Page 21 of Scoring Destiny

He’s still gorgeous, though. Especially without a shirt on.

But I can’t think about that now that I know he’s either embarrassed about what we did, not interested in doing it again, or some combination of both.

I move past him to retrieve the water pistol I abandoned and am immediately assaulted by Joey, JJ, and Lindy. To my surprise, Cash is right beside me, armed with the biggest water canon I’ve ever seen.

“You look like you might need backup,” is all he says.

“I’m pretty sure I can handle the kids,” I say lightly, though I really want to say something sarcastic and tell him to just go away.

I don’t normally let guys like him get under my skin, but it’s hard not to think about the night we spent together. All the things we did. How good it felt. How easy it was to drink, dance, and hang out.

Luckily, there’s no time to think about much of anything because the kids keep us busy. Finally, it’s time to get out, dry off, and eat something, and I move toward the stairs without looking at Cash.

Reid tosses my towel at me with a grin. “You guys got the crap beat out of you,” he teases!”

I laugh and wave a hand. “But we held our own.”

“Not from where I was sitting.”

I flick some water at him and then wrap the towel around my middle.

“Come on, I want you to meet some of the guys.”

“Okay, but don’t play matchmaker,” I mutter.

He frowns. “How come?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

He looks like he wants to ask me something now, but I shake my head and he knows me well enough to understand when I don’t want to talk about something.

“Don’t worry—it’s a good story.”

Just one without a happy ending.

Oh well, there are lots of cute guys here today.

Maybe one of them isn’t afraid to have a good time.

Chapter Nine

Cash

Maya is holding court on the other side of the patio from me, sitting between Blaze and Reid, and perfectly at ease with everyone.

Everyone except me.

And I probably deserve the cold shoulder.

Reid is her brother.

Her fucking brother.

And I was such a douche to her.

Behaving as if she’d cheated on Reid with me.

I didn’t realize how sensitive I am to the thought of someone being unfaithful. All because of my stupid ex-wife. And my stupid ex-best friend. My mom thinks I should go to therapy, but I balked at that. I’m not the first guy to go through a divorce—why would I need therapy? The way I treated Maya might be a testament to the reason why but I’m nothing if not stubborn.