Violeta narrows her eyes at me, her glare sharp enough to cut glass. Every time I so much as look at Daisy, Violeta acts like I’ve broken some sacred rule. Which makes zero sense, considering she’s about to marry someone else, and I don’t love her. I don’t, and I never did. But by the time I realized that, it was too deep into our relationship.
From the sidelines, Livie rolls her eyes so hard, I’mafraid they’ll get stuck. “God forbid her boyfriend wants to spend time with her,” she mutters, loud enough for everyone to hear. “Alright, let’s go! We don’t have all day!” Livie shouts, and everyone chuckles.
I glance at Daisy, standing a little apart, arms folded loosely over her chest. Maybe I imagine it, but it looks like her cheeks flush just slightly when she realizes I picked her first.
She walks over, bumping my shoulder lightly. “You didn’t have to pick me first just because we’re pretending to date,” she teases, but there’s slight hesitation in her voice that makes me wonder why she would think my priorities would shift just because we’re pretending.
“I’ll always be your number one fan, and you’ll always be my top choice, Daisy girl.”
Her cheeks flush a deeper color red, but I have no time to question it. I can’t believe I called herthat.It’s my turn to pick again.
We split into teams quickly. Jaime grabbed Violeta as his first pick, and soon after, we’re evenly split. I honestly don’t care who else is on my team. I already got Daisy; the rest is just filler.
When we line up on the sand court, I sneak a glance at her. She’s tying her hair back in a tiny ponytail, half of her hair coming loose and falling against her face. She looks…ridiculous. Ridiculouslygood. Ridiculously distracting. And I’m supposed to focus on winning this game? Good luck to me.
“Eyes on the ball,” she says, catching me staring.
I cough, pretend to stretch, try to look casual. “That’s exactly what I was doing.”
“Uh-huh.” She smirks, clearly not buying it.
Tio Carlos shouts, “¡Vamos!” Jaime serves first, and the game is on.
From the start, Daisy dominates. She moves like the court belongs to her, diving for saves, not caring one bit about being covered in sand, setting up perfect passes, spiking like she’s trying to send the ball into orbit. Every time she scores, I want to cheer louder than everyone else combined, but I settle for a fist bump and a grin I can’t seem to hide. A couple high fives later, and my girl is on fire.
At one point, she makes an impossible save—sliding across the sand, popping the ball up just enough for me to smash it over the net—and when we get the point, she jumps up and throws her arms around me.
It’s less than the blink of an eye, but her body is pressed against mine, and my brain short-circuits. Focus. Volleyball. Game. Ball. Net. Family watching.Family watching.She’s just pretending. I can do the same, though.
I pick her up by her round ass, forcing her to wrap her legs around me as I kiss her nose. Maybe I’ve been thinking about this situation wrong, and instead of worrying about Daisy realizing how I feel, maybe I get to show her how good we can be together.
Once our foreheads are close and nobody else can see I’m actually not kissing her, I say, “Nice save.”
Her eyes sparkle, like she knows exactly how rattled I am. “Put me down, Teo. I’m heavy as shit.”
“Nah, not for me. For me, you’re just right.” I keep my voice steady, even if she makes fun of it. I want her to know I mean it.
“Alright, love birds, let’s gooooo!” my sister shouts, breaking the spell. I put Daisy down, smacking her barely-covered ass when she turns to walk to her middle blocker. She yelps and walks just a little faster.
The score’s tight. Jaime’s team fights hard, and Violeta keeps aiming serves directly at Daisy, like she’s trying tosabotage her. But Daisy? She thrives under pressure. Every time Violeta targets her, Daisy just returns the ball with even more fire.
By the time we’re tied at match point, the tension is heavy. Everyone’s yelling; half the family is standing, the other half pretending they don’t care but watching anyway.
The ball comes to my cousin Alexa, who sends it my way. I set it high, aiming for Daisy. She leaps, time slowing for just a second, her body suspended like it was designed for this moment. Then, she spikes it right to Violeta—except Violeta hesitates and moves over, as if the ball is heading out of bounds, but when she turns around, she sees what we all see. It landed right by the back line, cradled in a small dent in the sand, in bounds.
Point. Game. Match.
Our side erupts in cheers, but all I can see is Daisy, flushed and grinning, glowing with adrenaline, her eyes on Violeta. She turns to me, and before I can stop myself, I scoop her up, spinning her around.
She laughs, breathless, her hands gripping my shoulders. “Put me down!”
“Never,” I tease, spinning until I trip and fall, landing on my back with Daisy on top of me. I open my eyes and find hers shut tight. “Are you okay?” I brush her silky hair from her face.
“I told you I was too heavy,” she adds.
I chuckle. “You’re not. I’m clumsy.” My pause is deliberate so I can take this whole moment in. “We won. You did it.”
“We did it. We’re a good team.”
