Unknown (The Secret Life of Cassie Martin #1)(9)

“Shut the fuck up, Micah! You just wish you had a lady.” Thor smirks and directs his attention back to me. “I thought you saw me, or I would have stopped. Are you hurt?”

“No,” I say, now wondering why he didn’t stop. Why would he want me to run into him? Did he want a reason for us to talk? I shake my head, trying to wrangle my thoughts back together. “It shocked me.” I giggle, then clamp a hand over my mouth. What is wrong with me? Giggling? Giving myself a shake, I direct the question back on him. “Are you all right?”

“There’s not much that can hurt Jay. I’ve seen him take on two guys bigger than himself and come out on top.” Micah brags, clearly with some sort of hero worship going on. “Although, I don’t think there are many people bigger than him this year. He had a huge growth spurt since last year. Last year, we came so close to winning, mainly because of Jay.”

“Micah, I can answer for myself. Thanks.” Jay sticks his hand out to me. “I’m Jay. This is my third year here. If you need anything, let me know. I heard what Mindy did to you. Ignore her. She isn’t worth the time.” He speaks so quickly it seems rehearsed.

“You didn’t think that last year when you two were found behind the pool house.” Micah again doubles over laughing.

I, on the other hand, turn beet red and glance down. Way too much information provided in this introduction.

“Dude! What the hell? You know very well I only pulled her back there to get information on her team. I never planned on her jumping me. I was glad her dad found us because she was relentless.” Jay’s cheeks heat. At least, I’m not the only one embarrassed by this conversation.

Micah prods Jay further. “Whatever! That’s not the story she told everyone.” Micah takes two steps to his right to avoid Jay’s reach in case the Jay punches at him.

Jay turns back to me, his face earnest. “You can ignore Micah, too. Clearly, he and Mindy belong together. I know you don’t know me, but trust me when I say those were rumors, just like what she’s saying about you is just a rumor.”

I nod in agreement, slightly confused. Why worry about my opinion of him? If he wants to mess around with her, it’s none of my business.

My mind returns to my earlier thoughts of why we’re talking. He not only wants to talk to me, but he also wants to make sure I think better of him than the rumors suggest I should. Everyone here is strange. People tend to not care about those around them. Even when rumors go around, it never seems to stop anyone’s interactions.

My musings distract me again because Jay’s head tilts, flipping his light brown ponytail onto his shoulder, as waits for my response. Embarrassed, I admit, “I totally missed what you said. Sorry.”

“I asked if you wanted to swim with us. We’re headed down to the pool, now. The pool’s Olympic size, with lanes on one side for people to do laps. There are also two slides and three diving boards.” As Jay describes the pool, Micah enthusiastically bobs his head.

Jay’s claimed my attention. I wouldn’t mind talking with him longer, but I don’t know how to swim. I keep that to myself. “I would, but I’m heading over to the park to read this lovely piece of literature given to me by Kelly.” I wave the packet in front of me. “There’s a swing or picnic table calling my name.”

Before I realize it, Jay grabs the packet from my hand and tosses it over into the weeds. “You don’t need that. I’ll keep you on the straight and narrow.”

His electric eyes pulse with excitement. I go to collect the packet, and he grabs my hand, his palms rough as he holds mine tightly. “You don’t want to grab that, now. It’s sitting in poison oak.”

What am I going to do? That was my excuse not to go with them. “I’m sure Fallon has a copy she can let me borrow.” Tugging my hand free, I spin away from him to head back to the cabin.

Micah hops in front of me, walking backward. “We should see if Fallon wants to swim with us.” Micah’s eyes go glassy with a dreamy, far-off stare. Fallon has an admirer.

“She told me she’s prepping for some meeting tomorrow,” I warn Micah in case Fallon says no to swimming.

“She’s going to be a team lead this year. She wants her team to win. I’m sure she’s mapping out her plan to make her team as strong as possible.” The reverence in his voice solidifies my suspicions about his crush on her.

“Fallon can take a break and join us for the swim,” Jay adds as he walks beside me. “Would that make you more comfortable than joining just Micah and me?”

So much for hiding my swimming discomfort. I’m glad he assumes I don’t want to be alone with them rather than I don’t want to swim.

“If Fallon will go, I’ll go,” I say with as little conviction as I can. “I still want to read through that packet.”

“That works for me.” Jay’s enthusiasm eclipses my despair.

When we reach my cabin, I instruct the boys to wait at the bench while I go find Fallon. I find her on the floor, lying on her stomach with papers spread out everywhere. She jumps as I kneel over her. “Hey, Micah and Jay are outside and want to know if you’d like to go swimming.”

Fallon bounds to her feet more quickly than I expected. “Micah wants me to swim? How cool is that? Yes, totally, we’re swimming.”