Out of Bounds (The Summer Games #2)(46)

“I don’t speak Latin!” Rosie said as we dragged her out of the house after us. “What does ‘ergo’ mean?”

“Hot tubs are meant to be used!” Lexi insisted, whipping off the heavy plastic top that protected the water when it wasn’t in use. She tossed it aside, propped her hands on her hips, and looked my way. “Now what?”

I was already shivering in my bikini and I had no clue how to operate a hot tub. “Look for an on/off switch?”

Molly snapped and offered up a sarcastic, “Stand back everyone, we’ve got a genius here!”

I flipped her off.

After a few more minutes of searching, we were no closer to turning on the hot tub. I reached in to test the water, just to see how cold it would be if we hopped in before it was heated.

“Oh hell no,” I said, jumping back. “It’s freezing.”

Rosie shook her head. “Someone should call Erik. We should ask for his permission to use it and he could help us turn it on.”

Three sets of eyes swung in my direction, but I shook my head adamantly. “No.”

“Yes,” they replied.

“He hates me.”

Lexi reached for where I’d stashed my phone on the ground beside our towels. “Here.”

His number had been included in the information packet, and before arriving in Seattle, I’d plugged it into my phone as Coach Winter. I smiled at how naive I’d been then.

“Do it,” Lexi said, pressing dial for me.

“No!” I protested, but it was too late.

He answered on the first ring and I let his deep voice glide over my skin for a beat too long.

“Hello?”

I blushed.

“Who is this?”

I’d forgotten he didn’t have my number.

I cleared my throat. “Uh…it’s Brie.”

His subtle groan proved he was less than enthusiastic to hear from me.

“This number is for emergencies.”

His voice faded at the end, like he was pulling the phone away from his ear to hang up.

“Wait! This is an emergency.”

He paused, giving me time to continue.

“We’re trying to figure out how to use the hot tub.”

I could hear the slight amusement in his voice when he spoke again. “And that’s an emergency because…”

“Our muscles are really sore from practice,” I insisted, trying to make it sound clinical, therapeutic. “The heat and bubbles will help loosen us up.”

“Brie—”

“Oh! I figured it out!” Molly exclaimed just before bubbles started erupting from the jets.

I smirked, though he couldn’t see it. “Never mind. Molly figured it out.”

There were voices in the background. Music too. I wanted to know what he was doing, but I didn’t want to seem desperate.

“Have fun on your date,” I added casually.

“I’m not on a date.”

“Oh.” I smiled, butterflies erupting in my stomach.

“You guys have an hour before I get home. Be out of the hot tub before then.”

“Or what?” I dared.

The line went dead. I glanced down at my phone to see he’d hung up. Jerk.

“Sorry.” Lexi shrugged. “Guess you didn’t need to call him after all.”

I tossed my phone onto our pile of towels and slid into the hot tub. It wasn’t hot yet, but it was starting to warm up fast and I was too cold to care. A few minutes later, we’d all settled into our designated sides, letting the jets pound against our aching muscles. It felt like heaven.

“Molly, do you and Host Boy fight a lot?” I asked, opening my eyes to peer over at her. She was as blissed out as I was.

She blushed at the mention of her crush. “No, not really. He’s super nice.”

I rolled my eyes, bored.

“My last boyfriend and I fought all the time,” Lexi offered up.

“Really?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, but there was a language barrier there, so most of it was just miscommunication.”

“Did he ever infuriate you?”

She snorted. “Every day I was with him.”

“But you liked it?” I asked.

“I loved it,” she insisted. “He turned me on like crazy.”

“We heard you shout at Erik last night out front,” Rosie offered, blushing and glancing away when I met her eye.

“It sounded intense,” Molly added.

“It was nothing.” I shrugged and stared down at the water. “He just gets under my skin.”

“And under your dress too.”

I punched Lexi in the shoulder.

“Hey!”

“I told you that in confidence.”

She shrugged. “And then I told Molly and Rosie in confidence too. So now I’m confident we’re all up to speed.”

Molly was smiling, seemingly proud of me for acting on my crush on Erik, but Rosie was averting eye contact as if uncomfortable with the topic altogether.

“I promise I won’t tell anyone,” she insisted. “I mean…he is handsome and I can’t really blame you, but are you sure it’s a good idea? Fooling around with him?”