SCORE (A Stepbrother Sports Romance)(3)

I shrugged my shoulders. “I guess.”

Blake was dressed in basketball shorts and a t-shirt, and he stopped near where we sat at the edge of the pool. He slid his shirt off and tossed it to the side.

“What’re you doing?” I asked, pretending not to notice his lean, chiseled body.

He shrugged. “I’m going swimming, dummy.” He jumped, landing explosively in the water, and the backsplash soaked Maggie and me.

She laughed, slid into the water, and looked up at me with a wide grin. “C’mon in, Alyssa!” she cried, grabbing my arm as I pulled away with a giggle.

Blake swam over, his eyes on me, a hungry gleam in them. My smile slowly disappeared as he neared. Reaching up, he grabbed for my arm, and I yelled, “No!” But it was too late. His strong grip tightened around my wrist and he yanked hard, pulling me in. The water rushed up around me, cold and unforgiving. I shot up, gasping for air as I reached the surface. Maggie and Blake laughed as I pulled the wet, matted hair out of my face.

“You guys suck,” I mumbled, pouting as I stood in the water that was deeper than my waist. Annoyed, I splashed them. The playfulness turned into a full-on splash war, and we goofed around and laughed for almost twenty minutes. Finally, we got out of the pool, and Maggie and I dried ourselves off before going inside. I tossed my towel at Blake as we left because he was still dripping wet on the patio.

Maggie and I headed to the kitchen to make sandwiches. As I pulled ingredients from the fridge, Maggie said, “That was fun.”

I nodded. “Yeah, it was.” I heard the faint trace of surprise in my own words.

Maggie sat down at the table and began to make her sandwich. Without looking up, she said, “Maybe it won’t be so bad having them here.”

I smiled, thinking Maggie might be right. “Yeah, maybe.”





Blake



I headed upstairs to my new room, tense after the excursion in the pool. Alyssa looked incredible, her body irresistible in that bikini. I had no idea how difficult it was going to be living with her when she was such a forbidden temptation.

I laid down on the bed, willing myself not to think about her. Insanely, I felt drawn to her pale skin, soft brown hair, and baby-blue eyes. I wanted to know more about her, but trying was a crazy idea that would get me nowhere. She had set opinions of me, and we were much too different anyway. Alyssa was so much more real than the girls I had always dated. That was part of being a football star—keeping up appearances and protecting your reputation.

It didn’t help that my mother married her father, either. That made it ten times more wrong…and ten times more tempting. I shook my head and dressed, deciding to go out for a while before the party I had been invited to later. Some of the guys from high school were throwing an end of the year bash before we left for college.

The gym was a good place to clear my head. It had been a couple of days since I worked out, anyway, and my muscles craved the exercise. I headed downstairs and saw Alyssa and Maggie sitting at the table eating. I tried not to notice how cute she looked, smiling and chatting, relaxed with her friend like she never was with me. I left quickly without a word, desperate to get my mind off of her.

After an hour at the gym, I felt better. My muscles were sore and aching, but I felt good. I headed to the showers before I left and grabbed some fast food on the way home, planning to change and leave once I arrived. I scarfed down the greasy food and ran upstairs to my room where I dressed in a rush, throwing on a pair of jeans and a gray V-neck.

I headed downstairs, and Mom called out to me from the kitchen. “Blake?”

I popped my head in and saw she was cooking dinner. “What?” I asked her impatiently.

“Where are you going, honey?” she asked, concerned.

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’m just going to hang out with some friends. I’ll see you later.” I rushed out of the kitchen. “Love you!” I called before shutting the door behind me, feeling a little guilty but reminding myself that she had a new husband to take care of her now.

The party was crowded when I got there fifteen minutes later. I saw a bunch of guys from my high school team and headed over to greet them. I grabbed a beer and hung out for a while, talking about girls and sports mostly. Then I walked through the crowded party, weaving between the people dancing and drinking.

My eyes scanned the crowd and stopped on Alyssa. I wondered what she was doing here, because she didn’t run with the same crowd I did. I drew a sharp breath as my eyes lingered on her, surprised. She wore a tight blue dress, and her hair was curled softly around her face, looking more beautiful than ever. Alyssa stood beside Maggie, chatting to a guy I didn’t know.

He stood really close to her, a drink in his hand as he bent to whisper something. When she laughed at him, I pushed away from them through the crowd because I wanted to get away. There were tons of hot girls at this party. I didn’t need to spend my time stuck on the one I couldn’t have. I was headed out to the backyard where some of my friends were when I was stopped by a petite blonde girl. I recognized her as one of the cheerleaders from high school.

The girl was obviously intoxicated. When she stopped me, she said, “Hey, Blake, how are you? I haven’t seen you in forever.”

I smiled politely down at her. “Yeah… Good, how are you, Brittney?” I wanted to get out of there, but the crowd pressed too tightly around us. The music pounded, and Brittney handed me a shot. With a shrug, I drank it, and the alcohol burned my throat.