Juicy Rebound (IceCats Book 1) Read online

  “Don’t know what? Stop being stubborn. Let it happen.”

  “Let what happen?” I ask, looking over at her. “Let things get serious, and when he’s all in and I’m not, he gets hurt? That’s not fair.”

  “Or you’ll go all in too,” she suggests, cocking her head. “You know he’s not Drew, right?”

  “Well, no shit, Sherlock,” I grumble. “It’s not that. It’s—” I cut myself off, and I shrug as I look down at my bare feet. Emotion is suddenly drowning me as I sit there, blood rushing to my head. I feel Shelli’s gaze on me, but I don’t know what to say.

  “Am…what?”

  I swallow around the lump in my throat. “I just don’t think I’m good enough for someone like him. What if he sees the parts of me that obviously pissed Drew off, and he throws me away? I never thought Drew would lay a hand on—” I don’t even see her moving before she cups my head in her hands. I open my eyes, and she’s upside down as she stares down at me.

  Concern and sympathy fill her blue eyes as she shakes my head. “Let me say this again. Chandler is not even a smidge of Drew. I don’t even know the guy that well, but I know that. One, Ryan adores him. They’ve been best friends for years. And two, he picked you up in his arms like some kind of damn prince and carried you inside so you wouldn’t cut your feet. Tell me, did Drew ever do anything like that for you?”

  “No.”

  “Exactly. Now stop being a stubborn ass and see what happens!”

  I blink twice. “Shelli.”

  “What?”

  “Can you let me go so I can sit up? I can’t breathe, and I’m getting a headache.”

  She rolls her eyes but lets go of me so I can sit up.

  I look up at her and shrug. “I’m just scared.”

  Shelli shrugs back. “I get it, but what was it Uncle James would always say?”

  I furrow my brow. “What?”

  “Always run face first into fear, for it doesn’t control you, you control it.”

  I blink as my heart jumps into my throat. He used to tell me that every time I got on the beam. I hated the beam—it was my kryptonite—but my dad loved watching me on it. He said that was my event and I was born to be on that beam. I was always so scared of it until finally I just threw my flight of three back handsprings on it with no fear whatsoever.

  Well, a bit of fear, but I did it.

  “I don’t know.”

  Shelli is annoyed with me, but she doesn’t understand. She’s younger; she has a great life, doing things in New York with no one to answer to. She hasn’t been hurt—hell, she doesn’t even know what real love is. She’s carefree and has fun. To her, I should let go of the past and move on, and that’s that. But it’s not that easy for me.

  When I hear the sliding door, I look over to see Shelli going outside. “What are you doing?”

  “I need air. You’re annoying me.”

  I scoff. “I’m annoying you?”

  She flips me off as she leans on the railing. I lay my head on the back of my couch and close my eyes when I feel the sea air come rushing in. It relaxes me so. My mom texted earlier, asking when I’d be ready to come home, and it’s put a bit of pressure on me. I don’t know if I want to. I love it here. I feel good here. Would I love to work in Sofia’s gym? Of course, but Nashville doesn’t have the beach.

  It doesn’t have Chandler.

  Jesus, what am I thinking?

  “Dude, you’re a stalker!” I open my eyes to find Shelli throwing her head back as she laughs. “Whatever.”

  “Who are you talking to?” I call to her, and she points down to the beach.

  “Chandler. He’s walking his dog.”

  I go to get up, maybe a tad too quickly because my legs are tangled together, and the next thing I know, I’m falling on the floor. I let out a groan of pain as I scramble to get up.

  “She’s lying on the floor. I think she fell trying to get out here.”

  “Oh my God, I hate you,” I say to her as I get to my feet and head outside. When I lean over the railing with Shelli, Chandler is looking up, his hand shielding his eyes from the sun as Sadie jumps around him.

  “Hey,” I call down, and he grins, his face bright and happy. It’s hard to believe I put that grin on his face, but I think I may have. “What are you up to?”

  “Just walking my dog. I had morning skate, and now I’m just chilling.”

  “You should come with us,” Shelli suggests, and I give her a confused look.

  “Okay,” he answers, but he doesn’t even know where we’re going.

  I shake my head. “You don’t want to go. We’re going dress shopping for Ryan’s wedding.”

  “And we’re getting lunch!”

  With no hesitation whatsoever, Chandler says, “Yeah, I’ll go.”

  “I still feel I should have been able to see the final product.”

  I give Chandler a sideways glance as I hold back my grin. “I haven’t gotten the approval from Sofia, so I don’t know if I’ll be wearing it.”

  “So? You could wear it for a date. With me.”

  When he winks, I giggle. “I’d want to surprise you then.”

  He shrugs, and I love the playfulness in his eyes. “Fine. Real question, though.”

  Shelli and I look over at him as we walk down Fourth Street, which is where the best dress shops are. It’s more of a boutique kind of setup, each storefront decorated with Halloween décor and fun fall stuff. It’s almost ninety degrees, so it’s odd but fun nonetheless.

  “Where are we eating?”

  Shelli shrugs as she holds her stomach. “I don’t know if I want to eat.”

  I glance over at her, surprised. She was all about food an hour ago. “What’s wrong?”

  “My gut hurts. I think I’m cramping.”

  “Man, I hate when that happens,” Chandler adds, and I snort with laughter as I look at him. “You want to head back?”

  I want to scream No, I wanted to go to lunch, but that would be rude. Shelli is my cousin. I should want to make sure she feels better instead of wanting to hang with Chandler. I’m such a bad cousin.

  Shelli waves him off. “No, it’s fine. I’ll get an Uber home, and you two go have lunch.”

  “Shelli—”

  “Seriously,” she says, looking at me. “I’m so over being the third wheel and watching you two flirt. I gotta get out of here. You two are probably the reason my gut hurts.”

  She flashes me a grin but then covers it with her phone.

  I glare at her. “You’re fine. You’re just forcing us to go to lunch.”

  She doesn’t answer, and Chandler laughs. “Why don’t you just drive my truck home? We can walk home. It’s only a twenty-minute walk.”

  I’m glad I’m wearing shorts and sneakers today.

  “If that’s okay with you?”

  I look up at him and nod. “That’s fine.”

  Shelli puts her phone down. “Fine with me too.”

  He digs into his pocket for his keys before holding them out to her. “Can you handle my truck?”

  “I can handle bigger,” she says with a wink as she takes the keys. She’s so damn confident. Drives me wild because that used to be me. “Toodle-oo.”

  As she walks off like nothing is wrong with her, I glance at Chandler, feeling stupid. Am I so pathetic that my cousin has to make me go on a date with him? “If you don’t want to—”

  “I’ve been practically begging you for a date for the last couple weeks. Please don’t say I don’t have to take you out. I want to. Really bad.” He wraps an arm around my neck, pulling me into him. “Want to know what else I want to do really bad?”

  I’m breathless as I gaze up into his stunning eyes. “What?”

  He doesn’t say anything as my heart crashes into my chest. He is so big, and with one arm, he nearly smothers me. He brings me in close, lifting me up on my toes before his eyes move from mine to my lips. I take in a deep breath, and he smiles one hell of a devilish grin befor