Dating Trouble (Grover Beach Team Book 5) (14 page)

Dumbstruck, he stared at me…until we both burst into a freeing fit of laughter. Oh boy, he
was
my twin soul, just not in a romantic way.

“You know, my brother wouldn’t mind those.” His gaze dropped to my boobs once more. “And if it was only my good looks you’re after—”

“Ah, shut up, you!” I smacked his upper arm, which he probably didn’t even feel, but he gave me the satisfaction of making a hurt face. “Chris is a dick. His ego is too big for him to handle.”

“Don’t let him hear that, or he’ll come after you faster than you can say
Down
! He’s all about the challenge.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’m afraid it’s too late for that.”

“What do you mean?”

My cheeks slowly grew warm and I dared a quick, guilty glance at Ethan. “He’s kinda been after me all week.”

“He was? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why should I? You had
your
dark secret,” I teased, “and Chris may have been
mine
.” I stuck my tongue out at him.

“So is there something going on between you two?” He didn’t sound angry or hurt at all. That’s probably how it was when someone really
wasn’t
interested in you.

“No, there isn’t. At least not where I’m concerned. Telling him I’m not interested doesn’t help much, though.”

Ethan laughed out loud. “No, it never has. I guess he just can’t imagine there may exist a girl that really isn’t interested in him.” He paused, deliberating, and frowned. “In his defense, I haven’t met a girl yet that turned him down once he set his mind on her.”

My mouth fell open. “What? You think I can’t resist him?”

“Well.” He grinned, mischief sparkling in his eyes. “Like I said, with our good looks and—”

“Yeah, yeah, big-headed much?”

“Nah, but curious,” he taunted me. “You know what? I think this could be quite an entertaining show. I’ll keep an eye on how things go between you two.” When my face went slack and my eyes widened, he laughed. “What?”

“Chris said something very similar the day I came here for the first time.”

He arched his brows. “Did he?”

I nodded slowly. “You two are scary.” And I didn’t want to discuss Chris with Ethan, anyway, so I rose from the floor and headed to his Wii, holding out a controller to him. “Care for a race?”

“
Mario Kart
?” he asked with a surprised edge to his voice.

I shrugged. “I think I’m getting better at it.”

Ethan got to his feet. After he set up the video game, he made himself comfortable next to me on his bed. We played a couple games in silence, but at some point I just couldn’t hold my tongue any longer and needed to know, “So, does Ted actually have a thing for boys, too? Do you think he…finds you
cool
?”

A chuckle rocked Ethan’s chest. “I don’t know. He was really nice and we talked, but I was the only patron at the bar for a while and he was probably just glad for some distraction.”

“We need to go there again and find out, you know.”

“Yeah, right. Feeling like a matchmaker already?”

“Maybe?” I knocked my knee against his. “If
I
can’t have you, what’s the point in keeping you single?”

He laughed at that, and though I’d come to terms with my new situation astoundingly fast, I still wanted to kiss him when I heard that sound. Ethan noticed my intense gazing. He fell silent and sighed. “I would have never believed how good it feels to have you know the truth.”

“I know what you mean. I’m glad I could tell you I was completely smitten by you, too. But you probably figured that out on your own.”

He rolled his eyes in the sweetest way. “It was hard not to notice.”

“Hey now, it couldn’t have been that obvious!”

Lifting one eyebrow, he dared me to say that again.

“Fine. So when was the first moment you got a clue?” I demanded.

“Let me think…” He pursed his lips, stroking his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “That was between minute three and minute seventeen of our first meeting.”

“No way!” I dropped my controller and Daisy crashed her tricycle into a tree, trying in vain to drive through the trunk.

“It was, I swear.” Ethan laughed so hard at my thunderstruck expression that his Mario shot past the edge of a bridge and fell to his death. “When I caught you spying on me, your cheeks turned this unmistakable pink. You couldn’t have attracted more attention if you put a bright red paper bag over your head.” He pinched my cheek and winked. “Just like now.”

OMG, this was too much to cope with. I climbed over his feet off the bed.

“Where are you going?” he asked, still with no control over his amusement as he came after me.

“Home,” I snapped, faking chagrin. But the truth was, there was tons of homework waiting for me.

“No! Come here!” He grabbed my wrist and swirled me around so I banged against his chest and he had to steady me. “I’m sorry, but you asked for it.”

“You could have come up with a white lie and granted me some dignity.”

“You don’t want me to lie again,” he said. And he was right.

The sudden rush of an idea swamped over me, and I took a deep breath. Since nothing would be like before from now on, I wondered if I could dare to hug him. Just to get a kick out of it and see what it could have been like, if only… “Mind if I—” Lifting my arms, I showed him what I was about to do.

For a moment, Ethan looked the slightest bit hesitant before he put his arms around me and pulled me close. “Not at all.”

Jeez, he was so warm and firm all over, and he smelled really good. Maybe this intimate hold evoked some of the same feelings in him? Tilting my head up, I searched his face and cast him a broad, toothy smile, squeaking, “Anything?”

With his lips pressed together and one side of them farther up than the other, he wiggled his nose once like a bunny. “Nope.”

“Ah, it was worth a try.” A giggle escaped me as he actually kissed me on the forehead. “If you want to hang out sometime this week, call me.”

“I will,” he promised, and I had a feeling that I might be coming back to this house tomorrow. As I crossed the room, he stopped me once more with a soft “Susan?”

“Hm?” I turned around and got caught in his intense gaze.

“This is my final year of high school. I really don’t want to…” He broke off, but he didn’t have to finish anyway.

“Don’t worry, Ethan. I’m not going to tell anyone.”

“Thank you.” He only mouthed the words.

I smiled, nodded, and walked out the door.

DEALING WITH THE shock of hearing the truth from Ethan wasn’t as hard as I’d expected…because, frankly, once it was out in the open between us, it was a little easier. I had a crush on him, but he didn’t have one on me. He only wanted to be friends. These things happened time and again, and we could make it work. It wasn’t the end of the world…

I told myself exactly that as I closed my English textbook. Done with homework, I showered and just wanted to hit the pillow, but something was missing, even if I couldn’t tell what exactly it was. Until a text landed in my inbox.

I had no idea what in the world made me smile, but I did as I reached for my phone.

Have fun with my brother today? He came out of his room a happier man. About time too, his cranky mood all Sunday was a pain to cope with.

We had the best date ever
, I texted back to Chris.
Guess what, we played video games. :P

His next text had a smiley face at the beginning that was scratching its head.
I’m starting to believe that playing
Mario Kart
is the only way to seduce you. Never done that before with a girl.

Oh, you should try it. You might be surprised.
And just because I was in a good mood as well this evening, I added:
Sleep tight, sweetness.

You stole my line
.

See you tomorrow.

Well, that might be inevitable…

*

Ethan’s classes must’ve been at the very opposite end of the school building, because like every other day, I didn’t see him until lunch break. By then, I’d come up with a totally reasonable explanation for the girls for why Ethan and I were never going to be more than friends. I told them I couldn’t cope with the uncertainty any longer and had talked to him about my feelings yesterday.

Simone sucked in a breath and Lisa slapped a hand to her mouth in shock.

“No worries,” I told them. “It’s all good. He said he liked me. Really, really liked me and wanted to keep hanging out, but he just doesn’t feel ready for a relationship at the moment. You know, with college coming, and him maybe moving away from Grover Beach, and all.”

Allie and Lisa made sad faces. Simone wasn’t one to give up so fast, though. “Wait until he’s really gone. He’ll find that he can’t live without you and he’ll be begging you to choose the same college as him before we graduate.”

I smiled at her confidence. “Yeah, sure.” Not. This was not something a little distance could change. But maybe he would want me to go to the same college one day, just for the sake of a great friendship. I smiled a little wider at that thought and sat down next to Ethan with my food tray in front of me.

“Hey,” he said. “You’re in a good mood today. What’s up?”

“Ah, just thinking about college and stuff,” I fibbed and quickly changed the subject. “How was your day?”

He told me about his assignment in history and how that would keep him busy for most of the week. But obviously there was always going to be enough time to squeeze me in together with a video game. “We didn’t finish the race yesterday. Drop by later?”

“Sure.”

When I caught Hunter’s gaze on me at that moment, I hesitated a beat then sent him a smile that carried a message. He nodded and returned the smile, and I knew there wasn’t any need for more to be said between us. I’d figured out Ethan’s secret and whether Ryan knew or not, he realized I was in a better frame of mind now.

That afternoon, I did my homework right after school so I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get home from Ethan’s. Informing my mom where I was going on the way out, I decided not to ask for her car but to take a walk instead. It was the beginning of December but still too warm. The soft pink hoodie I wore almost caused me to break out in a sweat. The sun heating my hair and back also added a happy glow to the neighborhood.

My path led me past the soccer field. The guys weren’t practicing today, but the empty ground called to me. Once again, I found myself reveling in the days that I’d been playing with them. At the entrance, I stopped, leaning against the pole of the fence. A few soccer balls lay scattered in the grass, left and forgotten after yesterday’s practice. One sat right in front of me and was downright begging for me to kick it.

No hard sports for ten weeks, and barely three had passed. Hopefully, Dr. Trooper would have some sleepless nights for giving me that sentence! But one soft kick wouldn’t hurt, right? I could just dribble it over to the goal and take a quick kick. The doc never had to find out.

“Having a chat with the ball?”

I jumped at Ethan’s voice and jerked around, but when I saw the beaten face of the guy leaning against the other pole of the open gate, I knew my mind had played a trick on me. Wearing his black leather jacket, Chris shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, feet crossed at the ankles.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded. There was a bigger chance I’d have sounded a bit friendlier if Ethan was standing in Chris’s place.

“Tuesday’s I have basketball practice. I was about to head home but then I saw you. Which brings on my counter question: What are
you
doing here?” The corners of his mouth tilted up in a warm smile that had nothing in common with his usual mischievous smirks. “Other than trying to move the ball with a telekinetic stare, that is.”

Shrugging one shoulder, I let go of a sigh. “I don’t actually know why I came here. Probably because I miss playing soccer.”

“Which you can’t do because of your hurt knee.”

He remembered that? And I thought nothing about this guy could surprise me anymore.

It must have been my severe frown that gave me away, because Chris added, “Yeah, I do listen sometimes, you know.” He pushed away from the pole and shuffled the few steps toward me but took a turn for the ball. “Hey, want to play some soccer now?” He picked it up and tried to bounce it like it was a basketball and the soccer field was a gym. “Rubbish,” he complained, when the grass reduced the rebound, so he spun it on his finger instead. “Which is your bad leg? You can shoot with the other. And I’ll stand in the goal.”

“I’m a righty, which is my bad knee, so that would hardly be fair on me,” I argued.

“Ah, don’t be shy.” Clasping the ball under one arm, he wrapped the other around my waist and made me walk with him. “I’ve never played soccer in my life, so that should pretty much even out your chances.”

“As far as I know, you’re grounded.” I lifted my brows at him. “Doesn’t that imply you should go home right after practice?”

“This is practice,” he replied. “If I get in trouble for it later, I’ll totally blame it on your sad puppy eyes when I found you at the gate.”

I hadn’t realized I was looking sad when I stood there, but he made me giggle with that visual. Since he seemed determined not to give me a choice, I tied my hair into a ponytail with a hair band from my pocket and said, “Fine. Let’s play.”

Chris tossed the ball at me, shrugged out of his jacket and threw it onto the grass. Only in a white muscle shirt now, he inspected the goal. Standing in the middle, his face paled a little. “Whoa, who defends this? A baby elephant and its mama?”

A snort escaped me. “Nick Frederickson is our goalie, and he does a darn good job.”

Chris rubbed his hands together, then he slapped them on his knees. His body poised for action, his eyes pinned on me. “Okay, bring it on, girl.”

Unsure if this really was a good idea, I set the ball on the mark for a penalty kick. The distance seemed too long for a left side shot, though, so I tipped the ball with my toe and moved it another couple meters closer to the goal.

With a knitted face, Chris straightened and asked, “Is that the right spot to put it?”

“Absolutely,” I assured him, snickering to myself.

My first shot bounced off the crossbar. Chris didn’t have to move at all, other than tilting his head to watch where the soccer ball made impact. For my second shot, I tried to aim a little better. Zeroing in on the left upper corner, I kicked with a little more power. Chris dived headlong for the ball but missed it by miles.

“Beginner’s luck!” he called out when I did a victory dance on the spot.

“Why? You’re the beginner,” I shot back.

He kicked the ball back toward me. I caught it and set it on the ground in front of me once more. This time, I pretended to kick his way but went for the opposite corner and scored again.

Chris gave me a mocking grin. “I totally let that slip through for you.”

“Yeah, yeah, keep on dreaming.” Laughing, I shot a fourth time, because one, my bad knee wasn’t troubling me at all, and two, it was fun.

He jumped up into the air and missed the ball again—but damn the move did give me a good glimpse of his flat stomach when his tee rode up. He picked up the ball and came forward, mumbling something about elephant goals and trampolines.

“Give up?” I teased him.

“You wish.” He kneed the ball a few times and finally let it drop to the ground. “We play against each other now.”

“Not a good idea.” With a duh-face, I lifted my leg. “Knee, remember? I can’t run.”

“But you can jog. Slowly. Right? And I’ll clasp my hands behind my back.”

“You play soccer without your hands, smart ass.”

“Fine. I’ll do that
and
run backward. Is that better?”

He’d already tucked his hands into his back pockets and started to attack the ball. I was closer and easily maneuvered it out of his reach, not yet convinced by his altered rules. The way he engaged me in a battle, though, left me no choice. I slid it away from him a few times and jogged toward the goal, lightly dribbling the ball in front of me.

Amazing, how speedy and agile Chris was, even when he was moving backward. He cut in front of me, successfully stealing the ball, before he kicked it with his heel, trying to glance over his shoulder. We fought another battle for the ball right in front of the goal. This was more fun than I would admit to him, but my happy grin probably gave me away.

Because Chris couldn’t see what was behind him, he didn’t realize just how close we were to the left goal post. “Watch out!” I warned him, but it was too late, and with his attempt to get away with the ball, he knocked into the pole. A groan whooshed out from his lungs as he dropped theatrically to the ground.

A fit of laughter erupted from my chest, and I could barely hold myself upright. My tummy hurt. Yep, I was sure to pay for this with a sore stomach later, but it was worth it.

Chris lay motionless on the ground. Still clutching my belly, I strolled over to him. “What’s up? Did the goal knock the air out of you?”

He didn’t answer. With my toe I poked his ribs, my laugh fading into a chuckle. “Come on, I’m sure that little bump didn't hurt as much as Will’s punch to your face probably did.”

Chris didn’t grin or move. His face was totally expressionless. I frowned. “Are you okay?” With still no answer, I lowered to his side and leaned over him, a little worried now. “Chris?”

His hand shot up so fast that I had no chance to escape. I shrieked as he grabbed my neck and pulled me down until mere inches separated our faces. Blue eyes bored into mine. “You laughed at me,” he growled.

Shocked, I panted like a dog after a sprint, which made him smile.

“That will cost you,” he promised.

Suddenly, I became all too aware that my hands were braced on his bare biceps and that his breath smelled of mint gum. The skin on his arms was smooth and warm, the muscles hard beneath my palms.

Struggling to anchor myself in the present and leave behind a dream in which I was trapped above a guy that looked every bit as stunning as Ethan, I managed a croak. “Let me guess. You want a date?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.”

With annoyance that I had to fake more than I wished, I replied, “Seriously, when are you going to lay off me?”

A determined glint warmed his eyes as his gaze trapped mine. “When I get what I want, sweetness. Or to put it in your words,” he taunted, “when hell freezes over.”

“That’s not gonna happen, dude.”

The next instant, he moved so fast, switching positions, that he startled me when he trapped me beneath him. He was way too heavy on me and I could hardly get air into my lungs. The little I managed to suck in, I used for another outburst of laughter—from surprise, I told myself, not because this was funny. “Get off, Chris! You’re squishing me!” I wrestled my arms free from under him and flicked him in the eye.

He froze for a split second. “Oh, you shouldn’t have done that, sweetness.” Faster than I could blink, he grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head. His voice and look adopted a sinister edge. “Remember what I told you last time, if you did that again?”

My mouth fell open.
A hickey the size of Ohio
rang in my ears. “No, you wouldn’t…”

His brows lifted. “You bet.”

I laughed, squealed, and squirmed all at the same time, but that didn’t make him stop from dipping his head and finding a spot on my neck with his lips. “Don’t you—no—don’t—don’t you dare suck on me!” My words came out choppy, interrupted with hiccups and chuckles.