He bit back a laugh as he wondered what the rest of the ACE swimmers would think if they knew his history. That he’d been terrified of the pool as a child. That his disease should’ve killed him long ago. That he’d been so ill he’d cried and begged his father to let him stop training. That the only reason he still swam was for the slim shadow of respect he saw in his father’s eyes whenever he won a competition. And that it was the sick twisted way he craved his father’s undeserving affection that made Hayden push himself despite the risks.
Shaking his bitter thoughts away, Hayden took another deep breath and squared his shoulders. Now was not the time for this shit. He needed to lock it up and push out the armor he’d perfected, the persona everyone expected. In two days he’d have time to let his anger out. It’s what propelled him. It’s what made him great.
But for now he shoved it down and shouldered his way through the swinging doors. For now he was just a guy in need of a drink, hoping not to let Hawaii haunt him this time around.
2
Joy
Relief flooded Jo when she realized she didn’t know the next boy to push his way into the crowded bar. Thank God. Kissing someone she knew would’ve been so awkward. It also would’ve gotten the poor guy a beat down from her brothers. Not that this poor schmuck would be spared. But, luckily, this guy looked like he could handle himself if the Wright boys decided to go all protective-big-brother on his ass.
Jo quickly glanced toward the table where her brother, Lucas, and his friends were sitting. They weren’t paying any attention to her. It was time to strike. She stood up and zeroed in on her target. The guy wasn’t bad looking.
Jo shoved the thought away. That’s not what this is about, Jo. This was about proving that she’d earned her position as lead tower, and it hadn’t been given to her because her uncle was in charge.
Ignoring the ribbing from her table of friends, Jo marched straight across the bar to the tall drink of water who was now standing a few paces inside the bar. Locos was a tourist bar and this guy was most definitely a tourist. Jo could tell from his expensive jeans, pristine flip flops and the sheen coating his pale skin. The boy was sweating like a hostage. That was the surest sign he wasn’t local. Hawaiians didn’t sweat like that.
This guy was obviously lost, but Jo gave him credit. He played it off like he was just soaking it in, letting all the eyes in the bar fall on him. And fall they did. Every female in Locos swiveled her head toward this guy. Even some of the guys admired him.
Great, an audience. Just what I needed for this ridiculous dare.
Jo told herself it didn’t matter. Even if there were only one other person in Locos, the whole island would still know she kissed this guy by morning.
Stupid coconut gossip line.
She steeled her confidence and increased her pace. The guy finally noticed her as she closed the distance between them. A slow smile spread across his face and he began to open his mouth to say something, but Jo didn’t give him a chance. She let the force of her chest meeting his stop her momentum and then pressed her full lips firmly to his. She stood on her toes and wound her hands around his strong neck and up into his sandy brown hair.
Jo knew she was laying it on thick, but she wanted to make damn sure the girls at her table knew she meant business—lead tower follows through.
And honestly, kissing this guy wasn’t all bad.
Actually, it was all good.
A little too good.
At first, his mouth stayed open, probably from shock. But his lips caught up quickly, kissing Jo back with surprising authority. She didn’t know what kept her there longer—her need to establish dominance or the fact that his hands fit to her waist like she’d been made for him.
When his tongue crashed against hers she let it, adding her own to the mix. His hand moved to her neck, then up into her mess of unruly blonde hair. She loved the sensation of his hands in her hair and she tugged on his lower lip with her teeth. This drew a groan of appreciation from him, causing Jo to remember where she was.
She pulled away and the guy blinked at her like he’d just woken from a trance. His blue eyes were wide and he looked confused. Contentment flared in Jo’s chest. She had to admit she enjoyed flustering such a beautiful boy. Especially since he seemed like the kind who usually did the flustering.
She flashed him a grin. “Welcome to Hawaii.” Then, with a wink, she turned on her heels and swaggered back toward her table.
“Wait,” he called scrambling after her.
But Jo didn’t wait. Dare complete. She didn’t owe this guy a thing.
Hayden
What. The. Hell.
Hayden’s armor disintegrated on impact. He was used to insults, posturing and even confrontation, but he wasn’t used to being blindsided by a kiss. And goddamn what a kiss! He was defenseless against those lips. That body. That face.
But wait, all of it was moving away from him.
“Wait,” he called after the gorgeous blonde who’d just crushed his game.
But she didn’t wait.
Without hesitating, Hayden darted after her. He caught up quickly, grabbing her hand and pulling her back around to face him. “Hey. What the hell?”
The stunning blonde gave him a coy smirk, arching an eyebrow. “What?”
“You just kissed me.”
“So.”
“So . . .” Shit, he hadn’t really thought this through. “So . . .” That kiss scrambled my brain. That’s what he wanted to say but he couldn’t get his mouth to work. It was still hung up on what hers tasted like. Dammit! Use your words, Hayden! “So, are you gonna give me your number?” he finally managed.
She laughed. “Nope.”
She tried to turn away, but Hayden pulled her back again. “How about your name?”
She reached for his fingers, peeling each one slowly off her wrist before replying. “In your dreams,” she said seductively, then sauntered away.
Joy
“Damn!” Eden whooped when Jo slid into the booth next to her. “That poor boy. I haven’t seen a crash and burn that bad ever!”
Kendall was wheezing with laughter. “Yeah, at least buy him a beer to douse those flames.”
“I did all the work,” Jo grumped. “He should be buying me a beer.”
“Oh yeah, it looked like a real chore to kiss that Adonis,” Kendall teased.
Jo glanced back at the guy. He was watching her, probably trying to work out what the hell just happened. He was hot and probably not used to being kissed and dissed. She raised her beer bottle and saluted him to show it had all been in fun.
He frowned and Jo respected the fact that he wasn’t even trying to hide his astonishment. She turned back to her table. “That’s how lead tower does it.”
The girls all cheered, laughing and clinking beers with her. Even Kendall gave her a nod of respect. Mission accomplished.
Jo smirked, now she could go home, call Kai and not spend the night worrying the lifeguards at her table would be gossiping about how she got lead tower. That kiss should give them something else to talk about for a while.
It felt good to be the one in control of the gossip for once. Jo felt a small twinge of guilt for the poor guy she’d used in her dare, but he’d survive. He was probably just another tourist looking for the ‘real’ Hawaii anyway. Now he’d have a good story to go home with.
Lanai attracted wealthy tourists from all over the world. The one thing they always had in common was their thirst for adventure and their habit of leaving. It’s why Lanai was littered with brokenhearted young mothers and fatherless children. Jo had seen it far too many times to ever fall prey to the situation. Especially considering her mother had.
Jo never met her real father. She was a product of a one-night stand courtesy of some horny Navy officer passing through Lanai. Seventeen, knocked up and with no one to help her, Jo’s mother moved in with her brother, a military man himself. But Jack Wright was nothing like the man that abandoned Jo’s mo
ther. Jack was a Marine. He always said the Marines were his family and they taught him that family came first—always.
Too bad Jo’s mother had never joined the Marines. She could’ve used a few life lessons about family and priorities. But maybe even the Marines couldn’t have stopped Jo’s mother from abandoning her. After all, Jo was a mistake—and no one likes being reminded of their mistakes.
That’s how Jo wound up living with her uncle Jack, his wife Pam, and their three sons, Ryan, Ethan and Lucas—all of whom Jo called brothers. She’d lived with them her whole life. They were her real family as far as she was concerned. Jo didn’t need the Marines to teach her to be loyal to them. She knew they always had her back and in turn, she always had theirs.
And that’s why when Jo saw her brother Lucas kick over his barstool and zero in on the guy she’d just kissed, she was out of her seat before he could do something stupid.
But stupid was Lucas’s middle name—or at least it should be.
3
Hayden
Hayden broke free of his stupor and made his way to the bar. He tried to catch the bartender’s attention, but was obviously being ignored.
He was really starting to dislike Hawaii. He already had mixed feelings due to his one and only previous visit. But the fact that it was hot, sticky and impossible to get a drink, wasn’t helping. Not to mention that hot girls apparently kissed for sport there. Also, Hayden would be spending the next six weeks busting his ass at ACE Swim Academy—something he wasn’t looking forward to.
Being invited to ACE was a huge honor. It was the top swim program in the world. All-Conference Elite—aka: ACE—invited the top one percent of international amateur swimmers to train and compete in a six-week program designed to make athletes into champions.
It was run by the infamous Jack Wright; a man with medals ranging from Olympic gold to purple hearts. And if Hayden knew he had actually earned his coveted spot at ACE, he would be a bit more respectful of the opportunity. But that was the problem. When you’re the son of Archibald Anderson, a man with enough money to buy countries, it’s hard to know what you’ve earned.
The bartender finally came over. “What’ll ya have?”
“Whatever’s bottled and cold?”
“You got ID?”
Hayden reached to the back pocket. Being Archibald Anderson’s son had some perks—like the means to procure perfect fake IDs. Hayden was removing his wallet when he heard some guy in the bar shouting.
“Hey asshole!”
Hayden looked toward the commotion. Surprise flickered through him when he noticed the guy was staring directly at him. Hayden turned back toward the bar, looking around, hoping he was wrong. But deep down, he knew he wasn’t. Hayden was no stranger to being attacked. However, it never stopped him from hoping he was mistaking the look of hate in a stranger’s eyes.
“Yeah, I’m talking to you!” the angry surf bum yelled.
Hayden frowned, put his wallet on the bar and stood his ground as the dude rushed him.
Yep, Hayden definitely wasn’t a fan of Hawaii.
Joy
Jo rushed toward her brother. “Lucas! Stop!”
But Lucas didn’t stop. Instead he drove his fist into the beautiful mouth of the stranger Jo had just kissed. It was a damn shame to mess up those perfect lips.
Jo shook the thought away and hauled her brother off of the poor tourist. “Lucas, knock it off!”
But of course, Lucas’s sidekick in stupidity, Brock, was there to cause more trouble. “That’s him. That’s the haole who kissed her.”
“Stay out of this, Brock!” Jo yelled.
“Whoa!” Perfect Lips shouted, holding his hands up in surrender. “I’m not after your girl.”
“She’s not my girl, lolo.” Lucas growled. “She’s my sister!”
“Sister?” Perfect Lips’ eyebrows shot up.
“What?” Brock taunted, getting right in Perfect Lips’ face. “You got something to say, haole?”
“I didn’t kiss her,” Perfect Lips replied, raising his hands again and backing away. “She kissed me.”
“Bullshit,” Brock yelled. “She would never.”
Jo pushed between the three grown-ass men acting like playground brawlers. “Brock, he’s telling the truth. Now back off!”
Brock’s eyes flashed anger. “Why the hell are you kissing other guys?”
“It was a dare. But thanks for tattling to my brother. Jesus, what are you eight, Brock?”
Brock didn’t back down. “No. What I am is concerned. Like you should be, too. How could you do that to Max?”
Hearing Brock say that name was like a slap in the face. Jo felt anger wash her body from head to toe in a wave of white hot injustice. Lucas took a step back and Brock must’ve realized he’d gone too far, too. He opened his mouth to apologize. “Joy—”
“Save it,” she hissed, holding her hand up to silence him. Then without looking she reached back, grabbed Perfect Lips by the front of his shirt and dragged him behind her, away from Brock and Lucas, before the night got any worse.
On the way out of the bar, Jo swiped a bucket of beer off the table Brock and Lucas had been sitting at. His friends started to argue but Jo flipped them off, calling over her shoulder. “Put it on Brock’s tab.”
He owed her at least that much after all the shit he’d put her through in the last three years.
Hayden
Alright, so Hawaii wasn’t the worst. Hayden was walking down the beach with a gorgeous girl and a bucket of beer. The ice cold beverages were going down faster than the sun and even though she wasn’t still holding a fist full of Hayden’s shirt, she was walking close enough that their arms bumped a time or two.
Hayden had the overwhelming urge to link his fingers with hers, but the anger simmering off of her kept him at bay. Christ, why did this girl make him so nervous?
They’d already kissed. Plus, this wasn’t middle school. Hayden didn’t have trouble with women anymore—more like trouble keeping them at bay.
“So, Joy?”
She gave him a withering look. “What?”
His tongue got all twisted again. “Joy? That’s your name, right?” At least that’s what Hayden thought the guy in the bar had called her.
Her voice was stiff when she finally replied. “Yeah.”
Hayden waited for her to ask his name, but she didn’t. Relief swept over him. From the unwelcoming way Joy was treating him, he was pretty sure she didn’t know who he was. And unless she followed men’s swimming or read Forbes Magazine she probably wouldn’t.
Anonymity was kind of nice. It gave Hayden a bit more confidence. He didn’t have to be Archibald Anderson’s son or Olympic hopeful or medical marvel. He didn’t have to carry the weight and pressure of those titles. He could be anyone he wanted right now. But strangely, Hayden found he wanted to be exactly who he was—a guy, feeling sparks for a girl.
And he was pretty content with Hawaii at the moment, too. It was hard to want to be anywhere else when he was following a sexy blonde with sun-kissed skin and a bad attitude down the beach while the sun set.
After they’d walked what felt like miles, Joy finally sat down under a cluster of palm trees. She leaned her back against a pale trunk and cracked open another beer, slugging from it like a champ. Goddamn. There was something remarkably sexy about a hot girl drinking a cold beer on the beach. It didn’t hurt that she was wearing a skimpy rose-colored sundress over a barely-there black bikini either.
Hayden sat down next to her and she offered him a beer. “You might want to put some ice on that lip,” she said.
“It’s fine.”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t look fine, but whatever.”
Hayden could tell his lip was swollen from the way it felt against the cold beer bottle, but he didn’t want to seem like an even bigger pussy in front of this chick by whining about it. She already rescued him from her brother’s ass-whooping—not a very macho moment.
“So,
your brother’s a little protective, huh?”
Joy snorted. A literal snort!
Hayden loved that this girl didn’t give two shits about impressing him. Her snort made him smile, which made his lip hurt.
Joy caught Hayden wince and handed him a piece of ice from the beer bucket. “Lip. Now,” she ordered.
He didn’t argue.
“Yeah, Lucas is an ass. But he’s actually the least over-protective of my brothers.”
Hayden’s eyebrows jumped. “Brothers? There’s more?”
Joy laughed. “Yep, two more. Plus, Brock, who thinks he gets a say.”
“Is he your boyfriend?”
Joy snorted again. “He wishes. He’s my brother Lucas’s best friend. He’s around a lot.”
“Sorta like an honorary brother?”
“More like an honorary pain in my ass,” she replied.
Hayden smirked. “So, he’s into you?”
Joy sighed and slugged her beer instead of answering. “It’s complicated.”
“Well, I can see why anyone would be into you when you kiss like that.”
Joy cut him a look and Hayden grinned at her. The motion caused him to wince again as his fat lip pulled taut.
Joy’s glare softened and she grabbed another piece of ice. This time she pressed it to his lip herself. Hayden’s heart sped up. Christ! This girl was like a drug. One taste and he was hooked.
He tried to look away, but Joy’s lush green eyes held his with a power stronger than gravity. There was no escaping.
This is not why you’re here, Hayden. You need to focus.
ACE was a means to an end. If he did well here it could lock him into a spot on the Olympic team and get his father off his back. Then one more year and Hayden could compete for a damn medal and put swimming behind him for good. Then he could finally give up his father’s endless quest for perfection and live his own life.
The Summer Boyfriend Page 2