The Pass (Smart Jocks #5) - Rebecca Jenshak Page 0,20
you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
It takes him a second to realize I’m talking about the breakup with Amelia. “Yeah, I’m fine. It was for the best.”
I don’t know if that’s true, but he seems like he’s doing all right, so I give him a pass for now.
We swim a little, mostly just float, until both our beers are empty.
“Now what?” I ask as we climb back onto the boat.
“First weekend on the lake… party cove.”
Whatever I expected, party cove is so much more. Rows of boats are lined up and tied together. Boats of all sizes and so many I lose track. Music pumps from a DJ stand at the end of one line.
Tanner pulls up to a huge boat with an upper deck blasting music that competes with that of the DJ. A guy with red hair and black swim trunks comes down to help us tie up.
“Shaw!” he says after the boat’s secure. “It’s good to see you.”
Tanner hops over onto the other boat and they embrace. He holds out his hand and helps me over. “Jonah, this is Sydney.”
Jonah grins, looks from me to Tanner and back at me. “This is the Sydney?”
“Hey.” I wave awkwardly.
He steps forward and crushes me in a hug. He’s a big guy, not quite as tall as Tanner but more muscular.
“Sydney, this is my buddy, Jonah.”
When he finally frees me, he’s still grinning ear to ear. “It’s so rad to meet you. I’ve heard a ton about you. This guy basically never shuts up about you. ‘Sydney this, Sydney that.’” He smacks Tanner on the chest. “Come on up, Ollie and a few of the guys from last summer are here too.”
Jonah goes ahead and Tanner gives me a sheepish smile. “Ready to meet the lake crew?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Good answer. They’re a rowdy group, but harmless.”
After I’m introduced to everyone, we grab drinks and take a seat on the upper deck. In the short time since I glanced around at party cove, a ton more people have shown up, and as far as I can see, people are standing on their boats drinking and having a good time.
Shots flow as easy as water. Tanner passes, sticking to water or soda since he’s driving us back, but I get caught up in the excitement. I’m three shots in, dancing with girls I don’t know, and feeling it way more than I usually do when I realize we didn’t eat breakfast.
As if he can read my thoughts, Tanner appears with a sandwich.
“Oh, you’re a prince.” I snatch it from him, still swaying in place, and take a large bite.
He unscrews a cap on the water in his other hand and holds it out to me next.
“Seriously, I don’t deserve you.”
One of the girls dancing beside me smiles. “Aww, you two are the sweetest.” She sticks out her bottom lip. “I wish I had a boyfriend to take care of me.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I say around another bite. The bread sticks to the roof of my mouth, making the words hard to understand.
“You two aren’t together?” She points from me to Tanner, and we both shake our heads.
A flare of irritation takes over when she steps closer to him and links her arm through his. “Then you have to dance with me.”
He resists at first, but she sticks out that lip again. She has nice lips. Big and full, just like her boobs. I glance down at mine and stick out my chest a little more. Even so, mine are nowhere near as big as hers, and I have serious boob envy right now.
I retreat to take a seat and finish my sandwich while Tanner gets pulled farther into the circle of girls moving to the beat.
The food helps, as does the water, but I shake my head when Jonah comes over and offers me another shot.
He hands them off and then plops down beside me. “You know, we were half-convinced he made you up.”
“What?”
“Shaw made you sound too good to be true, and none of us had ever met you.” He shrugs his big shoulders. “I’m glad you two finally got together.”
“Oh, we’re not together. We’re just friends.”
“Really?”
“Really.” It isn’t anything I haven’t heard before. People always assume there’s something else going on between me and Tanner. “Is it so hard to believe that a guy and girl can be best friends?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. Normally, I’d say it’s totally possible, but the way he talked about