Chapter 31
Alex
Iwiggle out of Tenny’s strong hold just as the voice complains loudly about our discarded wetsuit hoods. It’s then that I realize this isn’t my worst fear—being vulnerable only to learn that I’m one of many. The irritated voice clearly belongs to Tenny’s sister, Arizona.
“She must have gotten home from her mid-morning classes while we were in the surf,” he murmurs.
“Get out of the shower, you goon. Didn’t you hear me calling?”
The shower stall door flings open just as my feet touch the ground, but Tenny’s arms are still twined around my back.
“Oh!” Arizona rears backward, the door flapping in the wind before hitting her in the temple.
“Ouch.” She blinks at us and then averts her gaze. “Um, everyone is trying to get a hold of you. Plans have changed. The team plane is taking off in forty-five minutes. You need to leave now if you’re going to make it.”
“Oh, shoot.”
Tenny takes one step toward his sister before remembering the wetsuit. After tugging down the pull cord, he slips his arms out. I yank down my zipper and do the same. In two seconds, we’re both in our swimsuits, shivering in the cold spring breeze.
“Zona, can you grab my duffel bag from my bedroom?”
His sister stalks off, muttering, “Get my bag, Cinderelly. Save my butt from being late, Cinderelly.”
The second Arizona enters the house, Tenny wraps me in his arms. His body is still warm from the wetsuit and our shared shower.
“I wish I could spend the rest of the day with you.” He gives me a quick kiss. “But I’ll see you tomorrow? You fly into Phoenix in the afternoon?”
“Yeah, I get in around two.”
Tenny winks at me. “I’ll see you for our pregame interview, then.”
I almost scoff, but then his thumb and forefinger gently pinch my chin.
“After the game, I want to see you alone. We can eat Sol & Saffron again or maybe try that surf park if you want to keep working on this while we’re out of town. Honestly, I’ll do anything with you. I could stare at a wall for hours as long as I get to hold your hand at the same time.”
My heart does a little flip, but I roll my eyes at him. “You couldn’t sit still that long.”
Tenny wrinkles his nose. “No, you’re probably right. Let’s go ice skating and hold hands instead.”
When I laugh, Tenny’s dimpled smile morphs into something softer.
“This is going to be the longest twenty-six hours of my entire life,” he says, pulling me in for another kiss.
I let myself get swept up in the tender caress of his mouth, in the gooey sweetness of his words. When Tenny’s lips drop from mine, I smile.
Then I raise my brows, pin him with a wry look, and deadpan, “I’m sure you’ll survive.”
My sassy response doubles the size of Tenny’s grin.
“Hello?” Arizona calls from the back door. “Fancy private jet to catch. Remember?”
Tenny sprints toward the house before pivoting on a dime and running back to me. He hesitates only a second before muttering, “Screw it. She’ll find out eventually.”
Then he splays one large hand over the back of my one-piece, palms my head with the other, and brings my mouth to his. The kiss lasts much longer than it probably should—for time’s sake and because we have an audience—but I can’t seem to care.
“This is going to be a problem. I can already tell.”
His breathless words delight me even as I push at his shoulders.
“Go,” I say through a giggle.
He chews on his bottom lip, hesitating and leaning in, before I push him again. “Get out of here.”
Tenny turns, giving me one more look over his shoulder before sprinting toward the house like he’s stealing second.
“Finally,” Arizona says, arms crossed over her sweatshirt.
Tenny gives Arizona a hug, which only makes her squeal because he’s still soaked from our swim. He takes his proffered bag before running through the house barefoot. I hope his sister put some shoes in that bag for him.
Tucking my wet hair behind my ears, I pick up our wetsuits and lay his over his patio furniture to dry.
I shove mine in my wetsuit bag to take home until I can hang it in my shower later.
Slipping into my sandals, I take a deep breath.
Arizona hasn’t moved from her position blocking the doorway, and her expression has only hardened in the time it took me to pick up our things.
Though I’ve tossed on my trusted poncho, a shiver runs through me—partly from my damp swimsuit, but mostly from Arizona’s death stare.
Even with more than ten inches on her, I’m not sure I’d win if things came down to blows.
Arizona exudes cranky-wolverine vibes and doesn’t look above fighting dirty.
“I want to be clear about one thing,” she says, voice like steel.
“My brother means everything to me, and I mean everything. Though you’ve obviously been successful weaseling your way back into his good graces, that doesn’t mean you’re in mine.
Tenny forgives easily, but I’m the one who keeps score.
” Arizona smiles, flashing me her freshly done nails.
“I will not hesitate to claw your eyes out, whether or not I just got a new set. Do we understand each other, Rory?”
If her blatant threat wasn’t unsettling enough, the name Rory punches the air out of me. When I can trust my voice, I say, “My name is Alex.”
Arizona’s dark brows lift in small increments as her jaw loosens. “You’re not the woman he met in Phoenix?”
I don’t even know how to answer that because…technically, yes?
Arizona waits, her phone pinging rapidly from its position tucked beneath her crossed arms.
“I met the entire team in Phoenix.”
Her eyes widen as her palm covers her gaping mouth. “You’re Alex Stevens.”
I nod.
“Oh my gosh, Freddie and I love you!”
The swing from threats of mutilation to fawning fangirl is so swift my head swims.
“Thanks?”
Arizona laughs, rushing forward to squeeze my arm with her maiming nails.
“I thought you were this other woman Tenny dated who completely ghosted him. He’d mentioned she was some surfer-girl from California, and with you both in wetsuits, I got it all wrong.
” She pulls me into their cozy house with surprising strength.
“You look a lot different with wet hair and no makeup. Not bad. Just different.”
“I get that,” I tell her, still shaken by this odd interaction but more by what Arizona just said.
Rory was from California?
And a surfer?
The incessant pinging of Arizona’s phone continues, and she finally glances down at it, annoyed. “Ugh. Why are men so needy?”
I shrug, but she’s focused on her phone, her thumbs typing a rapid response. Her lips purse at whatever shows up on the screen before sliding the glowing phone into a pocket in her leggings.
“I’ve got to make a call, and then I have a virtual class. Can you see yourself out?”
I turn toward the front door, relieved to be dismissed. How is it that someone younger and smaller than me is so terrifying? My fingertips touch the door handle just as Arizona calls my name.
“Even though I love how you bust Tenny’s chops in interviews, you should know that the same rules apply.” Her grin slides into something sinister. “But if you hurt Tenny, there will be a loud and public backlash. Cancel culture will be the least of your worries.”
Arizona tilts her head in a way that looks almost peaceful. “If you don’t believe me, just check how Kiera Brown’s makeup company dropped a mysterious twenty points after she ended things.”
“I’m not going to hurt Tenny.”
It’s the first time my voice has regained its usual strength since we started this strange conversation, but I mean every word.
The corner of Arizona’s mouth twitches. “I’m inclined to believe you, but the threat still stands.”
“Noted,” I say, staring her down for an extra few seconds.
Arizona breaks first, rolling her eyes and laughing like we’re old friends. “Later, troublemaker.”
My brows wrinkle, but I use the opportunity to slip out of the door and powerwalk to my car. That was hands down the weirdest conversation I’ve ever had, and in college, I once dated a guy who was deeply enthralled in the biomechanics of seaweed.
Shifting into gear, I replay the whole exchange. My mind keeps tripping over the details about Rory. All I’d wanted when I got Tenny alone after tomorrow’s game was to kiss him senseless, but now I have questions.
Or rather, just one.
Who is Rory?