Playing Hooky with the Hottie - Maggie Dallen

1

Hazel

The shouts of the crowd echoed off the tiles as I pulled myself up over the edge of the pool.

“Good work, Daly,” my coach said, his voice booming over the sound of splashing behind me.

I gave him a nod as I leaned over, my hands on my knees as I caught my breath. Adrenaline was still ripping through me as my competitors followed in my wake.

Literally.

I grinned down at the ground. I won. I closed my eyes and let myself revel in the sensation as a pleasant heat spread from the center of my chest to my limbs and gave me a momentary buzz better than any drug.

I took another deep breath and let it out slowly. I won.

I freakin’ loved winning.

I stood upright and started to stretch as one of my teammates handed me a towel.

Mine was the last event of the meet, and most of my team were half-clad in track pants over their swimsuits.

The bleachers to the right were still packed, but the family and friends who’d come to support us were already standing, getting ready to leave.

I spied my best friend Emma and our friend Lulu in the stands, and they were both waving and cheering wildly.

I smiled and lifted my hand in a little wave just as a flash went off in my face. I blinked twice and jerked back at the sight of a camera in my face.

“Nice work out there, Haze,” the guy behind the camera said.

I blinked in surprise again, but this time because no one ever called me Haze, not even my best friend.

He dropped the camera, and I was faced with...Will Lansing.

Empirically hot with a tall, lean body, dark hair, and sharp features, Will seemed permanently amused by the world around him. He was the epitome of ‘chill.’

Which meant he was an enigma to me.

He winked.

I took a step back.

It was nothing personal. I just wasn’t a fan of having my picture taken, and as the photographer for the school paper, that was Will’s job.

He was gone, heading toward the bleachers before I could blink again, and I turned to walk back to the locker rooms. My teammate Cara rushed over to my side to say congratulations, and then a couple others joined us until there was a small group of us heading that way.

We’d almost reached the girls’ locker room door when my name was called again. “Hazel!”

I spun around because...that voice. I knew that voice well.

I couldn’t move as Justin Howard headed toward me. The other girls kept going, and by the time my smiling, sweet, driven, amazing co-captain reached my side I was alone.

Well, in a giant room with a crowd of spectators and a coach who was shouting out words of praise to my teammates, but other than that...I was alone with Justin Howard.

Do not freak out, I ordered.

My body didn’t listen.

I totally freaked out.

My limbs seemed to take on a life of their own as I fidgeted. Crossing my arms, uncrossing them, shifting from foot to foot like I was standing on hot coals and not my slip-on sandals.

“Great work today,” Justin said as he dazzled me with his smile.

“Thanks. You too.”

At six feet, Justin towered over me, and I was eye level with his perfect chest.

Perfect didn’t begin to cover it. Serious swimmers had amazing upper bodies and holy crap, Justin’s put all others to shame.

My mouth went dry as I tried not to look at that chest. Focus.

I managed to maintain eye contact, but not without a struggle.

“You did great, too,” I said.

He shrugged. Always so modest. That was just one of many things I liked about him.

Do not think about the fact that you like him.

And just like that, it was all I could think about. Like trying not to think about a pink elephant, my brain was now fixated on the fact that I liked this guy.

My heart started racing like I’d just finished a race, and my hands clenched and unclenched with the excess adrenaline.

“You were a killer out there, Hazel.” Justin’s best friend Bobby clapped a hand on my shoulder, and some of my tension eased now that Justin and I weren’t alone.

It wasn’t like he and I talking one-on-one was a big deal. It shouldn't have been. As captain of the boys’ swim team and me being captain of the girls’ team, we interacted often. We were basically partners.

Talking should not have been a big deal.

And it wouldn’t have been if this stupid crush would just go away already.