Chapter 21

“Quit thinking about Jeff that way!Just enjoy hanging out with him at the pool,”I ordered my reflection.Unfortunately,that only made me wonder what it might be like to have his arms around me in the water.Not off to the best start.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs,I gasped.Jeff was leaning against the door frame into the kitchen,his arms crossed with a bright orange beach towel slung over his shoulder.His new navy blue board shorts fit him perfectly,dipping a little in the front.He was shirtless,and when I saw all that curly dark hair on his chest,I immediately wanted to skim my fingers through it.

My cock sprang to life,tenting my trunks.I placed my towel in front of my crotch just in time as he noticed me.He grabbed a T-shirt from the entryway table and slipped it over his head before we headed to the street.

“Ready?”

I swallowed hard.“Yes.”More than you know.

Since the pool was only a block from his house,we decided to walk.By the time we arrived,I was back in control of my body,although I couldn’t stop myself from sneaking glances at him.How had he gotten so sexy without me noticing for so long?Was I blind before?I needed to focus on something else.

“So,you ever going to tell me who this mystery woman is you’re in love with?”I teased.

He looked at me in shock,gaping.“You mean,you still think…after everything…you really…?”

“What?”I asked,watching him struggle with his words.What was wrong with him?

Jeff looked away.“No,I’m not ready to reveal that person’sname yet.”

The fact he hadn’t said“her name”didn’t escape me.“Okay,be difficult!Don’t share with your best friend,”I teased again.

We checked in at the front desk and made our way through the locker room to the pool.There we saw several people we knew from school.Kevin Mason waved us over to join him.

The incredibly hot guy standing next to Kevin drew my eyes.He stood at least six feet tall,with jet black hair that hung down around his ears and over his forehead.“Chiseled”was the word that sprang to mind when I looked at his face.A few days’stubble covered his strong jawline,and his dark and intense eyes watched me watching him.

I jolted from my drooling,and felt myself blush.Damn if he didn’t give me a slow smile that would have normally caused my blood to boil,but…it didn’t.Huh…that was interesting.I glanced sideways at Jeff,and yeah,there it was.Shit.My dick sprang to life and I felt the blush creep down my neck.

“Guys,this is my cousin,Jon Hernandez.He’s staying with my family over spring break.”Kevin swung his arm toward us.“These goons are Jeff and Aaron.”

Jon didn’t take his eyes off me.“Hi,Aaron.”

Jeff cleared his throat,but Jon didn’t even acknowledge him.I glanced everywhere but at Jon and I wondered if anyone else noticed his blatantly obvious staring.

Kevin lightly shoved his cousin with his elbow.“Give it a break,Casanova.”

Jon’s lips curled in a smile as he finally tore his gaze from my face and looked at his cousin.“Can’t help it,Cuz,”he shot back and laughed.

Jeff’s face went beet red and his lips pressed together in a tight,thin line.

I started to say something,but really,what was there to say?Even if I was confused about all these new feelings I had for Jeff,and even if I could pretend in my mind he might be gay,we were only friends.Best friends.Yes,I felt closer to him than ever before and my body reacted to him like he was prime beef and I was a starving man,but that didn’t change reality.

I guessed I had been trying to fool myself.Jeff hadn’t shown any interest in me as more than a friend and that was because he was straight and I just needed to get that through my thick head.So what if he held me at night?So what if he was hard in the morning?What teenage boy wasn’thard every morning?

It was time to squelch my growing feelings.But maybe it was also time to finally tell him.I should feel open to flirt with another guy if I wanted.While Jon had clearly ogled me like I had never been ogled before,I wasn’t really interested—was I?Either way,I should’ve been able to respond and flirt back openly if I wanted.Guys could flirt with girls in the open as much as they wanted and never fear retribution.Yeah,I thought it was probably time to come clean.Tonight,I would talk with Jeff.If he had a problem with it,I could stay with my grandparents.

God,I hope he doesn’t have a problem with it.

I explained I was staying at Jeff’s for a while,since my mom was in the hospital.

“What happened?”Kevin asked.

I looked at Jeff,my eyebrows raised.I hadn’t thought how to explain this.

“She was injured,”Jeff offered.“She’ll be in the hospital for a week or so.Then she’s going to stay with his grandparents for a little while.”

“Whoa,man.That’s tough.”

I looked at Kevin and shrugged.“She’s going to be okay,so it will all work out.”

“What about your dad?”Jon asked.

“Well,they’re getting divorced and he isn’t able to be here for now,”I said,trying to be truthful without revealing the whole situation.I mean,we assumed Mom would be divorcing him,but I didn’t want to go into the details with the other guys.

Jon and Kevin seemed to accept that,and minutes later,we were all in the pool having a great time,acting goofy and letting loose.It was nice to feel carefree and enjoy myself.At one point,it was just the four of us in the pool,so we decided to play Marco Polo.

It was Jon’s turn and it seemed to me he was trying to find me more than the other two.

“Marco!”Jon called.

“Polo,”we all answered in unison.I did my best to throw him off by moving quickly,but suddenly he dived and grabbed my leg,pulling me under.

I came up sputtering,and he and I laughed for a minute as the other two swam over.We stood in the four-foot area and Jon pointed a finger onto the center of my chest.

“I knew I could find you,”he whispered.“I just had to follow the sexiest voice in the pool.”

I looked at him in shock.Was he really calling me sexy?

He shot me a grin as he slid his finger down my chest before diving underwater,tugging at my swim trunks for a second,and swimming away.