Page 29

“Which one of you guys is faster?” one of the young boys who was assigned to our group asks.

“Me,” both Oakley and I say at the same time.

“He’s lying,” Oakley adds.

“He doesn’t like to lose to me, in case you didn’t notice,” I add. “But I’m definitely faster.”

“Race!” one of the girls says.

“We’re supposed to be doing…” Oakley looks at the schedule.

I pull the paper out of his hand.

“I was looking at that.” He reaches to take it back, but I don’t let him. I hold it out away from him, and Oakley reaches for it again.

“Schedules are boring,” I joke.

“Race! Race! Race!” the kids chant, and I see the exact moment I know he’s going to give in. He’s not going to let this go when a whole group of kids is all asking for the same thing. He won’t want to let them down, and he also won’t want to look like he’s afraid I’ll win.

“Let’s do this.” He moves into position. “Twenty-yard dash.”

We’re at the forty, so we know exactly how far we have to go. I hand the paper with the schedule to one of the kids and can’t stop myself from smiling. When I’m beside Oakley, I glance his way, voice soft and only for us when I say, “Ready to lose?”

“Not going to happen.” Oakley doesn’t look in my direction.

“I think it might…”

“Shut up.”

“Am I annoying you?”

“You’re always annoying me.” He finally tosses a look my direction. “I don’t feel like you did that summer, though.”

It takes my brain a moment to catch up with the fact that Oakley mentioned our time together at the beach. He doesn’t talk about it. Neither of us does, but especially not him.

My brain is so distracted by his words that it takes me a moment to realize I hear, “Ready, set, go!” in the distance, and Oakley immediately takes off running.

That motherfucker cheated.

I take off after him, but don’t have enough time to catch up, so Oakley crosses the finish line first.

“You did that on purpose!” I argue like a child.

He grins. It’s a sexy, familiar grin that reminds me of the boy I spent two weeks with. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Oakley replies as all the kids cheer for him.

His grin turns cockier.

“Let’s go again,” I say.

“Nah, we got a schedule to keep. Who’s ready for more drills?”

All the kids cheer, and it’s clear that I’m outnumbered. While there’s a part of me that’s annoyed, I’m not as annoyed as I should be.

I’ve always liked Oakley’s smile, and those two weeks we had together, I liked being the one to make him do it. Unfortunately for me, it looks like not much has changed in that regard.

We’re heading to an obstacle course next and are supposed to break the kids up into two teams.

Oakley’s eyes narrow at me.