I Dare You (The Hook Up #1)(53)

My head tells me to keep trucking, to maintain the status quo.

But…

I rub at my chest, a nagging, aching feeling tugging at me, telling me I’m going to lose everything.





Delaney



Even though I told Maverick I was leaving that night, I still half-expected him to show up to catch me before I left. He didn’t. I checked and re-checked my phone, hoping to get a text from him, but nothing.

Skye and I made the drive to the beach in five hours. There were other people from Waylon on their way, all of them taking flights or driving, several of them staying in the same area of hotels on the beach.

Two days in and I’m lying out on the sand, wearing a yellow bikini, still a little burned from yesterday’s time in the sun, but I really don’t care. I’m nursing a bit of a hangover from the shots of Fireball Skye made me take last night. Okay, she didn’t make me, but she did strongly encourage me, and I didn’t need too much urging after still not hearing anything from Maverick.

A shadow drops down next to me, and I glance up from the book I’m reading, expecting to see Skye, who ran in to grab me a water and get a margarita for herself.

My eyes widen as I take Alex in. I’m not too shocked to see him here since it’s the same place we come every year, but I haven’t thought of him in so long that, well, I’m taken back.

Wearing a pair of salmon-colored Ralph Lauren swim trunks, he’s tan with a hint of a slight sunburn on his shoulders. He’s sitting on the beach lounger next to me, the ones only hotel guests are allowed to sit in, looking quite comfortable as he looks at me.

“Alex? What are you doing here?”

He smiles. “Hey. I texted Skye and she told me where you guys were staying.”

Interesting. He and Skye had lunch together a few times last week.

I sit up and ease my sunglasses off, propping them on my head where my hair is tied up in a messy bun. I’m without makeup and my eyes are puffy from crying into my pillow last night.

He tilts his head down toward the north end of the beach. “A couple of guys from the team are staying in a house a few resorts up.”

“Cool.” I really don’t have much to say; I’m too depressed and just blah.

“Skye says you and Maverick are having problems?” He squints at me.

“Maybe.”

His eyebrows go sky high. “Well, you are at the beach without him.”

I nod, feeling the pressure of the headache I’ve been nursing since I woke up this morning. I slip my sunglasses back down. “He broke my heart. Happy?”

He frowns. “Of course not, but it does explain his bad mood after the scrimmage.”

I stiffen, worried. “Did something happen?”

“Yeah. He and the AD exchanged words, and then Maverick left the party.”

“He left? Why?” My heart is in my throat. Did he tell them about the fighting?

Alex looks up at me. “I don’t know, but there are rumors going around the team. Nothing concrete, but I’ve heard gambling tossed around.”

I stand up. “He has never gambled! It’s your friend Muffin who’s stirring this pot.” I’m glaring at him. “You really know how to pick ’em, Alex. She’s a liar and a lunatic.”

He holds his hands out in a placating manner. “Look, Muffin is nothing to me, and I’m just telling you the rumor, that’s all.” He stares at me. “I only want the best for you, and if Maverick is what you want, then I want you to be together—I really do.”

I sigh and sit back down. “She hates Maverick…and me, and…” I let my voice drift off. It’s not my story to share, and the less that’s said about the fighting, the better. “You can’t trust her.”

“I know.”

Skye appears with a sardonic expression as she juggles a cooler and a margarita. Her red hair is a riot of curls around her face, and a sheen of sweat covers her forehead.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Silver Spoon.”

Alex grunts. “If it isn’t Miss I Only Date Baseball Players.” He goes to help her with the cooler.

Skye watches him critically as he situates it between the two loungers, underneath the two umbrellas so it doesn’t get hot.

“Nice job, Cheater.”

“You’re welcome, Home Run.”

Skye snorts. “You’re such a douchebag. You wish you could get a home run.”

Alex brushes at a patch of nonexistent sand on his chest. “You wish I’d try.”

Oh. My. God.

I forget my own melancholy as I watch their bantering like I’m at a tennis match.

Skye and Alex? I blink. Wow. My best friend and my ex might actually have some chemistry.

I look at Alex. “So you wanna hang with us girls today or do you have a hot babe to get back to at your beach house?”

“I’m free.”

Skye smiles and bumps him out of the way with her hips as she grabs me a water out of the cooler. “Here, sweetie, for your headache.”

Impulsively, I grab her and give her a big hug. She’s been waiting on me hand and foot and giving me pep talks for the past few days.

Alex is watching us as I set her down. “Nothing like seeing two chicks rubbing up on each other at the beach.”