Out of Breath (Breathing, #3)(110)

‘Hi,’ I said, without really looking at her as I continued to keep an eye out for someone to take my place. ‘What can I get you?’

‘I’ll have a beer,’ she requested. As I was reaching into the tub, she continued, ‘You’re Evan, right?’

‘Yeah,’ I confirmed, flipping the top off the bottle and handing it to her.

‘I’m Nika.’ She took the bottle from me. ‘I know you guys from surfing.’

I finally focused on her, and vaguely recognized her dark brown eyes and sun-bleached hair. I was pretty sure she was one of the girls Brent kept trying to get a number from. ‘That’s right. Glad you could make it.’

‘Me too.’ She smiled. ‘Maybe I’ll talk to you later.’

‘Sure,’ I replied, looking past her to the guy in the baseball hat.

‘Nice, Evan,’ Ren nudged, emptying ice into the tub.

‘What are you talking about, and where the hell have you been? I need to be done here.’

‘Come on,’ he said with a chuckle. ‘That girl’s totally into you.’

‘Whatever. Will you cover for me?’

‘I need to get some more ice, and then I’ll be right back,’ he promised.

When I was finally relieved at the bar, I cut through the tightly packed room to the deck. I searched the faces until I located Emma and Meg on the far side of the pool, talking and laughing about something. I made my way down the stairs towards them.

Nika suddenly appeared in front of me when I stepped onto the patio. ‘I was wondering if you were ever going to come out from behind the bar.’

‘Oh, hey, it’s good to see you again,’ I told her, glancing around for Emma in the dense crowd around the pool.

‘Are you staying at this house with the rest of the guys?’ she enquired, apparently determined to have a conversation.

‘I’m staying at a place about five minutes from here.’

‘Is it just as nice?’

‘Um, it’s a great place, right on the beach,’ I explained, trying to give her enough eye contact so that I wasn’t insulting her, while subtly tracing along the pool’s edge for a purple top and short brown hair.

‘I’d love to see it,’ Nika stated.

She was a very attractive girl, and if I were Brent, I’d be thrilled she was giving me the time of day – but I wasn’t Brent, and she was the wrong girl.

‘Maybe we’ll have a party sometime,’ I told her. ‘Do you know Emma Thomas … from surfing?’

‘Uh, yeah. I actually just brought her here a few days ago, after we found her on the beach.’

‘Well, I’m glad you were there to help her out.’

‘She’s dating Cole, right?’

‘No. She’s not,’ I replied. My jaw twitched slightly just thinking about them together. ‘She’s staying at the same house I am. Does she have your number?’

‘I think she does,’ she responded, with an undertone of disappointment. ‘Are you –’

‘Evan!’ Serena beckoned from behind Nika. Serena’s eyes flickered between the two of us, silently assessing. ‘We were looking for you.’

‘Sorry, I’ve been stuck upstairs,’ I told her.

‘Hi, I’m Serena,’ she said to Nika, sliding in beside me and wrapping her arms around mine. Not waiting for Nika to be introduced, she continued, ‘I’m going to steal Evan now.’

Before she could drag me away, I heard a quick yelp, followed by a splash in the pool.

‘Oh no,’ Serena groaned, pulling me after her.

‘I can’t believe I didn’t see that coming,’ I gasped as Meg popped up next to me.

‘I think you were a little distracted,’ Meg teased. ‘And now I’m one up on you.’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ I defended, my face flaming up at being caught watching Evan talk to Nika.

A spray of water interrupted us when someone else jumped into the pool. TJ surfaced, wearing his charismatic smile.

‘Want some company?’ he asked, swimming across to us.

And just like that, bodies began crashing into the water with hollers and cries of resistance. Guys wrestled each other into the pool, landing on screaming girls. I ducked under the surface, trying to reach the ladder and remove myself from the chaos.

I reached for the rung of the ladder just as someone grabbed my ankle and pulled me back under. I kicked to the surface, and when I spun around to see who’d done it, I noticed Brent swimming away. I turned back towards the ladder and came face to face with Evan. He seemed just as startled as I was.

‘Hi.’ He smiled, causing my heart to stutter as the water dripped from his dishevelled brown hair down his chiselled face.

‘Hi,’ I said, with a blushing grin.

‘I heard you did this,’ he said, nodding towards the havoc in the pool.

‘This one was Meg!’ I defended myself. I was nudged towards Evan by two guys who were struggling to dunk each other. He slid back to the corner to avoid them. I floated after him.

‘Meg doesn’t seem the type to start trouble.’ He moved over to allow room for me along the wall.

‘Oh, and I am?’ I said, trying to sound offended.