Veer (Clayton Falls #2)(10)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

I rolled over onto my stomach, enjoying the way the sun felt beating down on me. Wanting to avoid tan lines, I slipped down the halter strap of my red bikini top. I watched as Kelly and Molly did the same thing to their triangle tops.

“Are any of you ladies interested in playing some volleyball?” I pushed up on my elbows and struggled to place the vaguely familiar voice addressing us. It was Ronny.

“You don’t want me playing, trust me,” Molly said immediately. I replaced my bathing suit strap before flipping over.

“What about you, Becca?” Ronny asked. I couldn’t ignore his blatant evaluation of me. He actually licked his lips. I couldn’t believe I’d agreed to go out with him.

Molly sat up, tying her top. “You definitely want her to play on your team. She’s awesome.”

I smiled. I’d played volleyball in high school and intramurals in college. “Sure, why not? Kelly, will you play?”

“Yeah, I’ll keep you company.”

“You sure you don’t want to join in, Molly?” I stood up.

“Very funny.” Molly was in good shape, but she had virtually no coordination. “But I’ll come watch in a bit.”

Kelly and I jogged over a little ways to where a bunch of guys were setting up a net. I recognized a few faces from Gill’s the night before.

“Hey, you must be Becca.” A guy with dark brown hair approached me with an outstretched hand and a grin.

“Yeah…” I accepted the hand and waited for his name.

“Oh, I’m Matt. Matt Morgan.”

I froze. This was one of the guys I was working for. I had just met my new boss wearing a bikini on the beach.

I made myself snap out of the mortification and smiled. “It’s great to meet you. Thanks for the job, by the way.”

For some reason, everyone thought that was funny.

“So, are we going to play or what?” I put a hand on my hip.

“Yes, ma’am.” Ronny tossed me the ball. “You’re up.”

I served the ball with an easy ace, enjoying the look of surprise from the guys when they realized I could actually play.

Chapter Seven

Gavin

I gave up on sleeping around noon. I was never very good at switching back and forth between day and night shifts. I sat up and looked out at the water. As disappointing as other areas of my life were, I loved my oceanfront loft. I moved my gaze over the beach and noticed a group playing volleyball. It didn’t take much guessing to figure out who the girl in the red bikini was. It seemed I was never going to escape her.

I debated whether to head out, finally rationalizing that I could use a swim before going in to work. Of course, the water was only in the sixties so early in the season.

A few minutes later, after taking my boxer Max out to do his business, I jogged down the beach. We’d already run five miles that morning.

I held back for a moment, just watching the game. Becca had some serve. I’d been able to tell she was athletic, but it was nice to watch her in action. It was nice to watch her period. That little red bikini left little to the imagination, and while half of me wanted her, the other half wanted to cover her up so the rest of those guys would stop drooling. At first, I’d thought they all liked her because she was new, but it was definitely more than that. Tom wasn’t too far off about the super model’s body. I sure couldn’t find any flaws.

“Hey, man, you want in?” Matt called.

Becca looked up at me. I smiled at her, having decided during my nonexistent nap that I was going to play nice. She looked away quickly. It looked like she was done smiling at me.

“I’m going to quit and get some water,” she said to no one in particular.

“Okay, cool. See you at work tomorrow.” Matt grinned like a love sick puppy. It was pathetic. His wife would have slapped him for it.

I couldn’t just let her leave. “What, you too chicken to play against me?”

That did the trick. “Are you joking?”

She was so predictable. She was as bad as me when it came to arguing. She was going to make one hell of a lawyer. “Let’s see what you’ve got when you actually play someone with talent.”

“Nice, man, real nice,” Matt said, but I ignored him. I ignored everyone but Becca.

I grabbed the ball from Ronny. “My serve.”

It could have just been the two of us as far as I was concerned. I think the guys were rather entertained by the display. The girl could play—that was for sure. I wasn’t exactly a big fan of volleyball, but there weren’t many sports I didn’t play for fun.

She nearly hit me with one of her serves, but I spiked it back twice as hard. She missed it, and the ball hit the sand before rolling down the beach.

“Nice meeting everyone.” She was seriously going to quit just like that? She hadn’t struck me as a sore loser.

“Had enough?”

She ignored me. “Are you ready, Kelly?”

“Yup.” I didn’t miss the glare Kelly shot me. Great, Kelly was pissed, which meant I’d be hearing it from Tom at work.

I tried not to stare too long at Becca’s retreating figure as she jogged down the beach with her friends.

Ronny gave me a funny look. “Taking this a little seriously, aren’t you?”

“Not really.” I brushed it off. She just really brought out my competitive side.

“How is a girl like that single?” Matt took a swig from a water bottle. Evidently, Becca and Kelly’s departure had broken up the game.

“It’s by choice,” I said with certainty. There was no way she’d have trouble getting a man.

“She won’t be single for long,” Ronny said with a sheepish grin.

“Is that so?” Greg pulled his t-shirt back on.

“I’m taking her out this week.” His self-satisfied smile pissed me off.

“Good luck with that.” I turned and headed back home.

***

As expected, Tom had it in for me. That man was whipped. His wife got upset, and the whole world had to move out of the way to fix it.

“Don’t even say it. I know Kelly’s pissed at me for some reason.” I moved past Tom to grab a file of some paper work I’d been sitting on. I brought it back to my desk.

“For some reason? You went after her new friend. I think you scared the girl.”

“She didn’t look scared to me.”

“Seriously, man, what’s your deal? What was up with all that last night?”