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I reach over to Sarah and grab her arm, whispering in her ear, “Let it go. You don’t want this to ruin your wedding weekend.”
Her skin feels hot underneath my grip, her breathing is rapid, and I’m not even sure she hears what I say until she exhales and glances over at me and nods.
Caleb glides over and slips his arm over Sarah’s shoulders, leading her away from everyone else. A minute alone, that’s what she needs to cool off. But that unfortunately leaves Leah standing alone with me.
I slowly turn to walk away when she opens her mouth again, stopping me dead in my tracks. “You don’t look like Theo’s type.”
I take a deep breath. I should walk away. She’s just trying to get under my skin. I just told Sarah to let it go, to not ruin her wedding weekend, but for some reason, I’m itching to tango with this girl.
I circle back around and stand toe-to-toe with her. She is just about my height, maybe an inch taller, but I’m ready for her to say something else.
Give me a reason to put my hands on you.
“You seem a little too concerned about my relationship with Theo.” My nose crinkles and I feel the blood in my feet boiling. “And if you don’t back off, the short amount of time we still have together, is going to be absolute hell for you.”
Leah crosses her arms over her small chest and hisses, “Have fun with Theo while you can because before this weekend is over, he’ll be crawling back to me, forgetting you even exist.”
I step closer to her, fists clenched. But Tess appears out of nowhere and whispers, “Separate now, before Sarah sees you two.”
Leah back peddles and takes off toward the hotel lobby. My fists are clenched so tight my nails are cutting into my palms, and I only realize the pain once I feel Tess touch my hands.
I release my grip and glance over at her. “I’m sorry,” I start but Tess shakes her head.
“I heard what she said to you. Theo is not interested in her. At all.” She takes my hand in hers. “And if you do end up punching her before this weekend is up, make sure I’m there to see it.” She winks with a devilish grin.
A chuckle escapes my lips and I see Theo coming closer to us.
“We’ll get them next round,” Tess nudges me with her hip and walks away.
“I honestly thought you had me.” Theo stands in front of me with a warm smile.
“I almost did.” I nod, my smile is not as wide, but it’s all I can manage. The short confrontation with Leah has rattled me. When this event began, all I could think about was kissing Theo again. Now all I want to do is knock Leah out.
“Is everything alright?” Theo’s head droops to the side, hair falling in front of his eye.
“I’m fine,” I lie. “Just getting a little tired.”
“Do you want to go back to the room?”
Yes, please!
“Isn’t there one more event?” I ask, redoing my messy ponytail.
Theo seems slightly disappointed I decline going back to the room and I immediately regret it. But I don’t want to be tangled up with Theo, still angry about Leah.
“Sure is,” Liam hops over to us and waves for us to follow him to the poolside patio. “Tess is about to explain the rules.”
There are two white lawn chairs set up back-to-back with the Olympic size pool as the backdrop.
Tess pulls Theo to the side while I walk toward the rest of the group. Athena opens her arms wide for me to hug her, and I do.
“I am so sorry, Cate, darling,” she kisses my cheeks. “You were so close, and I wanted you to win so badly.”
I wave my hand in the air lazily. “It’s not your fault. I should have been faster. Next time I will be,” I wink, and she claps her hands together.
“This. This is why I like you, Cate, darling.” Her raspy laugh summons a smile from me. “Now, go and beat those boys.”
I nod and salute her as Tess waves everyone to gather around her.
