want to do is shower and sleep."
"Okay. Do you want me to walk you home?" He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.
It was pretty clear that he didn’t want to. All his friends were already leaving. "No." I laughed. "I'm not sick. Just tired. Go. Have fun."
"Okay, Jellyfish Girl. I'll see you tomorrow." He put his hand on my shoulder for a second and then walked away.
I watched him go up to the girl he had been talking to. She bumped her shoulder against his and they started laughing as they walked toward the boardwalk together.
Maybe I was wrong about being ready to date. When Aiden had dumped me I felt so pathetic and worthless. I felt worthless again right now. I wasn't as pretty as the girl J.J. was talking to. I couldn't compete with her. Besides, if J.J. really did like me, he'd probably already be with me.
And what was with that crap about seeing me tomorrow? He didn’t have my number. He’d never asked for it. All he meantwas that he was going to stop by Sweet Cravings to get a free scoop. I was just the schmuck that had offered him a summer of free ice cream.
I could feel the tears running down my cheeks. I didn't want to feel like this again. I grabbed my stuff and stormed back to my apartment, trying to hide my tears the whole way.
Those Summer Nights - Chapter 16
Sunday
I sat down in the back room of the ice cream shop and pulled out my phone. It was hard to get out of bed in the morning. It felt like I was back at school, moping around. But I knew I had to fight the feeling. I couldn't get sucked back into that hole again. And if I thought once more about that blonde slut falling asleep in J.J.'s arms, I'd lose it.
To J.J.’s credit, he did stop by the ice cream shop on Friday. And he hadn’t asked for free ice cream or anything. He just asked if I wanted to hang out. I’d told him I had plans with Kristen. Which was true…dinner with Kristen was one of my favorite things.
Regardless, I was pretty sure he was growing very suspicious that Kristen didn’t exist. But I didn’t care. I wasn’t sure if I knew how to be just his friend, so I had to keep turning him down. It was the only thing I could do to keep my heart intact. How was I supposed to hang out with him for hours as friends when all I wanted to do was reenact our kiss? Or the way he touched me in the sand? It wasn’t possible. There was no way to go back to being platonic.
