Page 23 of Forever Yours

I glanced at Ryder. He knew it, too.

“Elijah?”

Ryder and I turned our heads at the same time, and my stomach knotted for a completely different reason.

David smiled down at us, and my mouth dropped open, because holy shit, the guy was seriously ripped. No shirt, broad chest, ebony skin, and a chiseled six-pack I wouldn’t be able to achieve even if I spent every hour of the day doing crunches.

“Hey.”

Could I be any lamer?

David’s smile grew. “Thought that was you.”

“Okay.”

For fuck’s sake.

He pointed at his head. “Saw the hair.”

“Awesome.”

Cue my metaphorical facepalm.

He was full-on grinning from ear to ear now. “I swear I’m not stalking you.”

I nodded.

You are a dumbass.

Ryder knocked his knee into mine. “Hey, I’m Ryder.”

I was still staring at David. Shit. Awkward.

Rushing to make introductions, I stood up and gestured between the two of them. “Sorry. Ryder, meet David. He lives on my floor. David, this is my friend, Ryder Cutton.”

Ryder pushed to his feet and brushed the sand from the backs of his legs, then held out his fist to David.

“Nice to meet you.”

“You, too,” David replied.

His torso twisted, causing his abdominal muscles to bunch and become more defined. I forced my gaze to follow where he was looking and not at his bare chest. A little way down the beach was a group of guys throwing a football back and forth.

“Guess we had the same idea to come to the beach today. We’re about to start a game of touch football if you’re interested,” he said, including Ryder in the invitation.

“I’m in,” Ryder replied.

Before I could say anything, my breath was knocked out of my lungs when a hard body slammed into me and a shoulder dug into my stomach, lifting me off my feet.

“Jayson, don’t you dare!” I shouted when he ran for the crashing waves with me over his shoulder.

The asshole just laughed and dove under a breaker, taking me with him. The ocean water was warm, but the saline stung my sunburned skin. I’d definitely be suffering tomorrow. I foresaw a night of lathering myself in aloe vera gel.

Jayson and I both popped to the surface at the same time. He swiped a hand through his hair, flinging droplets of water everywhere like a slow-motionBaywatchmontage.

“You looked like you needed to cool down.”

“Riiight,” I drawled out and splashed him.

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