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“Because this is you being punished, sweetheart.” I rub my stomach. “Man. I’m hungry too. Better hurry before you miss out on the good burgers.” I step out of her reach and walk off just as she tries to grab me.
“You’re an asshole,” she yells to my back.
“Good thing you love me that way.” I leave her, mouth gaping open, speechless.
And. . .fuck.
Did I just say she loved me?
Chapter26
Makayla
I hate him.
Every delicious inch.
He left me high and dry, and now I’m sitting on a lawn chair staring at his bare chest and stomach as he plays volleyball in the pool with the guys. My sex throbs, and I’m mad I fell for it. I should have known better. Can’t trick a trickster.Well, actually—shut up.
“Man, have these boys come a long way,” Stacey comments as she stares at the pool, rubbing her baby bump. A smile forms at how cute she looks pregnant. Since I can remember, Stacey has been a staple in the Matthews family. Kip, being the shyest of his friends, really had to jump through hoops to get her. I recall one time Hannah and I snuck into his room and read all the love letters he wrote her. It wasn’t until we accidentally found his secret stash of lotion and spare socks that we learned maybe it was a bad idea to snoop through a teenage boy’s room. Grossed out, we ran like hell.
“Tell me about it. Look at how buff they all are. Well, besides my brother. He’s like a bean stock in need of a meal.”
Stacey lightly slaps Hannah on the shoulder. “He is not. He’s lean. He just looks skinny because all the other guys are on steroids.”
“They take steroids?” Jenny bursts out.
Hannah and Bridget laugh. “She’s kidding. No, they just work out. They’ve always been big into it.” Hannah turns my way. “Mak, remember that time they were all playing football in the yard with their shirts off, trying to get all the girls’ attention?”
I snicker. “I’m surprised you remember anything but Levi. Thought I was going to have to revive you after he whipped his off.”
She swats at me. “You almost had to roll my tongue back into my mouth. But I did steal his shirt and blame it on one of the girls walking by.”
I snort, covering my mouth. They were all so confused. Levi especially. Hannah played it off so well. Even with the shirt stuffed in her jean shorts. “Don’t forget the blowout between you and Ben. Nowthatwas hysterical.”
“What happened between you and Ben?” Jenny asks.
“It was nothing.”
“It wasnotnothing. It was so funny, I think every single one of us—well, minus Ben—peed ourselves.”
“Okay, now I have to hear this one,” Bridget chimes in.
“If you don’t tell it, I will—”
“Okay, okay. It was such a long time ago, though. I don’t remember much. I mean, only the good details,” I tease. “It was the same day as the football playing. Hannah and I were hanging around because, well, we always conveniently found ourselves around Levi.”
“Yeah, yeah, get to the good stuff.”
“It was no secret Ben and I hated each other’s guts. We didn’t try to hide it. He was awful to me, but I can’t say I was any better. Anywho, they were playing football, and Ben took his shirt off. I happened to be looking that way, so of course, he caught me. It didn’t bode well for me. He started to taunt me, asking if I took a picture so it would last longer, saying he knew it was my name he saw on the Ben Wallace fan club list. Then he followed it up with, ‘I don’t do charity work. Swim along.’”
“Oh my god, that’s so mean!”
“Oh, just wait. . .” Hannah chimes in.
“It pissed me off to no end. He used to tease me a lot, saying I had a crush on him. What Ihadwas an urge to push him into traffic. He had all the guys laughing. I was embarrassed, so I pulled out the big guns and told him his nipples looked like female nipples.”
“Stop!” Stacey and Bridget burst out laughing. Even I snicker.
