by D. F. Jones
Lizzie said, “You know Reed and Brent both play on George’s baseball team.”
Ruby turned to Lizzie and said, “I know. They came in the store last night. We talked for a few minutes, and they asked me for directions to Ditch Lane because they were looking for George.”
Lizzie rolled onto her stomach, laying her face on her hands as she faced Ruby. “Yup, they came out to party with George. You know, you both should really come to one of the games. You’d be surprised how many guys there are on the team this year that y’all could choose from.”
Ruby had finally started breathing normally again. “Lizzie, you know I’ve been busy working all summer, but you can bet your sweet buns I’ll be at the next one. When is it?”
“It’s Monday night.” Lizzie stood up and then motioned for the girls to follow suit. “Y’all, it’s scorching hot out here. Let’s get in the water.” Ruby and Sandy both stood up and joined Lizzie as they walked toward the pool. Ruby looked down at the grass, mixed with clover, to search for honeybees. They were harmless unless you stepped on one and then, it stung like the dickens.
Reed glanced up to see the girls and said, “Hey, Lizzie, Lizzie Glenn.”
“Why, if it isn’t Reed Jackson, as I live and breathe.” Lizzie smiled sweetly at him.
Reed threw his head back and laughed, then introduced his friends, Brent, Tammy and Steve. Reed’s eyes stayed steady on Ruby as he said, “Hi, Ruby, how are you? Sorry, we missed you at the party last night.”
Ruby’s stomach flipped and she replied too loudly, “I’m great! I’m sorry I missed y’all.”
Ruby glanced over her shoulder to see the summer breeze had blown a strand of Brent’s chin-length straight, black hair into his face. He reached up and tucked it behind his ear. Brent gazed into Ruby’s eyes. His eyes were framed by long lashes, and he nearly burned her alive with his smoldering look.
Ruby felt her cheeks warm under Brent’s intense stare, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. She felt this weird magnetic pull between them.
Brent’s lips curved into a smile, flashing his pearly whites. “Hey, baby sister,” he said in a low, sultry voice.
“Hi, Brent,” Ruby said, crossing her arms over her stomach. She slightly bent her knee as she shifted onto her other foot. God, Brent made her so nervous the way he looked at her, with raw desire lingering in his eyes.
Brent absentmindedly rubbed his shoulder. Just then, Ruby remembered overhearing George talk about a player who had suffered a shoulder injury last week. Ruby would bet that player had been Brent.
“Brent, so you’re the one who nearly threw his shoulder out last week. How is it?” No doubt her attraction to him was his brooding, good looks. Her stomach flipped again.
Brent swatted at the honeybee swarming at his feet and then lifted his gaze to her again. “Yeah, I’m much better. It still hurts a little. I came to the pool today to work out some of the soreness.
Ruby had the hots for Reed, but Brent’s handsome looks and piercing eyes drew her to him. His olive skin and hairless chest made Ruby want to trail her fingers over what looked velvety-smooth to the touch. There was something slightly mysterious and dangerous about the way Brent smiled at her, and it felt downright exciting.
Brent obviously didn’t have a girlfriend—at least not here, anyway.
Ruby said, “Lizzie was just telling us y’all have a game Monday night. Do you think you’ll play?”
A confident expression lit Brent’s face. “Of course, I’m playing. Are you coming to watch the game?”
As she started to reply she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, Brent’s question had sparked some attention from Reed. Ruby got a tingling sensation like something pricking her skin. She thanked God it was hot as blue blazes out here as she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks.
Reed was checking her out again. Ruby shifted uncomfortably. “I’m planning on coming to your game with my friend, Anna. Anna loves baseball,” she said in a poured-on-thick, sweet Southern belle drawl. Anna had to work today or she would have been at the pool with them. Anna didn’t necessarily love baseball, but Anna loved baseball players.
Ruby turned to their friend Steve, who seemed to be dumbstruck by Sandy’s beauty. Ruby nearly burst out laughing. She had seen that look from many of Sandy’s admirers. It was an “another one bite’s the dust” look. “So, Steve, do you play baseball on George’s team?”
Steve momentarily glanced over to Ruby and then right back to Sandy, who seemed bored with the whole conversation. Steve replied, “Uh, no. But I do go to the games sometimes.”
Reed sat cross-legged on his beach towel and twirled strands of grass between his fingers, then tilted his head up. “I’m glad you’re coming to the game, Ruby.” Ruby bit her bottom lip as Reed’s eyes met hers.
While Reed talked to her, Brent gave him a look that said, “Back off dude.” Reed continued, saying, “We need all the cheerleaders we can get.”
Tammy elbowed Reed in the chest.
Reed rubbed his hand across his chest and glared back at Tammy like she had lost her mind. “Ow. What was that for?” He looked over to Ruby and shrugged.
Brent interrupted Reed, saying, “So, Ruby, do you like going off the diving boards?”
Now this was something Ruby could sink her teeth into. She had been coming to Henry Horton since she was six years old and her father had taught her to dive at ten. “Sometimes.”
Sandy drawled in her Yankee-trying-to-be-Southern accent, “Y’all, I’m hawt. Let’s get in the water. I don’t care if we go off the boards or straight in, as long as it’s wet.”
Brent stood and Reed looked on. “Ladies, first.”
There were two low boards and one high one. As they walked to the boards, Brent grabbed the rails of the low diving board, but Ruby walked past the low board to the high dive and turned to face Brent.
Ruby held the rail to the ladder of the twenty-five-foot diving board and placed her other hand on her hip, challenging him. “Are you game?”
He chuckled, and said, “If you are, I am.” His rich laughter warmed her. His silky smooth voice wrapped around her like a warm blanket on a cold night.
The blue water glimmered in the bright sunlight, and the smell of chlorine was very strong. There were only a half dozen or so people in the deep side of the pool. The majority of the swimmers were on the other side of the nine-foot roped area. The high school- and middle school-aged kids ruled the middle of the pool, while the smaller children stayed with their mothers in the baby pool area. Steve and Reed came jogging up behind her and Brent.
Steve punched Brent in his good arm. “We couldn’t let you two have all the fun.”
Reed walked around Brent, briefly brushing up against Ruby’s back to grab the other side of the rail. Ruby felt stings like needles shoot up her spine.
Reed said, “Going off the big one, Ruby?”
Ruby turned and could feel the undercurrent between Reed and Brent, like this was some type of contest. It was odd, she thought, the way those two were acting. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but they both seemed eager to be around her. They had asked her to their ballgames, showed up at the pool and now were practically falling over themselves to stand next to her at the board. She tilted her head and placed her hands on her hips. “It’s follow the leader, if y’all are up for it?”
The guys said in unison, “Hell, yes!”
Ruby had always been competitive, and there was no way she would allow these three goobers to get the best of her. She started climbing up the ladder, with the feeling that all three of them were watching her behind.
Ruby got to the top, stood on the board and turned, looking down at them. “It’s not too late for y’all to back out.”
They laughed, looking at each other like they thought she was nuts.
Brent pushed Reed out of the way, climbing up the board to stand behind her, when the lifeguard blew the whistle and shouted for him to step off the board. He chuckled. �
�You better show us what you got, Ruby, before we get arrested by the lifeguard police.”
Ruby grabbed both sides of the rails, leaned back into her approach, then ran and dove off the high board. Rarely did anyone dive off the big board. She had all three elements of a perfect dive: the approach, the flight, and the entry. When her head popped out of the water, she looked up at the mesmerized young men standing near the top of the board and smiled, giving them the thumbs-up. She swam to the side of the pool and pulled herself up and out of the water and then sat on the edge, just in time to see Brent’s approach.
Brent stood on the board, tentative at first, but then placed his hands on the bars, leaned back, and then ran and dove off the board. His flight was way off, and his entry into the water hit hard on his very flat, very muscular stomach. Ruby winced for him. One down, two to go. This was getting fun.
Sandy, Lizzie and Tammy came over to the edge of the pool to sit down beside her. They had gone off one of the big slides.
Sandy shoulder-bumped Ruby, and with a quirk of a smile said, “Show off.”
Raising one shoulder, Ruby just smiled back at her. “They asked for it.”
Brent slowly dragged himself out of the water and sat with them. “Ruby, you creamed us today.”
Ruby dropped her eyelids for a split second and then lifted her gaze to meet Brent at eye level. She turned and looked up to watch Steve on the big board.
Steve had a wholesome look about him, with dark auburn hair and a lean body. Just the type of guy any parent would want to see their daughters dating. But right now, he looked like a scared jackrabbit standing up there on the board. She tried very hard not to start laughing. Men were so prideful. Instead of just admitting they couldn’t do something, they just went for it. His approach on the board had been atrocious. His flight wasn’t bad until his legs flipped over on his entry, and he smacked the water so loudly people turned around to look.
Tammy leaned back and said, “Ouch! Now that had to hurt.”
Steve swam slowly over to the side of the pool, but instead of pulling himself up, he decided to stay in the water. “Where in the world did you learn to dive, Ruby?”
With a shrug she replied, “My daddy taught me to swim and dive. I’ve had a lot of practice.”
Reed walked out onto the board, standing there like Ares, the warrior god. Ruby’s stomach did a somersault, and then the tingling sensations started at her fingertips and traveled straight down to her toes. Reed’s approach was nearly perfect: he stood perfectly straight with no weight on the back of his heels and jumped hard up in the air. His body turned into the dive, with his arms tight to his ears in a streamlined position, his toes pointed and his muscles flexed during his flight. His entry into the water had been completely flawless, and then he swam over to the rest of the gang.
Reed pulled himself up to sit beside Ruby, ignoring the daggers Tammy shot at him. “Ruby, I’m impressed.”
Ruby stared at him, dumbstruck. “So am I, Reed.”
Sandy stood up. “Come on, y’all, let’s swim in an area where we all can have fun—and my feet can actually touch the bottom.” Sandy jumped into the deep water and swam to a shallower area.
As Ruby swam underwater, she felt a tug on her ankle and pivoted to see who had her. Reed was pulling her back to him. She pushed off his chest with her foot and swam to the top of the water to catch her breath, with Reed surfacing beside her. She and Reed swam together to the five-foot area. Ruby brushed the hair off her face. Reed darted back under the water, and he grabbed Ruby’s ankles, yanking her down under.
Ruby opened her eyes underwater and saw Reed was looking back at her. His hand ran over her calf and she felt the connection again. But she was quickly running out of breath. She pushed up again with her feet grazing the rough concrete floor and rose until she broke the surface. Reed surfaced right after her, standing so close she could feel his thigh as his muscle tensed. Reed shook the excess water from his hair, spraying water into her face.
She pushed Reed’s shoulder and splashed him with water. “What were you trying to do? Drown me?”
Amusement lit his eyes, and Reed replied, “Nah, I was just playing around. You wanna play chicken?”
Brent swam over to them and stood between Reed and Ruby, placing an arm around her shoulder. “Sure, Ruby’s on my team.”
Brent went underwater, pushing his head between the V of her thighs while his hands gently rubbed along the length of her legs. As he rose out of the water with her on his shoulders, Ruby felt a twinge in her nether regions.
Reed glared at Brent and gave him a chest bump, which nearly knocked Ruby off. “Tammy and I are game.” There was definitely something going on between Reed and Brent, as they stared each other down, but Ruby couldn’t quite put her finger on it yet.
That left Steve and Sandy, because Lizzie had returned to her beach blanket. Steve smiled at Sandy with a look of pure adoration and said, “I get Sandy!” Ruby almost felt sorry for him. The poor boob didn’t have a chance in hell of going out with Sandy because she only dated older guys. And most of those guys were built like Reed and Brent, not Steve. Sandy looked over at Ruby and rolled her eyes. “Oh, good lord. Let’s get on with it.”
The chicken fights were short-lived because Ruby and Brent won every round, even with Brent’s injured shoulder. They had managed to defeat everyone, making them the reigning champions of the day. Brent grabbed Ruby and threw her up in the air, and she came down in a spray of water.
Brent roared with laughter and rustled her hair. “Come on, champ, let’s go get something to eat and drink, okay?”
Ruby bent backwards into the water to smooth out her hair. “All right, sounds good to me.”
Ruby jogged over to get money out of her beach bag. Reed and Tammy were back lying out on their beach towels. Ruby walked past them, and Reed looked up at her with a scowl on his face. What was his problem? She frowned and scowled back at him.
Brent stepped over Reed and Tammy and caught Ruby’s hand, linking their fingers together. “You ready to go, sweet girl?”
She glanced down at Reed and Tammy and noticed Reed’s expression had turned dark. Ruby said, “Yeah, I’m ready. Anyone else want to come with us?” She needed reinforcements because Brent sort of made her nervous.
Lizzie grabbed her bag. “I do. I need something to eat before I get a headache in this heat.” The afternoon had turned almost unbearably hot unless you were in the cool water.
Steve stood up and said, “Me too. I could eat a horse. Sandy, you wanna get something?”
Sandy shook her head no and lay back on the beach blanket, placing her shades over her eyes.
Ruby, Brent, Lizzie and Steve walked to the covered café area to order burgers and Cokes. The radio was playing the top pop twenty-five through the loudspeakers. After picking up their food, they walked over to a vacant table in the shade and sat down. Lizzie talked to Steve while Ruby began to learn more about Brent.
Brent took a big bite out of his burger. He licked the mustard off the corner of his mouth, took a drink and then began moving his straw up and down in his cup. “Do you swim here often?”
Ruby nearly burst out laughing at his line. She wanted to eat but was so thirsty her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. She picked up her drink, took a swallow, and then set it back down. “I come at least once a week during the summer.”
Brent pointed beyond the pool. “I see tennis courts over there. Do you play?”
Ruby could play almost every sport, but tennis was infuriating. George had tried to teach her, but Ruby had no patience for it. “I play very badly. Is this your first year to play baseball?”
Brent grabbed the napkins as the summer breeze lifted them off the table. A little girl ran over to him and gave him one of the napkins that had flown away. He smiled down at the girl, and she blushed and ran in the opposite direction. Brent used his soda cup to anchor the napkins from flying away. “This is my first year playing on George’s team.
I used to play baseball in high school, and a couple of times against George. He is one heck of a pitcher.”
Ruby took a bite of her burger and then began to nibble on a few French fries. She grabbed for the ketchup at the same time Brent did and their fingers touched briefly. She counted silently to three to let her racing pulse die down. “Yes, George has always been athletic and very competitive. Everyone in my family hates to lose.”
Brent belly laughed. “I will attest to that, watching you dive. Dang, girl, you’re off the charts!”
Ruby flashed him her pearly whites and playfully nudged his good shoulder. “Well, you’re not that great a diver, but you killed it in the chicken fights.”
Ruby and Brent were lazily walking back to lie out when Tammy bumped into Ruby, nearly knocking her down and not apologizing. If Ruby had to guess, she’d say Tammy was pissed off about something.
Ruby glanced at Brent and then over her shoulder, watching the diva leave the pool area. “What was that about?”
Brent looked to her lips and, for a brief moment, time seemed to stand still. The sun had peeked out from the clouds, which made the heat blaze. “I believe it was about you, sweet girl.”
With an incredulous expression, Ruby asked, “Me? What the heck did I do?”
Brent caught her hand again. They were nearly back to the others, when he said, “Reed has a crush on you.”
“I think you must be mistaken. They must have had a fight about something other than me.” But the thought of Reed actually having a crush on her had Ruby flipping invisible cartwheels. Something really weird was going on here. Normally, hot guys chased Sandy, and Ruby got the leftovers. But Reed and Brent were both flirting with her, with barely a glance to Sandy—or Lizzie, for that matter. Ruby intended to keep her guard up.
* * *
At the end of the day, Reed watched as the girls drove out of the pool parking lot. Reed hated that he had mentioned to Tammy about his going swimming today. He should have known she would show up. Instead of Reed getting to know Ruby better, Brent had used the opportunity to weasel his way into her graces. Damn it, Brent had had Ruby on his shoulders. Reed had touched those silky legs and wanted them draped around him, not Brent.
