Flirting With The Enemy

by Henson, Sally

  “You were right. I’m used to getting my way.”

  I pulled away enough to look up at him. “Did you do this? The surfboard? Luci?”

  His grin widened. “I may have made some arrangements.”

  I raised up on my toes and asked, “Is it okay if I kiss you?”

  He dipped his mouth to mine. Every move I made was slow and deliberate. He needed to know how much he meant to me.

  After a few minutes, Luci interrupted us. “Give it a break, love birds. Let’s try that board out while it’s still daylight.”

  29

  Griffan

  I picked Jade up, tossed her over my shoulder, and ran for the ocean. Two days traveling with my sisters and unloading the moving van in record time was exhausting. But the second I heard Jade's voice changed that.

  She squealed and laughed as I ran across the sand. That kiss definitely gave me a burst of energy. As soon as my feet hit the water, the temperature difference from Florida was shocking. We both still had our clothes on, but I plunged us under the water anyway.

  When I came up for air, Jade was waiting to dunk me. She wasn’t strong enough, but I let her do it. This time when I broke the surface, she clamped her arms and legs around me with her body pressed to my back.

  I ran my hands down her legs. “Luci’s bringing your board. Now’s your chance to show me what you’ve got.”

  “Griff? How long will you be here? I want to make every second count.” She pressed her cheek to mine.

  The moment of truth had come. Would she like the idea of me being here full time? I grasped her leg and moved her from my back to in front of me. Being able to look into her big brown eyes and see her expression would tell me everything I needed to know.

  Her brow dipped. “Please tell me it’s more than a day.”

  I kissed the tip of her nose. “It’s more than a day.”

  She squeezed my sides with her legs. “How long?”

  I loved the way she was with me. Fun and real at the same time. “As long as you’ll have me.”

  “Don’t talk to me in riddles.” Jade tried to scramble away from me. “What does that mean?”

  “What if I moved here? Would you be okay with that?”

  She arched away, tilted her head one way, and then the other, studying me. “Are you serious?”

  I kept my smile but stopped screwing around. “We need a place to live. Grandma needs looking after. We moved in with her today.”

  Jade’s mouth dropped open.

  I added, “We’ll be going to school together.”

  She crashed against me, pressing her lips to mine. It set off a frenzied kiss like none other.

  Of course, Luci interrupted us again. “Go get your board and meet me out here.”

  Jade broke away and said, “Yeah, be right there.” She stared at me on the verge of breathless.

  “Go on.” I pushed her hips away. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  She stepped back, took my hand, and we went back to shore together. She slipped off her shirt and shorts then ran her hand across the board with a beautiful smile. "She waxed it."

  I nodded.

  Jade took her surfboard and paddled out to where Luci was. They looked like they belonged in a movie, sitting out there on their boards waiting for a wave.

  It took a few tries for Jade to get her feet underneath her. By the time the high tide came in, she was cutting back through the waves. My chest puffed up with love and excitement watching her.

  When they towed their boards to dry land, the smile on Jade’s face was as big as I’d ever seen it. Our eyes connected. My heart beat went from zero to sixty in 1.5 seconds flat. I’d never been in love before. I wasn’t even sure what love meant exactly, but I knew being here with Jade was exactly where I wanted to be—where I belonged.

  30

  Jaden

  Working at the Pizzeria had a new perk… my best friend was the pizza delivery boy. Marty made me a deal, if I worked Griff worked.

  I finished sprinkling the cheese topping over the crust I was working on and slid it in the oven, moving a few pies around so I could pull the supreme out.

  A gorgeous guy walked toward me. He had the most stunning blue eyes I’d ever seen.

  Donna came into the kitchen, stepped between us, but he didn’t move his gaze from mine. She moved on, and I took a step back to check the oven.

  Mr. Hottie came closer.

  As executive chef for the night, I made an executive decision: the food could wait another minute.

  I grinned and tilted my head, toying with this handsome work of art.

  He dipped his head down. “You look so familiar. Do we know each other?”

  “Have you been to Sterling Beach before?” There might have been a whiff of overdone pizza, but it would have to wait for this boy to kiss me.

  “It’s been a few years.” He gripped my waist and asked, “How are you, Jaden?”

  I pushed up on my toes and whispered, “Fantastic,” and kissed him right there in the middle of the Pizzeria kitchen.

  “Jade!” Marty called. “Get back to work. I don’t pay you to kiss the new guy.”

  Griffan laughed because I got yelled at and he didn’t. He stepped away, playing the good boy part and did his job, cutting and boxing the next six pizzas that came out of the oven.

  When he was done, he smirked and nodded for me to meet him out the back door.

  I followed him outside and giggled. I did that a lot more often than I used to.

  He set the pizzas in his Jeep. The government had let his Mom keep the Porsche but confiscated the rest. They sold it and got the Jeep and a minivan for his mom.

  He rushed back to me and buried his face in my neck, pulling me into a hug. “Thanks for getting me this job. It’s so much fun working with you.” He kissed the delicate spot behind my ear.

  Only Griff could pull off looking like a hottie wearing a red Pizzeria delivery cap. “Anything for a guy that wears a sexy hat with a giant slice of pepperoni embroidered on it,” I teased.

  “Seriously…” He slid his hands up and down my back. “Dad’s mess, finding out grandma has Alzheimer’s… life’s not been easy. Spending the summer with you gave me hope when things were seriously bad. You've given me a better life.”

  This summer had changed my family too. My brothers and I were closer than we’d ever been. My mom had her best friend back. I didn’t remember seeing her this happy. Even before her marriage fell apart. And I knew for a fact Griffan was the one who’d given me a better life.

  “You’re definitely gonna get kissed for that.” I gave him a peck on the cheek. “But after work. We don’t need to get fired because we can’t stop kissing each other for five seconds.”

  He chuckled. “After work, then. Is that a promise?” He gave me a sexy grin.

  “Mr. Ray Ban, that is definitely a promise.”

  Thank you for reading Jade and Griffan’s story. I hope you loved it as much as I do!

  Please share your love for Flirting With The Enemy by leaving a review on Amazon and telling your book nerd friends how much you enjoyed it.

  Want to continue the Boys of Summer series? Tap on the book cover below for your next read.

  Beauty And The Beach by Kayla Tirrell

  A tale as old as time...with a twist!

  Rose had it all until melanoma left her scarred at the ripe age of eighteen. Now, she’s Sterling's most infamous recluse, and no one knows why except for her family.

  Adam spends his summers working at the local tourist trap to help his mom make ends meet. So when his neighbor offers to pay him enough to cover rent for a month if he breaks into Rose Beaumont's house, he jumps at the opportunity.

  This chance encounter between two teens from opposite sides of the beach soon transforms into something more. But just when things start heating up, secrets that can destroy everything threaten to surface.

  Beauty and the Beach is a genderbent retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It is
a novella in the Boys of Summer series, a collaboration between several YA authors. They are all standalone stories that take place in the same fictional town. Escape to Sterling Beach today!

  Want to catch up with the other Boys of Summer books?

  Saving Hadley by Amy Sparling

  Beach Town Bad Boy by Maggie Dallen

  Riptide by Jordan Ford

  Don’t Fall for the Summer Fling by Tammy Andresen

  Flirting with the Enemy by Sally Henson

  Beauty and the Beach by Kayla Tirrell

  Falling for the Rich Boy by Yesenia Vargas

  Summer Love and Basketball by Seven Steps

  Sally’s Notes

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  Behind the Scenes of Flirting With The Enemy

  When I create a story world, I usually start with the feel of the setting. Then I move on to what my characters are like. They often change as I begin to write and learn more about their likes and dislikes. (Sounds a little crazy, but that’s how it works for me.)

  But when I had the opportunity to write in this beach series titled Boys of Summer... I squealed like a tween and had to start with my playlist. My all time favorite summer song across all genres is Don Henley’s Boys of Summer. I knew from the start this story was going to rock!

  Here’s a link to the playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7wOqQtWxWfiqDNiAespJkh (Feel free to listen and read this story again