Just promise you won’t break it.
17
Hayden
After a restless night, Hayden woke the next morning to find two guys from his squad had quit. He didn’t blame them. Hayden felt like garbage after that harsh beach marathon yesterday. Realizing his dream girl was off limits certainly didn’t help. Her barely-there swimsuit had filled his dreams with enough tantalizing material to give him blue balls for a month.
Staring down the barrel of six more weeks of the same thing was enough to make even Hayden want to reconsider his spot at ACE. But he wouldn’t. Quitting wasn’t in his nature. If it had been, his father had conditioned it out of him.
Hayden groaned as he got out of the rickety twin bed. He stretched, already pining for his suite at the Four Seasons. He knew his father had wanted to pull some strings to make it so Hayden could stay at better accommodations than what ACE had to offer—which was basically just run down military barracks—but Hayden wouldn’t have it. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right. And that meant no interference from his father. That had been one of the terms of their deal.
Another was that after Hayden gave the Olympics his best effort, his father would give it a rest. Which meant Hayden would get his life back and be free to pursue whatever he wanted, no strings attached. That meant his father couldn’t cut him off financially—something he threatened to do on numerous occasions.
Hayden realized it sounded shallow. But he’d never had a job and wouldn’t know the first thing about getting one without his father’s influence. It was sad, and that was precisely why Hayden planned to remedy it as soon as his quest for gold was over.
He wanted to go to a college of his choice, not just one with a good swim program. He wanted to get a job; maybe lots of jobs. He wanted to backpack around the world. He wanted to find himself. His true self, not the Hayden his father had built, but the true Hayden. The man he might have been if he’d been able to grow into himself on his own, without the pressure of rectifying his father’s failures.
The trouble was, Hayden had no idea who that guy was. He didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. He’d never been good at anything but swimming. But then again, he’d never been allowed to try. Maybe he’d learn to play the guitar. He’d always loved music. Or maybe he’d be a sculptor. Or a chef. Or a racecar driver. Or maybe he’d just spend his life kissing Joy.
The possibilities were endless. But something about the endlessness of it all always terrified Hayden. Because in that limitless future, one thing was certain—the bottomless pit of loneliness was still there.
Hayden’s biggest fear was ending up like his father—alone and bitter. Living only on the memories of past glory and failures. But as much as the fear terrified Hayden, it motivated him, too. And that was why he shoved all thoughts of Joy from his mind, finished stretching, got dressed and jogged to the mess hall to start his day with the rest of the ACE athletes.
As much as his heart told him he needed her, his mind knew better. First he needed to finish what he started, or he’d never have a real shot.
Joy
Jo gazed over the railing of the staff hall to where the athletes were gathered below, eating their breakfast and chatting. Behind her, the same was happening with the ACE staff. There was a lot of grumbling going on about the few athletes who’d quit after the first day, mostly because it cost people to lose their shot at the ACE Madness money. But Jo couldn’t be bothered by that for two reasons.
One: she’d chosen wisely. Hayden Anderson wasn’t going anywhere.
Two: she’d chosen wisely. Hayden Anderson wasn’t going anywhere.
Yeah, those were the same reasons. But they presented two very different dilemmas. Jo needed Hayden to stick around and perform well so she could win the cash. But she also needed him to leave to ensure her secret didn’t get out.
She didn’t know what the hell to do. The competitor in her wanted to help him win so she’d get the prize money. The problem with helping Hayden was it meant spending time with Hayden, talking to Hayden, working with Hayden. But that was just way too much Hayden.
Jo worried if she spent time doing all those things, she’d just end up kissing him again. That was all she’d thought about again last night when she should’ve been sleeping. Why was he the one stupid boy she’d decided to be stupid with? And why wouldn’t her stupid heart let her forget how much she loved kissing his stupid lips?
She felt like a complete traitor. A traitor to Max. A traitor to Kai. But most of all a traitor to herself. Her heart didn’t need this right now. If she was dreaming of Hayden after one steamy night of kissing on the beach, she was clearly not in a good place in her life. She needed to let it go. The next six weeks needed to be about her and only her. Not kissing boys.
Of course, right as Jo formed that thought, Hayden walked into the mess hall with his stupid handsome face. Dammit. There was nothing stupid about him. Not his sandy brown hair, or his wide toned shoulders. Not his gray-blue eyes, which were the exact shade of the ocean after a storm, by the way. Definitely not his abs or the way his muscles angled into a tantalizing V. Christ! Hayden’s thin shirt was so tight that he might as well not have been wearing one. Jo could see every muscle ripple beneath the fabric. And that V . . . it was like a freaking neon sign pointing to the very healthy manhood that lay hidden just below his shorts. She knew it was healthy because she could still remember the way it’d felt when he’d crushed her into the sand with his tormenting kisses.
Really, it should be illegal for guys to have V’s like that.
Hayden was wearing a sleeveless performance shirt today, his shorts slung low, leaving a tantalizing view of the aforementioned V.
Jo forced herself to tear her eyes away from him.
Get it together, Jo.
You’ve seen plenty of muscly men before.
But she knew that Hayden’s muscles weren’t really the problem in this scenario. She was. Because there was almost a hundred good looking men in the mess hall below her, but there might as well have only been one. Because no matter how hard she tried, Jo couldn’t look anywhere but at Hayden.
“Who ya droolin’ over?” Kendall asked, coming up behind Jo.
She whirled around. “No one.”
Kendall cocked a dark eyebrow. “Oh, now I gotta know. Let me see . . .” she said, scanning the crowd of boys below. “Eenie meenie miney mo-my-God!”
Kendall’s eyes about popped out her head right about the time Jo snaked her hand around her best friend’s mouth. She whisper-hissed into Kendall’s ear. “I swear to God if you say anything right now I’m going straight to my uncle and telling him about your gambling ring.”
Kendall’s eyes narrowed into dark daggers, but she nodded and Jo removed her hand.
Kendall grinned. “New York, huh? Funny, him being an ACE-hole, right?”
Jo scowled. “You knew?”
Kendall gave a noncommittal shrug. “I may have had an idea.”
“Are you kidding me? Thanks for the heads up. I nearly had a stroke when he showed up at my tower yesterday.”
She snickered. “You’re welcome.”
“Excuse me?”
“For putting him on your squad.”
“You did that?”
“I admit nothing. But one thing I do know, ya better put some ice on that lady boner before your family finds out ya got the hots for him.”
“It’s not that easy.”
Kendall’s eyebrows practically knit themselves together in surprise. “Girl!”
“No. It’s nothing like that,” Jo replied defensively, because she could already guess all the compromising scenarios running through Kendall’s dirty mind. “I’m not into him.” Lie! “But I can’t really ice him out. He’s my pick in the bracket.”
“For real?” Kendall feigned shock. “Damn, what are the odds?”
She knew that, too. Of course she did. She was the damn bookie. “Kendall, did you rig this?”
&nb
sp; Kendall’s smirk disappeared. “There are two things I don’t do. I don’t lie and I don’t cheat. Getting New York as your pick was fate, baby. And as much as I’d like credit, I’ve got nothing to do with fate.”
Jo sighed. She knew Kendall well enough to know she was telling the truth. Plus, it was just like Jo to have this kind of shitty luck.
Kendall grinned and threw an around Jo’s shoulders. “Aw, come on. Is it really so bad that the hot guy likes you?”
Jo snorted. “You know that’s not the problem.”
Kendall laughed. “I’m so glad you’re in ACE this year. You certainly know how to make things interesting.”
“Interesting? More like complicated.”
“Just keep your legs closed for a few weeks and you’ll be fine.”
Jo rolled her eyes. It wasn’t her legs she was worried about. It was her stupid heart. “So, what do I do now? Try to trade him as my pick or something?”
“Hell no! Are you crazy? New York came in first, didn’t he?”
“Yeah, but I know him. I can’t keep him as my pick. Everyone will think I’m helping him or something.”
“So. That’s half the reason we bet. What’s the point of backing all these haoles if we’re not allowed to give them a little edge.”
“That sorta sounds like cheating,” Jo argued.
“It’s not cheating. Think of it more like insider trading.”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“Girl, do ya wanna win some money for your own place or not?”
Jo swallowed hard. She did want her own place, desperately. And it was something she wanted to be able to do on her own. Asking her aunt and uncle for help wasn’t an option. They lived a modest life and asking for financial help when they’d already done so much for Jo never sat well with her. It was part of the reason she’d only applied to online colleges after she graduated from high school last year.
She knew Pam and Jack were disappointed she’d chosen that path, but she also knew adopting her when they already had three of their own children couldn’t have been easy. She didn’t want to be a bigger burden than she already was. But winning the ACE bracket money, along with the fat paycheck she’d receive at the end of the six weeks would solve Jo’s problems. And make breaking the news that she wanted to move to a place of her own that much easier.
Jo swallowed hard. “Do you really think I can help him win?”
“Please, I’ve known you for nineteen years, Jo. Besides Max, you know this island better than anyone. If anyone can help New York survive the next six weeks, it’s you.”
Jo’s heart constricted at the mere mention of Max’s name. Her hand subconsciously reached forward to grip the railing for support. Some days the gaping hole Max’s absence left in Jo’s chest was too much to bear. But hearing his name mentioned so casually just now made it feel like he was still a part of her life, even though she knew that could never be true.
Jo’s throat tightened with emotion and she quickly swallowed it down, steering the subject away from Max. “So, you really think I can do it?”
“Help that haole win or get your own place?”
“Both, I guess.”
“You know I’ve got faith in ya, girl. But I swear to God if you move off this island I’ll hunt you down and move into your guest room.”
Jo laughed. “I think I can live with that. But first I’ve gotta come up with the money. If I save every penny from my ACE paychecks I can probably cover the first and last month’s rent, plus security, but . . .”
“Well, it’s a good thing you bet on a good horse,” Kendall said, glancing back down into the competitors’ mess hall. “New York’s gonna have no trouble filling your pockets with cash.”
“If he keeps winning,” Jo hedged.
Kendall arched an eyebrow. “You do know who he is, right?”
“No and I’d like to keep it that way. I already know way more than I want to.”
Kendall’s raspy laugh filled the hall. “I bet ya do.”
Jo rolled her eyes and decided to ignore Kendall’s insinuations. “So, what do I do about the fact that everyone at Locos saw me kiss the guy I’ve got my future riding on?”
“Nothing. It’s none of their business. And I’ll vouch for the fact that you had no idea who he was when that dare went down. Plus, ACE hadn’t even started yet. You guys haven’t done anything since it started, right?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“What about the rest of the girls that were at Locos with us?”
“We’ve got your back. I’d be more worried about Lucas and Brock if I were you.”
An uneasy feeling slithered into Jo’s stomach. Lucas was easy. He was family and he’d never do anything to hurt her purposely. Plus, he’d punched Hayden, so he probably didn’t want that broadcasted around if he planned to keep his job at ACE. But Brock was a different story.
He worked at ACE, too. But that wasn’t the only problem. Jo and Brock had a complicated history. One that was getting worse by the day. But that wasn’t anything Jo wanted to revisit with Kendall. Jo was still surprised she’d managed to keep Brock’s antics secret from her best friend this long.
Just six more weeks. Jo steeled her resolve. “I can handle Lucas and Brock.”
18
Hayden
The second day of training was even worse than the first. The third was worse than them both, but day four, that took the win for worst day ever. Hayden was beginning to think Jack wanted to weed out half the field with his boot camp training methods. Today was not only another ungodly hot beach run, but also dive training.
Why not? Holding ones breath underwater after not being able to catch it seemed like a perfect idea.
Hayden’s body was screaming by the time he swam out to the floating dock in the middle of the ocean. According to Jack, only pansies did their dive training in a pool.
Jack’s morning motivation sessions were really starting to piss Hayden off. He swore Jack waited until the precise moment Hayden was sitting down with his breakfast to blow that damn whistle and send the room into chaos. Cramming a meal down his throat while sprinting to the staring line to find out the day’s torture schedule was not Hayden’s idea of fun. Neither was watching Joy parade around in her skimpy lifeguard outfits while completely ignoring him.
She treated him more coldly than any of the other athletes even though he still managed to come in first all week. He’d thought by now it would’ve earned him a little respect in her eyes. But no, all he earned was a hard-on. Not good for the old ego. Or the deadly case of blue balls he was sporting.
But that was coming to end right now. Hayden was done letting a one-hundred pound girl make him feel like crap. He might have to let Jack and his father belittle him, but he didn’t have to let some cock tease of a girl on a power trip put him down. He didn’t care how sexy she was. He was going to earn her respect if it killed him. Because as much as his ego said she was just a girl, his heart knew she was so much more.
Hayden really needed a light at the end of the tunnel right now, and his stubborn heart had decided an ‘ata-boy’ from Joy was the only thing that would do the trick. Well, another kiss might do the trick too, but that seemed out of the question.
Joy was in Hayden’s sights as he stood on the floating platform preparing for his dive heat. He readjusted his rash guard as he watched her. She was standing a few feet away with Kendall and Brock, the two other lifeguards who joined their squad today. Joy’s whistle and oxygen tank were at the ready. Hayden would be competing in the last heat of the day.
So far, they’d all gone rather quickly considering everyone was completely exhausted. On a good day, Hayden could hold his breath for almost five minutes. Today was not a good day. Plus, there was the fact that Hayden would be on the ocean floor while holding a giant lava rock to keep himself anchored to contend with. It wasn’t really something Hayden had much practice in. But who
the hell did?
Ever hear of weights, Jack? The guy didn’t even believe in dive masks! Everyone in the previous heats came up gasping for air with red puffy eyes from trying to see what the hell they were doing in the salt water.
Finally, Joy stepped forward and called out Hayden’s number along with two others. “Eleven, fifteen, two. You’re up. Remember, your time starts as soon as you hit the water so dive straight down and grab your stone. I’ll join you down there to be sure no one gets into any trouble. Kendall and Brock will be recording your times. Go on my whistle. And remember, passing out or using the tank will get you a DQ, so know your limits.”
Hayden locked eyes with Joy. She met his gaze with a stubborn one of her own and he felt his jaw muscles twitch with anger. Why the hell did his heart have to choose now to make an appearance? And why for her? Didn’t it have enough to do just keeping blood pumping through his veins?
Honestly, Hayden was pretty sure he knew the functionality of his own heart better than most, but the erratic way it behaved whenever Joy was around was starting to scare him. Especially since the look she was giving him made him willing to jeopardize everything he’d worked for.
There’s no way I can survive six weeks without kissing you again, Joy.
But as he locked eyes with her, he knew it was more than just desire that refused to let him move on. Just being near Joy made his chest heave and his lungs burn. Anytime he caught her looking at him an instant wave of heat rolled up his body from his toes to his scalp. And when they touched . . . well, she hadn’t let that happen again, but Hayden’s body still remembered her touch as if her fingers had been branding irons.
A whistle blast pierced Hayden’s ears and his body sprang into motion on instinct. At first, the water was comforting to his scorched skin, but as soon as he opened his eyes, the salt water assaulted them. Hayden fought through the burning sensation and grabbed the first stone he came to. The frigging thing was a behemoth. Just wrestling it into his arms used more air than Hayden cared to waste. But now that he had it, he was ready to make a stand.
The Summer Boyfriend Page 7
