Page 47 of The Perfect Deal
Ethan took charge, putting us in position. When I ended up standing right next to him, my gaze went to Joshua to see his reaction. It was evident he looked irritated. Well, good, I thought. Maybe this will teach him a lesson about not claiming what he said he wanted for himself. If he didn’t have the balls to come after me, I may as well make him sweat a little.
“This is going to be a piece of cake,” Ethan whispered to me, and I grinned at him, knowing he was right. While Landon had some strong dudes on his team, I’d known Poppy and her sisters long enough to know they weren’t going to pose a threat. A few well-placed balls, and we’d be out to a lead in no time.
Hannah served first, and with the same knowledge that I had, she shot a line drive right at Autumn. The girl cowered, not even trying to hit it. Even with Joshua trying to dodge over to help her out, the ball hit the ground near Poppy’s sister’s feet.
“One point for us,” Hannah announced, and Joshua begrudgingly threw the ball back to her to serve again.
This time, Landon hopped in front of Autumn, hitting the ball back to us. He seemed to have a similar strategy because the ball was coming straight for me, but I had played volleyball in high school, unlike the girls on his team, and even though he knew that, he was willing to bet I would be the weakest link.
It didn’t work. I bumped the ball straight up into the air over Ethan’s head, banking he’d be able to set it. He did, and Luke came in to spike it into the sand near Poppy. We were up by two.
The rest of the game went in a similar fashion. Landon was a monster server, and so was Joshua, so they were able to sneak a few balls past us, but in the end, we were up by ten when it was match point, and I was the one with the ball in my hand, ready to serve.
“You’ve got this, Lib,” Ethan said, clapping from his spot just in front of me.
Trying not to cringe at the annoying nickname, I spun the ball in my hands a few times, preparing to serve. Beach volleyball was a little different than playing on a court where I could bounce it a few times to get the feel, but my last turn serving had gone well. I’d even managed to sneak one past Joshua.
This time, I decided to play it safer with the game point. While I didn’t really want to take the easy approach and aim for Autumn or Rose, I needed to put this game away so we could go on to other activities. It was late afternoon, and Poppy had mentioned we had a fancy dinner planned for the night. I was getting hot and sweaty and really wanted to go take a shower.
“All right,” Luke began, clapping along with Ethan. “For the win, Liberty.”
I caught his eyes, nodded, and tossed the ball up into the air.
As it fell back to earth, I brought my arm around, slapping against the vinyl surface and sending it shooting out above the tops of my teammates’ heads with a woosh. It cleared the net easily and kept sailing, headed for a spot right between Autumn and Rose.
Only, the other team was shifting as if they’d anticipated my thoughts before the ball even left my hands. Landon and Joshua were quickly rotating to take the spots of Poppy’s sisters. Landon got there first, bumping the ball up into the air. Joshua moved in, faking a set, and instead of putting the ball into the proper position for my brother to send it flying back at us, he twisted around at the last second and spiked it himself.
The ball was headed right for me in a blur. Still recovering from the shock of them handling my serve differently than I’d anticipated, it took me a moment to get under it. When I bumped it up, I lost my footing and wiped out.
But the ball was redirected properly, and Luke was able to set it. Ethan moved in for the spike. His hand smacked against the ball, and as I pulled myself up off the ground, I watched it sail to the back corner of our opponent’s territory.
Poppy was the closest to where the projectile spiraled down toward the sand. She dove, trying to get beneath it, but she didn’t have the skill to hit it back in the right direction, and the ball went sailing out of bounds.
“We won!” I shouted, jumping up into the air. I didn’t land on the ground, though. Ethan wrapped his arms around me, shouting and hugging me like we were the only two people on the team.
It was slightly uncomfortable having some strange dude’s arms on my bare skin, but I hid it behind my joy at defeating my brother and Joshua. Within seconds, the rest of our team piled in, also embracing us until we were all jumping up and down on the sand like a bunch of crazy people.
Eventually, Ethan released me, looking into my eyes as I slid to the ground. I swallowed hard, pulling my eyes away. It wasn’t really fair of me to mess with him this way when I had no intention of letting this go anywhere at all. I needed to remind myself of that.
Looking over to the other side of the net, I saw Joshua staring at us. “Settle down over there,” he said as I realized Ethan still had his hands on me.
“See you later,” I told him and then rushed off to collect my towel and the water bottle I’d brought out with me.
Sophia picked them up and met me halfway. “That was… interesting,” my little sister said.
“You can say that again.”
She laughed, and we walked back to the house together. By then, Joshua was gone. Ethan lingered, still seeking me out, but my sister was very good at running interference.
I took a quick shower, trying to get my head on straight, thinking about what Joshua had meant by his comment. Was he really jealous? Well, maybe that would help him get his head out of his ass.
When I got out of the shower, I put on a sundress and started working on my hair. The sound of laughter from down the hallway had me sticking my head out just as Poppy stepped out of her room. “Hey, bestie,” she called. “Come on in. We’re getting ready together.”
It was nice to hear her call me that even when she had so many friends around. I knew we were best friends, but the reminder made my heart swell with pride. “Be right there.”
I grabbed my makeup bag and hair finishing products and hurried down the hall to Poppy’s massive room. Together, all of us girls got ready for a fancy oceanside dinner, but my mind kept wandering to what might happen after dinner. Was it possible that I might be able to sneak off with Joshua? We’d be right under Landon’s nose.
But Poppy was looking gorgeous in a red dress that showed off her figure. If she could distract my brother the way she had when we’d visited Hawaii together, I might actually be able to spend some quality time with the man who’d stolen my heart.