Chapter 6
The door to the pool was unlocked, and when we stepped inside, I inhaled a deep breath of chlorine.
I scanned the room quickly, looking for the guys.
There were deck chairs and white plastic tables, a towel rack, and a sign that read: WARNING!
No Lifeguard on Duty. My brother’s cell phone, car keys, and T-shirt had been left on one of the tables, but there was nobody in sight.
“Where are they?” I asked and turned to Oliver. He smiled and pointed to the deep end of the long, rectangular pool. All four guys were sitting at the bottom under the bright blue water. “What the heck are they doing?” I asked, as air bubbled up and broke the surface.
As the words left my mouth, one of the figures shot up toward the surface. “Dang it!” Xander gasped and slapped his fist across the water. “I always lose.”
“Oh! A breath-holding contest,” I said with a laugh. “They don’t stand a chance. My brother used to be on a club swim team.”
“Is there anything he’s bad at?” Oliver muttered before calling out to his friend, “You need to cheat!”
Xander turned around in the water at the sound of Oliver’s voice. “But I did!” he complained when he spotted us. “I waited almost ten seconds after they went under, and I still can’t hold my breath long enough. Oh God, I think I need my inhaler.”
As Xander made his way over to the edge of the pool, Alec popped up, followed by JJ. “There you guys are,” JJ said. “We were starting to think you didn’t get away from Aaron.”
“Aaron?” I asked, turning to look at Oliver.
“Our bodyguard.”
“You know, the one without hair?” Xander added when he reached the table. He grabbed his inhaler off the table and sucked in a deep breath as he sprayed it.
Drew finally broke the surface and inhaled a deep breath of air. “I am the champion, my friends!” he sang in victory. Alec and JJ responded by splashing him in the face.
“Hey, don’t be sore losers.” Drew grinned and splashed them back.
“Maybe someone shouldn’t be such an obnoxious winner,” I teased.
Drew’s head swiveled in my direction. “Stella.” The grin on his face disappeared, and he raced to the edge of the pool. After pulling himself out of the water, he stormed over to me. During his approach, Oliver took a hasty step back. I didn’t blame him; my brother could be intimidating sometimes.
“Where were you?” he asked. Both of his hands gently grasped my shoulders, and he looked me up and down to make sure everything was okay. “You were only supposed to be gone for five minutes. I was worried something happened.”
I rolled my eyes. “We stopped for some dinner. I’m fine, promise.” Knowing that this interrogation wasn’t over, squared my shoulders and waited for him to continue.
“Well, what took so long?” Drew asked. He eyed Oliver suspiciously.
“Oliver made me dinner.”
Drew blinked and turned to Oliver. “That’s…unexpected.”
“You didn’t make anything for me?” JJ asked with a frown. The rest of the guys had joined us at the table, still dripping wet from the pool. “I didn’t eat dinner yet.”
“You had two Quarter Pounders on the way back from the signing,” Oliver responded.
“So?”
“Do you want to die of a heart attack?”
“I’m a growing boy, Oliver,” JJ said and pointed at his muscles. “Sorry that’s something your scrawny self will never understand.”
“Lean, not scrawny,” Oliver corrected him. The two continued to bicker as JJ tried to explain the importance of daily McDonald’s runs.
“So,” Xander said as the rest of us tuned out the argument. “You guys have any problems losing Aaron?”
“Nope.” There were the two girls in the stairwell, but I didn’t think they were worth mentioning.
“Good,” Xander said. “I don’t remember the last time we ditched one of our bodyguards. I was afraid Oliver might be out of practice.”
“You’ve done this before?” Drew asked.
“We used to, loads,” Xander told us. He was about to say more, but was interrupted by an angry yell from the pool, followed by a splash.
“Asshole,” JJ grumbled when he broke the surface of the water. Oliver was standing at the edge of the pool wearing a satisfied smirk, but it didn’t last long. JJ pulled back his arm and sent a spray of water in his friend’s direction.
“Dude, what the hell?” Oliver yelled and jumped back when JJ sent a spray of water in his direction. “I still have my clothes on.”
“Good,” JJ said and continued to splash.
Alec turned silently to Xander before glancing back at Oliver.
Xander grinned as if he knew exactly what Alec was thinking.
“You take the left side. I’ll get the right.
” Drew and I watched as both boys dashed toward Oliver, grabbed his arms, and shoved him into the pool, clothes and all.
He resurfaced with a splutter and scraped his bangs out of his eyes.
Xander and Alec gave each other a high five. “That’s for giving my phone number to that crazy chick in Dallas the other weekend,” Xander said. JJ was laughing so hard he had to clutch the metal ladder for support.
“Very funny,” Oliver grumbled as he swam over to the side, waterlogged clothes weighing him down. “You two better sleep with your eyes open the next few nights.”
Drew nodded in the direction of the pool. “You coming in?”
“Yeah, hold on a second.” I pulled off my shorts and T-shirt, folded them up, and placed them on the table where they wouldn’t get wet. When I turned back around Drew was glaring at me. “Don’t look at me like that. You didn’t pack a swimsuit either!”
Drew muttered something under his breath, picked his T-shirt up off the table, and handed it to me.
“Do you want me to drown?” I asked, refusing to take it. The shirt was an extra large and would fall past my knees.
“Stella,” Drew hissed, You can’t go swimming in your underwear.”
“Why not?”
“Because… ” He faltered, and then glanced at the Heartbreakers. “What about them?”
“What about them?” I asked with raised brows. “Do boy bands have the magical ability to impregnate girls with devilish smolders if they lack a certain amount of clothing?”
JJ saved Drew before he could further put his foot in his mouth.
“Are you guys coming in or what?” Oliver had pulled off his wet clothes with the exception of his swimming trunks and left them in a sopping pile on the edge, and Xander and Alec must have returned to the water while we were arguing.
Without looking back at my brother, I ran over to the pool and plunged in.
The water had a sharp bite, and I felt the hairs on my arms stand up as I sank effortlessly. Keeping my eyes squeezed shut, I floated at the bottom for a moment before pushing off and springing toward the surface. The pressure on my lungs released as I gasped for a deep breath.
“Surprise attack!” someone shouted, and I was dunked back under the water as quickly as I had popped up.
After I struggled back to the surface and wiped the hair out of my eyes, glanced around in search of the culprit.
The smirk on JJ’s face gave him away, so I sent a spray of water in his direction.
He leered at me in response, his gaze flickering down to my cleavage before he shot me a wink.
Instead of shying away, I swam straight up to JJ and trailed a finger down his bicep, my nail digging into his skin.
“Such impressive muscles,” I said, fluttering my lashes at him. As if sensing a trap, the smile slowly faded from JJ’s face, so I leaned in and whispered, “But you better watch out because my brother’s are bigger and he’d love to kick your ass.”
Before JJ could pull away, I wrapped my hands around his neck and shoved him under the water with all my strength. When he came back up, he was greeted by a room full of laughter. “Surprise attack,” I told him innocently.
I looked over at Drew, who was now smiling ear to ear. He swam over to me and pulled me into a headlock. “Have I ever told you that I have the best sister in the whole world?” he asked as he gave me a noogie.
“Ow! Drew, stop!” I shouted, trying to squirm away from his knuckles. Chuckling, he let me go.
JJ, who had finally stopped coughing, turned to me. “You’re sneaky,” he said, “but I can totally take your brother.”
“Just like you beat him at CoD and Xander beat him in a breath-holding contest?” I asked.
“Hey!” Xander protested. “Asthma over here!”
Shrugging his shoulders, JJ responded. “We just lost to save your brother the embarrassment.”
Xander looked horrified. “Wait, that’s not true! I never said—”
But Drew wasn’t paying attention. “Is that a challenge?” he asked, his eyes lighting up.
“Damn straight it is. Chicken fight. Best two out of three.”
“I won’t need three tries, but okay,” Drew agreed. “If I win, you have to admit that I am stronger, better looking, and overall more talented than the Heartbreakers.” Alec raised an eyebrow at him. “Minus Alec, of course,” Drew added. “He’s cool.”
“Fine,” JJ said, nodding his head in acknowledgment. “But if I win, I get a kiss from Stella.”
I let out a snort, knowing that Drew would never agree to that. But then one shocking word left his mouth. “Deal,” my brother said and held out his hand for JJ to shake.
“Excuse me!” I shouted my gaze darting to Oliver for a split second. He didn’t look happy with the situation either. “You can’t offer me up like a piece of meat.”
“You won’t have to kiss him,” Drew promised as he sank down into the water. “Now get over here.”
Grudgingly, I swam over to him and situated myself on his shoulders.
“If we lose,” I warned him, “you’re paying for my therapy sessions.”
He grabbed my legs. “Stella, when do we ever lose?” he questioned as he stood, and I was raised up out of the pool, streams of water cascading off me.
“Never,” I responded and ground my teeth.
Alec, who was almost the same size as JJ, was too big for his friend’s shoulders, and Oliver refused to participate, so Xander faced me in the air a few moments later.
“No biting, nail digging, hair pulling, or cheap ball shots.” Xander recited the rules as I stared him down.