Out of Breath (Breathing, #3)(78)

‘I always love your parties,’ a girl beside the bar sighed to Nate as I shoved bottles into tubs of ice.

‘We like it when you show up, Reese,’ Nate returned genuinely, not boldly flirtatious. A moment later I heard, ‘Shit, Evan.’

‘What?’ I stood up, expecting to have to intervene in a fight or something. Nate was staring up at the deck, so I followed his eyes … and lost my breath.

‘Dude, you’re in trouble,’ he muttered, still staring.

I couldn’t deny it when I saw her walking behind Sara down the stairs. The pink and orange floral sarong hung low on her hips, splitting open to mid-thigh with each step to reveal a sculpted tan leg. The strapless orange top clung to her body, revealing just a hint of bronze skin around her waist. Her usually straight hair was tossed in curls, with one side pinned up by a pink flower. I stared way too long as they made their way towards us – until I felt Nate’s elbow in my ribs, jolting me out of my ogling.

My eyes connected with Emma’s, and I grinned. ‘Hi, Em. You look great.’

‘Thanks,’ she responded, dipping her eyes while a flush of red flooded her cheeks.

‘Hey, Evan,’ Sara greeted me, a question looming in her eyes. It confused me.

She made me feel like I’d done something wrong. I held my hands up and mouthed, What?

Sara answered with a withering glance. Emma looked towards Sara and back to me, catching the end of our exchange.

‘What can I get you to drink, Emma?’ Nate finally asked, breaking the awkward tension.

‘Umm …’ I examined Sara for a second longer, as she tried to hide whatever had just happened between her and Evan. ‘What’s that?’ I asked, pointing to a girl behind Sara carrying a pink drink.

‘That’s a pink lemonade drink we came up with for today,’ Nate said.

‘I’ll have one of those,’ I requested – and saw Evan’s eyebrows rise.

My cheeks flared up recollecting the last time he’d seen me drink. ‘We talked about it,’ Sara said, intervening. Sara and I’d made a pact before we left, and I assured her that I could drink responsibly. Now was my chance to prove it.

Nate made Sara and I each a pink drink with a neon green straw and a tiny umbrella. ‘Thanks, Nate.’ I couldn’t look at Evan for more than a second. My cheeks were about to catch fire when I saw him behind the bar without his shirt on. I was warned this was a pool party, but I wasn’t prepared for that. It was the first time I’d seen him shirtless since I’d arrived in California, and he’d put on some … muscle in two years. I took a breath to cool my cheeks and scanned the pool. ‘Wow, there’s a lot of girls here. And they’re practically naked.’

Sara laughed and pulled me after her to find a spot in the shade. We sat on two chairs under an umbrella, sipping our drinks among the oiled bodies splayed around the pool and floating on rafts atop the water. I hadn’t realized they made swimsuits that small. My eyes widened at the sight of a girl with a string covering only the parts that mattered. Then she turned around, and I realized it didn’t cover all of them.

‘Does a string up your butt qualify as a bathing suit?’

‘Well, she can wear whatever she wants with a body like that,’ Sara said, unfazed.

Cole joined us after stopping to talk to a few people he knew. He hung his shirt off the back of a chair and pulled it up next to me, but out from under the shade of the umbrella. He was drawing some attention of his own, and the girls weren’t exactly being subtle about it.

‘Have you been to these parties before?’ I asked him, shocked at how obvious the girls around us were being.

‘It’s California,’ he replied, unaffected.

‘Seriously?’ I questioned, making an effort to close my mouth.

Cole chuckled. ‘This is your first pool party?’ I nodded. ‘Yeah, this is pretty typical around here.’

‘How can you not stare?’ I asked him, having a hard time not staring myself.

‘I’d rather not have it blatantly flaunted in front of me, especially when I’ve seen –’ His eyes ran the length of my body.

‘Okay, I got it,’ I interrupted him, adjusting my wrap to cover my exposed leg as Sara just about choked on her drink. Cole laughed, and he leaned over and kissed me gently. Peeking out of the corner of my eye to make sure Evan wasn’t watching, I barely moved my lips to return his kiss. Cole pulled back with a confused expression.

I darted my eyes around with a rise of my eyebrows, trying to make it appear I was uncomfortable with the PDA.

‘Yeah, sorry,’ he said, leaning back in the chair.

Sara took a sip of her drink concealing her slight grin, but not before I saw it.

I couldn’t help but look for her. No matter who I was talking to, or where I was, I’d keep glancing around the room, or the deck, or the patio, seeking her out. Cole caught me more than once, which made it more than awkward.

‘You’re Evan, right?’ I turned my head away from Emma, who was leaning against the railing, sipping the drink in her hand, and focused on the tall blonde in front of me.

‘Uh, yeah. Can I get you a drink?’ I asked, wondering when TJ was returning to take over for me behind the bar.

‘Will you do a shot with me?’ she asked, leaning over and setting her elbows on the bar so that I’d get of view of …everything.