Down Too Deep (Dirty Deeds, #4)(24)

“You should!”

We tossed the ball around for a while, gaining an audience pretty soon after I gave Oliver that ego boost. On my second throw, Jenna cheered for him after he made the catch. When he made me run for it, whipping the ball toward the ocean, I noticed Jenna watching me on my jog back in and held my arms out to encourage applause.

A laugh burst out of her. “Woo!” she yelled, hands cupping her mouth.

“I see how it is. He gets a cheerleader and I don’t?”

“I’ll cheer for you!” Olivia bounced on her toes and punched the air. “Go Nate! Go Nate! You’re the best! Whoop! Whoop!”

I chuckled. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

Olivia immediately began to challenge my earlier assessment of her brother being the happiest kid to walk the earth when her grin amped up to full potential. She pushed her glasses higher up on her nose, then tipped her chin up proudly, like hearing my appreciation meant something big and important to her.

Jenna’s smile was soft when I looked at her again. Until I winked, which was something I don’t do. Not once before. I wasn’t a guy who winked at women—what a prick move. But when those full lips of hers parted like a heavy, heart-pounding breath was leaving her, I became the guy who winked.

If it got a reaction like that, I’d wink so much around this woman, people would think there was something wrong with me. Holy sh—

“Nate, I’m going long!” Oliver yelled, turning my head.

I adjusted my grip on the ball, cocked my arm back, and launched it. The ball sailed into the air and hit the sand a good ten feet past his outstretched arms.

“What was that?” he hollered, laughing at me.

“Sorry!” I winced. Your mother is distracting as shit.

“Didn’t you play in college?” Jenna taunted.

I slowly turned my head at that bold-ass question, and when our eyes locked, Jenna giggled shamelessly, looking a little too proud of herself.

Oh, I don’t think so. “Come on,” I said, jogging over to her.

Her eyes went wide. “Come on, what?”

“You want to see how I played in college? Let’s go.” I stopped in front of her, grabbed her hands, and gently eased her to her feet.

“This requires my participation?” She pulled out of my grip to brush the sand off her legs.

I smiled down at her. “I need someone defending me.”

“Me?”

“You or Olivia. Although that hardly seems fair. A beast like her—she’d lay me out.”

Jenna laughed hard, tipping her head back, then playfully gave me a shove. “Okay. You’re on,” she teased, looking over her shoulder. “Olivia, make sure Marley stays with you, okay?”

“Okay!”

Jenna’s expression wiped clean of amusement as she gathered her hair off her neck and secured it using the tie around her wrist. When she grabbed hold of her ankle behind her, giving her leg a good stretch, I crossed my arms over my chest and fought a grin.

“I’m fast,” she shared.

“Me too.”

“Bet I’m faster.”

“Okay, shorty. What’s the wager? Aside from bragging rights…”

Her gaze narrowed. “I’m not that short.”

“You’re very short.”

“I’m five three and a half.”

“Yeah, that’s short.”

“It’s average-ish.”

“Ish?”

“I’m on the cusp of being average,” she explained.

I smirked. “That’s cute.”

“Are you making fun of me?”

“I just said you were cute. If anything, I gave you a compliment.”

Her eyes blinked wider. “Well…you’re not cute. So there.” She stuck her tongue out at me and hastily stepped away, calling out for Oliver to join us.

I quickly caught up to her. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m cute,” I said low in her ear before I brushed past. I gestured for the ball, and once I had it, I glanced back at Jenna.

She stood frozen in the sand, clearly trying to figure out what the hell I meant. I didn’t necessarily mean anything. I could clear up any confusion she had and say I was simply joking around with her…

Or, since I wasn’t confident that’s all I was doing, I could keep my mouth shut.

“What’s going on?” Oliver asked when he reached me. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his cheeks were flushed. “I can keep going. I’m not tired yet.”

“Good. We’re going to play a little touch. I’ll start out as quarterback, and then we’ll switch. Your mom is on defense.”

“What!” Oliver gaped at Jenna when she stepped up beside me. “Mom, really? This is awesome!” He punched the air. “We never get to play like this.”

“Give me your glasses, please.” She took the blue frames from Oliver and then mine when I held them out.

“Are you sure you don’t need these to see?” she teased.

“I gotta give you some advantage. If I’m partially blind, you might have a shot.”

Jenna rolled her eyes and smiled. She set our glasses aside with my clothes and said something to the girls, who were both still hard at work on the castle.