don’t you just do the decent thing for once in your life and hand me my clothes?”
“Because…think of it like a trust exercise. You come out here in your underclothes, and I won’t look.”
“But I don’t trust you not to peek.”
“Hence, the trust exercise.”
Oh my gosh, this is ridiculous. There is no way I’m going to walk into the middle of that room in my bra and underwear only to find him smirking at me while leaning against the wall like James Dean. How stupid does he think I am?
Oh, wait! Duh. Stacy and Miss Mable will be back in any minute, and they will give me my clothes! Problem solved. Eat dirt, Ryan.
Except, when I tell Ryan this, he chuckles. “You’ll be waiting a while then.”
I don’t want to fall into his trap and ask, but I have no choice. “And why’s that?”
“They left about five minutes ago.”
“WHAT! You’re lying. Stacy drove me here. And besides, Miss Mable still has to take your measurements.”
“I already know my measurements, so I gave them to her while we were standing outside. Since she didn’t need me to try on the suit, she took it and went home. Said to tell you to lock up on your way out.”
“And Stacy?”
“Got a call from Logan that his tire was flat, so she asked me to give you a ride home. So, it looks like you’re stuck with me. Better get to moving.”
There is a loud thumping sound. It’s coming from my head colliding with the stall door over and over. I’m hoping that maybe if I bang it hard enough, I’ll knock myself unconscious and not have to deal with Ryan at all.
He’s quiet out there now, and I want to see what he’s doing, so I get close enough to the stall door to peek through the crack. I have to press myself against the door to get the right angle to see Ryan, but there he is, back facing me as if he really expects me to come out. He’s wearing a plain white t-shirt that’s stretching across his back muscles and dark jeans that make his butt look way too good. I’m not even a butt-admiring type of girl, however, even I can admit that his is something to behold. He’s also wearing a baseball hat, and from this position, I can see the ends of his hair curling out the bottom. He looks relaxed and effortlessly sexy, and I want to kick him.
“You have no choice but to trust me. So, get your butt out here, June Bug.”
Trust him? Never. This will be the grown-up edition of shark and minnow. He will face the wall, and the moment he hears me moving, he’ll turn and catch me. He’ll see me. All of me, and my curves, and my dimples, and the stretch marks on my upper thighs, and...no.
Not happening.
Chapter Seven
Ryan
I’m staring at the faded blue wall, waiting for June to come out for her clothes and trying my hardest not to smile. It’s like old times when we were still just teens playing in the pool. I always singled June out back then when I was the shark, and I’ve singled her out now too.
Back then, I would have swum with all my strength to catch her as fast as possible. No one else was ever my target. And honestly, it was like that everywhere we went. Like I was a bloodhound—trained to sniff out her scent. I would arrive at a party, and my eyes would immediately snap to wherever she was in a room.
I find it interesting (and disappointing) that she still hasn’t realized that I only chased her in that pool for an excuse to wrap my arms around her. She hated me so much back then that coming clean and telling her how I felt about her seemed like too much of an insurmountable obstacle. There was no use telling her I was crazy for her, because I’m fairly certain she was crazy for my blood—spilled all over the pavement with a chalk drawing outlining it.
But things are different now. I’m older. Wiser. Trustworthy is the name of the game this time, and the rules are simple: don’t turn around.
“Ryan…” says June. “Go jump in the river.”
Hmm. Okay, so maybe this will take a little more work. It’s time for some good old-fashioned goading.
“Oh, come on, June,” I say, moving closer to the changing stall again. “You’re not afraid, are you? The girl I used