The Girl Next Door
Chapter 19

Every shift of muscle.

As I resurface, Beck's attention stays focused on me. A satisfied expression fills his face. No matter how much I try to pretend otherwise, I'm ridiculously aware of him on every level. Every flick of his green eyes.

I'm all too cognizant of the attraction that buzzes between us.

Pretending to ignore him, I swim a few laps. As far as I'm concerned, he's not there.

That's what I tell myself, anyway.

"How's Arron doing?"

I glance at him with confusion. "Who?"

"I guess that answers the question, now doesn't it?" One side of his mouth hitches in amusement. "The last time we ran into each other, you were with some guy named Arron." Oh, right.

"Yeah," I mutter. "We're not together." Two weeks after that party, I told Arron that I thought we were better off as friends. He didn't agree, and I haven't spoken to him since.

"That's too bad." He doesn't sound the least bit sorry. "What about now? Is there someone special in your life?"

These questions are becoming much too personal.

"I thought we were going to swim," I blurt, unease weaving its way through my voice.

"We can't swim and talk at the same time?"

Actually, I would very much prefer we didn't. It's difficult to ignore him when he won't stop yapping at me.

"I'm trying to figure out what kind of competition I'm up against," he says.

"Excuse me?" I whip around, disconcerted to replace him a few feet away. When the hell did he get so close? Ignoring my question, he asks one of his own. "Do you remember the last time we were in the pool together?"

All too well.

I've done my best to forget about that morning, but it's been singed into my memory. Even thinking about the way he touched me under the blazing sun sends a thick shaft of desire spiraling through me. I press my lips together and shake my head.

"Liar," he accuses.

"No, I'm not."

"Well, I remember how good it felt when I-"

"Beck!" I snap. "You know what? This isn't working. Maybe I should go home."

He raises his hands in a gesture of surrender. "All right, all right. Sheesh. I was just making conversation."

"Well, don't."

"Fine. We'll talk about something else."

"We don't have to talk at all," I shoot back.

"Oh, come on, where's the fun in that?" Humor simmers in his voice. "We have so much catching up to do."

I scrunch my face. "Do we?"

"Sure." There's a pause. "So, where's your sidekick?"

The further I propel myself away from him, the more tension seeps from my body. "Alyssa left for England last week. She's spending the year there."

"Huh." Surprise fills his eyes. "Colton never mentioned it."

There's a reason for that.

Colton and Alyssa called it quits after six months. Alyssa never came out and specifically said it, but I suspect Colton broke up with her because he wasn't ready to be tied down to one specific girl. Alyssa might not realize it yet, but she's better off without him. I hate that he broke her heart, but hopefully, the year away will do her some good, and she'll get her groove back. I'm not used to seeing my bestie down in the dumps. She moped around for a while and then applied for the study abroad program. Alyssa has been my best friend since middle school. This will be my first time flying solo without her. The plan is for me to visit during Christmas break, but that's five months away.

"How's she doing?" he asks.

As I tread water, my muscles loosen. "She's fine." I don't want Beck to report back to Colton that she's not living her best life.

I don't bother reciprocating the question. Colton is the one who pulled the plug on their relationship. I'm sure he's doing just fine-drowning in groupie p***y.

After a few moments of silence, he asks, "Are you interested in playing a game?"

I shoot him a cautious look. "What do you have in mind?"

His arms cut through the water as he swims closer. "How about truth or dare?" Truth or dare?

The tension that had sprung to life inside me dies a quick death. "Seriously?"

Isn't that a kid's game?

I've played a few times with Alyssa and a couple of friends. Truth mainly consists of revealing deep-dark secrets about your latest crush. Dares might be twerking in front of a passing car or calling the above-mentioned boy. It's juvenile stuff.

Why would Beck be interested in playing that?

What's next?

A rousing game of Marco Polo?

When I don't offer a response, he arches a brow. "Are you down with it?"

A kernel of unease blooms in the pit of my belly, which is ridiculous. What's the worst that can happen?

It's probably best not to answer that.

Sidestepping the question, I shoot back with, "Isn't it time for you to leave?"

His mouth curves into a full-blown smile. The effect is devastating. It does funny things to my belly. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to get rid of me."

That's exactly what I'm attempting to do.

Instead of admitting the truth, I shrug and tamp down my growing discomfort. "Wouldn't want you to be late for whatever plans you have tonight."

He swims so close, I'm able to pick out the tiny flecks of gold that dance in his green eyes.

"For you, I've got all the time in the world."

The way his gaze pins me in place makes me realize that engaging in this game is a mistake, but it feels too late to back out now. The moment I saw him in the pool, I should have quietly retreated instead of allowing myself to get baited into joining him for a swim. "You can start," he says casually, as if there aren't any ulterior motives at play.

And maybe there aren't.

Maybe I'm paranoid.

It's a game, I remind myself.

No biggie.

The sooner I get this over with, the quicker he'll get bored and take off. I need to stay focused on that.

"Truth or dare?" Tiny ripples lap at my shoulders as a warm breeze wafts over my exposed skin. "Truth."

I search my brain for an interesting question, but nothing comes to mind. "What's your favorite thing to do?"

He pretends to yawn, looking completely bored. "That's easy."

If he says s*x, I'm out of here.

"Football."

Everything inside me relaxes. That answer isn't exactly a shocker. Ever since Beck could walk, he's been tossing around a football with his brother. He started out with flag football before moving on to Pop Warner youth leagues. By the time he hit middle school, Beck was a star on the football field with a cannon for an arm. In ninth grade, he skipped playing freshman or JV and went straight to varsity as the first-string quarterback. In college, he's broken state records in total career passing yards, passing touchdowns, and total pass completions.

I blink back to the present when he asks, "Is that it?"

I jerk my head into a nod.

"All right, guess it's my turn," he says lazily, eyes turning flinty. "Truth or dare?"

That's a no-brainer. If I choose a dare, Beck will come up with something to humiliate me with. I know how his mind works, and I refuse to fall for any of his sly trickery. "Truth."

I expect a surface-level question like the one I asked, but that's not what I get.

"How many guys have you slept with?"

My heart stutters before beating into overdrive. "What?"

He enunciates the words as if I'm hard of hearing. "How. Many. Guys. Have. You. Slept. With?"

"I'm not going to answer that!" I sputter. "It's none of your damn business!"

"You have to." He shrugs as if this isn't a stupid game he talked me into playing. "I've already answered your question, now it's your turn to answer mine. Fair is fair." Heat floods my face. "I didn't ask something so personal."

"You could have asked me anything you wanted, and I would have answered truthfully. But you didn't, and that was your choice."

I scowl, hoping he'll laugh and tell me to forget it.

"Tick tock, Mia. Answer the question." His voice drops. "Are you worried I'll tell people all your secrets?" He shakes his head. "I won't. Anything you share stays between us."

That's not the point. I don't give a rip if he cries it from the rooftops. What I don't want him to replace out is that-

"Answer the question," he prods. "It's not that difficult."

I press my lips together.

"Mia-"

"One!" I groan as humiliation floods through me. "You're the only person I've slept with. Okay? Just you."

Ugh!

His eyes darken to a deeper shade of green as he treads water. "What happened with Arron?"

I glance away and jerk my shoulders, unwilling to reveal the real reason our relationship fizzled out. "I don't know. Got busy with school."

He c***s his head. "And there's been no one else since?"

"You asked your one question," I snap, face flaming with embarrassment. "You won't get anything more from me."

"Fair enough, your turn."

Wait a minute...that's it? He's actually going to drop the topic of my limited s****l experience?

I'm as shocked as I am relieved.

"Can we end this stupid game?" I ask with a glare.

He shakes his head. "Not yet, we just started."

I huff out an exasperated breath and grunt out the question. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

I glance around the yard. "All right, I dare you to do a backward flip off the diving board."

Added bonus-it'll get him away from me, so I have some much-needed breathing room to collect my scattered thoughts. Beck is a lot to take in.

He glances at the blue springboard before flicking his attention to me. "That's your dare? You want me to flip off the board?"

"Yup, that's it." Goosebumps prickle along my arms as I grow uneasy under the steady intensity of his stare. "After this, I'm going home." Where I can avoid Beck for the rest of my life. Clearly, this idea has backfired. I'm no closer to getting over him than I was in high school.

"You can quit after your next turn," he informs me with a smirk.

Grrrrr.

"Fine." I stab a finger at the board. "Do your flip so we can get this stupid game over with."

"You got it, sweetheart." His powerful arms cut through the water as he swims toward the side of the pool. When he reaches the ceramic tile edge, Beck hoists himself out of the water. His muscles ripple, and my mouth dries.

No one should be this devastatingly handsome.

It defies the laws of nature.

For now, I'll silently enjoy the show and pretend heat isn't pulsing to life in my core. Rivulets of water run down his back before continuing to his naked a*s. What the-

"Where are your shorts?" I croak.