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“You’re all sweaty,” she pouted and stepped away from my side.
“So are you, but you don’t hear me complaining.” I leaned in and licked a line up her neck, just to unsettle her.
It worked, as she stumbled back and clapped a hand over her neck like I’d cut her.
“What are you doing?”
“Tasting you. I’m the winner, I get what I want. To the victor, the spoils… and you are my trophy of war. Conquered territory… mine, by your own admission,” I murmured, stopping beside the pool and tugging her close. I’d fucking missed her last night, when I’d had to leave her at her parents’ house and go back to campus alone. I’d seen her in the last twelve hours, but I’d still missed her.
“You’re not being a sore loser, are you?” I teased her. “It’s just a tennis game.” I eased my thumb over the apple of her cheek.
She looked so flustered by my casual touch. I enjoyed her discomfort. She was always so cool and unruffled. Not everyone got to see under that façade. In fact, I’d bet nearly no one did. The real Winter was so much more interesting than the jaded Barbie she showed the world.
“A sore loser?” Her blue eyes flashed before she rolled them. My palm itched to repeat the spanking I’d given her, but this time I’d spend the rest of the night kissing it better.
She swished her high ponytail. “We both know I let you win.”
“Say what? You let me win?” I could never predict what this girl was going to come out with next.
“Of course I did. You’ve never played tennis before. I didn’t want to show you up.”
“How selfless you are,” I murmured, and reached out to tangle my fingers in her ponytail. It was like a rope. I made plans to tie it to my headboard in a knot she could never get loose.
“I know, right?” She folded her arms over her chest. “I am selfless. Case in point: getting you back on the ice. That was selfless.”
“You were trying to win our little game…that’s not really selfless.”
She shook her head and scoffed. “I wasn’t trying to win the game. We both know I could have achieved that anytime.”
“Is that right? Such confidence.” I twisted her hair around my hand like a wrap. That confidence was a fucking turn-on. “It’s okay to lose sometimes, Winter, I already told you that. It doesn’t make you less worthy,” I told her. “Not to me.”
I freed my hand from her hair and tucked a wisp behind her ear.
She flushed. Unused to compliments, despite being the most beautiful woman in town. I’d change that. She’d get plenty used to them soon enough.
Tossing her regal head, she gave me a haughty look that would rival European royalty. “Such good advice. Thank you. And if I may give you some about losing, too…” She leaned in, surprising me by pressing her body against mine. “Practice makes perfect.” And she shoved me hard in the chest.
What the hell?
I staggered back a few steps, and then, the floor disappeared. The last thing I saw was her satisfied face as I went under. The swimming pool water flooded over my head. Honestly, it was refreshing as hell after the tennis game.
I reached the bottom and pushed upward, planting my feet on the floor to shoot up.
My blood was pumping. My heart was beating. I’d never felt more alive.
I exploded out of the water and propelled up the side of the pool, boosting myself out easily. Winter was running toward the women’s locker room, but she wasn’t fast enough. A couple of elderly ladies were blocking the doorway, talking between themselves, with no clue about what was going on behind them.
Winter hesitated, and my arms closed around her.
“Going somewhere?” I murmured against her temple.
“Asher, just wait a second and think about this —”
I didn’t let her finish. I carried her to the pool and jumped in, taking both of us with me.
We surfaced seconds later, and I still had her in my arms. She was coughing and spluttering, shaking her head and rubbing at her eyes. I blinked the water out of mine and held her while she wriggled.
“Hey! This outfit was new!”
