Page 52 of Raine Out (Grand Slam 2)

Alex

After we lose another game to Butch and Raine, I stand to the side and watch them take on Stone and his wife. Raine tries to swat one of Stone’s bounce shots off of the table, but gets her arm caught in the sleeve of her dress. She chugs two cups and then yanks off her dress and throws it on a chair.

The entire male population around the table almost passes out en masse. I’m guessing none of us had any idea what was hiding under her dress. Her bright green swimsuit is cut almost down to her navel—revealing a good portion of her perfectly rounded breasts.

“Good Lord, Raine,” Butch says, looking down at her. “If you’re trying to distract Stone, good work. I’m not even sure he can breathe right now.”

I don’t know about Stone, but I definitely can’t breathe. She grabs a ponytail thing from her wrist and twists her hair on top of her head as she looks up at Butch, “You know I play to win. Center back, double shot. Let’s go.”

Raine throws a lob toward the cup and Butch throws a clothesline a second after her. Both balls land in the same cup one right after the other. It’s the second time they’ve aced that move. They work well together—too well. It’s making me a little jealous until Raine glances around the table. Her eyes stop when they find mine. She sees me looking at her and smiles.

I walk over and whisper, “When you’re done playing, can we get a little more alone time?”

“What? Are you done? Don’t you want a rematch?”

“A rematch alone with you, yes,” I say, taking her hand. “With beer bong, no.”

“It’s pong, Alex,” she says, her eyes twinkling. “Beer pong. Don’t you know anything?”

I stroke my hand up and down her arm. “I don’t like games that much.”

“Okay, Romeo,” Butch says, shoving me away, “I need my partner back. I have money on these games.”

“I’ll find you later,” I say, backing up, my eyes still firmly fixed with hers.

When she looks back at the table, I see Allie trying to make her way over to me. I head quickly in the other direction to look for Sophie. I find her where she always is—wrapped up in Seb’s arms. This time, they’re leaning up against a wall, talking to our agent.

“Seb, I just need ten minutes alone with you,” Jeff says, his voice tinged with frustration. “Sophie doesn’t mind.”

“Don’t speak for her,” Seb snarls. “And I mind. We’ve talked about everything we need to—”

“Seb, I don’t mind,” Sophie says, trying to push through the circle Seb’s arms have formed around her. He pulls her tighter to him.

As I get closer, I see Jeff’s normally jovial face is strained and angry. I’ve never seen him upset with Seb. Of course, the millions he made in commissions off Seb’s last contract would make anyone happy.

“Hey, Soph,” I say, reaching out my hand to her. “I need to borrow you for a second.”

She grabs my hand. As I start to pull her away, Seb switches his glare from Jeff to me.

“Damn, Seb,” I say, dropping her hand. “I just need to talk to her for a second. I promise I’ll return her in the condition in which she was received.”

Seb shakes his head. “Yeah, sorry, man. That look wasn’t meant for you.”

“I need another drink,” Sophie says, rising on tiptoe to kiss Seb. “Babe, we’ll be at the bar when you’re done here.”

“You’ve got two minutes,” Seb growls at Jeff as Sophie pushes me away from them.

“What’s going on there?” I whisper as I wrap my arm around her.

“I have no idea,” she whispers, “but none of it’s good. Jeff seems like he’s always in a bad mood. He’s on an all-expenses-paid trip in St. John. You’d think he could lighten up a little bit. Is he always like that?”

“Not really. He’s like one of the guys normally.” I motion to the bartender for another beer. “What do you want, Soph?”

“May I have a mai tai, please?” she says, smiling at the bartender.

“A woman as beautiful as you can have anything she wants,” he says, smiling back at her. “I mean, anything—”

“No,” I say, pointing at him as I pull Sophie a few steps away from the bar.

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