Page 17 of Changing the Game

When she tilts her chin up to look at me, there’s something about her smile that seems forced. It doesn’t reach her eyes. “I can see why you like these guys. The way they rib each other reminds me of home.” The sadness in her voice pulls on a heartstring I didn’t know I had. I want to fix it for her. But I can’t.

Instead, I squat down next to the beauty beside me, balancing on the balls of my feet, not in the mood for a sandy ass. “Yeah. I can see that. Axel definitely reminds me of your brother when he’s trying to be a dick.” And maybe I want to put that thought in her brain, in case she ever gets the urge to think about Axe as more than a ridiculous flirt.

“Oh, ew. You had to go there?”

Mission accomplished.

“He’s nothing like Aiden.” She reaches out and tries to shove me off balance with a push to my shoulder, but it would take a hell of a lot more than that.

“If that’s what you’ve got to tell yourself.” I stand to my full height and offer her my hand. An electric current sparks between us when I tug her to her feet.

Carys’s head barely reaches my chest.

She twists the feather between her fingers. “My grandmother used to say feathers brought you luck. That they were a sign that someone was watching over you, keeping you safe.” She places it in my hand. “For luck, Coop.” Then she reaches down, grabs her discarded flip-flops, and walks ahead of me before peeking over her shoulder to see if I’m following. “Come on, Coop. Walk with me. I’m pretty sure I’ve got time to kill before Em’s ready to go home.”

“Yeah... about that.” I look down, momentarily captivated by the sway of Carys’s hips in her short shorts. She’s tiny and delicate in a way that brings all my protective instincts roaring to life.

“Your girl sounds like she’s planning on spending the night.” In two strides, I catch up to the woman before me and try to stuff that thought back to the far edges of my mind. Keeping her locked in any kind of friend zone seems more difficult now than it does back home in Kroydon Hills.

“Great. She drove.” Carys kicks the warm sand in front of her, seemingly annoyed. “I guess I’ll grab an Uber when we get back to the house.”

“I’ll take you home.” Dad would kill me if I let her Uber instead of offering her a ride.

She turns around to face me and walks backward. “You got a car in Cali, Coop? I thought you gave Nattie your Jeep.”

“I did give Nat the Jeep. But I bought an older one about a year ago. I needed something out here when I wasn’t deployed.”

“Do you like it? Being out here, so far away from home? Is being a SEAL everything you wanted it to be?” She’s still walking backward when she trips over something hidden in the sand.

I catch her, tugging her close before she goes down.

Carys’s wild, emerald-green eyes dart to mine as I hold her against my chest.

She grabs my arms, steadying herself as her fingertips singe my skin.

Damn it. What is it about this girl?

She’s everything I’m not allowed to want.

“You can let go, Coop.” She presses up on her toes, leaning into me. Her warm breath skates over my skin as she whispers, “I’m okay.”

“Yeah. Be careful. I don’t need to call Dad and Katherine and tell them that you got hurt on my watch.” I reach down and smooth her hair away from both sides of her face, trying to remind myself that she’s my stepsister and this can’t happen, but failing miserably.

“It’s a good thing I’m not on your watch.” She takes a step back, and I drop my arms.

Right. She’s not my responsibility.

Then why does it feel like she should be?

* * *

Later, once Carys has accepted that Emerson and Linc aren’t coming out of his room any time soon, she says her goodbyes, and I walk her to my Jeep. “You okay with the top off?”

Her eyes light up. “Can I blast the radio as loud as I want?”

I nod, and her responding smile could light up the whole damn street. Who knew control of the radio could make her so happy? Once we’re in the Jeep, she starts playing with the buttons on the old unit until the first few notes of “Crash Into Me” by the Dave Matthews Band play through the speakers. Then, content with her find, she leans back in the seat and places her feet flat against the dashboard as she starts to hum, and I back out of the driveway.

She sings the song in a higher pitch than Dave does, and it changes its feel completely as her voice effortlessly harmonizes with his.

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