"Maybe you guys could try again."
"No. Last night was it. Besides, he already has someone."
"He doesn't have a girlfriend. I told you that last night."
"I didn't say she was his girlfriend." She smiles. "Not yet."
"Who are you talking about?"
"You." Giada laughs. "Why are you acting like you don't know this?"
"Brad and I are just friends."
"Who want to be more, or at least Brad does. He's totally into you. When we were out last night, all he did was talk about you."
"He only talked about me because I'm the only person he knows here. Well, and Nate."
"And everyone here at the pool. He could've talked about any of us, or his family, his friends back home. But instead he talked about you. Guys don't do that unless they're really into you."
"What did he say about me?"
"I don't remember. Honestly, my mind was starting to wander during part of it." She pauses. "I know this sounds crazy, but as Brad was going on and on about you last night, I started thinking about Johnny."
"Pool Johnny?"
"Yeah." She smiles. "I know he's a little strange, but he's also kind of hot. Actually, he's really hot and his abs are amazing." Her eyes dart to mine. "What do you think? Should I go out with him?"
"I think you could do better."
"True. Bad idea. Good thing I got a second opinion." She checks her phone. "I should get out there."
"Hey, um." I look around to make sure we're alone. "Don't tell anyone what you said about Brad, okay?"
"Why are you being so secretive? Everyone already knows he likes you."
"How would they know?"
"The CPR thing?" she says, like it's obvious.
"That was just a demonstration."
"Uh, no. He kissed you. Everyone saw it."
"It wasn't a kiss. It was—" I decide not to bother trying to deny it. "Okay, it was a kiss, but an innocent one, and I didn't think anyone noticed."
"We ALL noticed. Everyone was talking about it later."
"Then why didn't Nate say anything to me?"
"I think he was the only one who didn't know it was a kiss. He was probably so convinced you loved him back that he didn't even consider there was anything going on between you and Brad. But now that Nate knows you only see him as a friend, he'll notice this stuff. So if you want to hide it from him, you'll have to be more careful."
"I'm not dating Brad," I insist. "We're just friends. Who kissed. But that's over now."
"You like him though, right? Like in a boyfriend way?"
"Maybe, but nothing can happen. Nate would kill me and Brad."
"Nate can't tell you who you can go out with."
"No, but it'll hurt him to see me with someone else. And if that someone was Brad, it'd be even worse."
"Okay, but if you ask me, I'd say do what makes you happy, not what makes Nate happy." She walks off. "See you out there!"
When I get to the pool, Nate is already in his chair. Johnny is standing just below him, talking to Nate while stretching his neck side to side. I've never really looked that closely at Johnny, but seeing him now, in just his swim trunks, Giada's right. He does have a good body and amazing abs. But his body still can't compare to the guy walking toward me. Tall and broad with muscles everywhere you look. It's the body of a man. An athlete. He looks more like a football player than a swimmer, and yet when I've seen him swim, he glides through the water, fast and smooth.
"Hey," he says with that smile that makes my stomach flutter. "How's it going?"
"Good."
He has his shirt off, which makes talking to him extremely difficult. Turning thoughts into words is nearly impossible when staring at a guy this hot. Add in images of us kissing, remembering what it felt like, and it's a wonder I'm even able to talk at all.
"I heard you and Nate made up," Brad says.
"Yeah. He came over this morning. We went to breakfast and he gave me a ride here."
"So everything's back to normal?"
"I wouldn't say that, but at least we're back to speaking."
"I'm sure everything will be fine in a day or two. He just needs some time to get his head on straight."
"Yeah, we decided to take tonight off from each other. No calls. No texts. No going out."
He nods. "That's probably a good idea."
I stare at him, into his deep brown eyes, unable to look away. I don't know what it is about Brad, but I keep feeling this need to be around him. He's so easy to talk to, and he's a great listener. I never feel like he's judging me the way I sometimes feel with Nate.
"Riley, you still there?" Brad says, waving his hand in front of me.
"Sorry. I'm just tired." I glance back at Nate, who's still talking to Johnny. I chew on my lip, trying to figure out if I should do this. Would Nate be mad if I did? But he said I could be friends with him. "So what are you doing tonight?" I ask Brad.
His brows rise. "Nothing. Why?"
"Do you want to do something? Go to a movie or maybe go to dinner?"
A whistle blows and TJ yells, "Everyone in their places! Hurry up!"
Stupid TJ, interrupting us at the very moment my heart's going a million beats per minute awaiting Brad's answer.
"What do you think?" I ask. "Dinner? Movie?"
Brad slowly smiles. "Yeah. That'd be great."
I see the look he's giving me and quickly say, "It's not a date. I just meant as friends, you know, like we've been doing before. We just won't have Nate with us tonight."
He's still smiling. "Not a date. Got it." He hooks his thumb to the side. "I need to get to my chair. Talk later?"
"Yeah. Bye."
Giada comes up behind me. "So?" she whispers. "What happened?"
"We're going to see a movie later," I whisper as we hurry to our spots.
"He asked you out?"
"No. I asked him, but it's not a date."
"Then what is it?"
"Just two friends going out." I stop at my chair. "Giada, we can't talk about this here. I don't want Nate finding out."
"You're not going to tell him?" she asks, sounding surprised.
She's right. Why wouldn't I tell him? If tonight is just two friends hanging out, why wouldn't I tell Nate?
"Girls, get in your chairs!" TJ yells. "We can't open until everyone's in place!"
Giada scurries off while I climb up in my chair. I look over and catch Nate's eye. He smiles and gives me a wave. I do the same, then look forward and see Brad right across from me.
He gives me a smile, but for some reason it's so much sexier than Nate's. It's causing that fluttery stomach thing again. Why does Brad stir up all these feelings in me? Is it because I know he's off limits? I need to find a way to make it stop.
People start arriving and the pool quickly fills up. We're so busy I don't have time to do anything more than glance at Brad, but the few times I do, I catch his eye and he gives me that smile. And every damn time, it causes a reaction in me. A flutter. A rush of heat. A tingle of pleasure. Damn him and that smile!