Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
It was so ridiculous, I couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping. He thought this girl—who’d never played before—was going to beat me? My competitive side reared up, telling me this would be a cakewalk.
My voice dripped with confidence. “Yeah, we’ll see about that.”
TWO
Sydney
I was glad the beer was cold because that was all it had going for it. I hadn’t acquired a taste for beer yet and wasn’t sure if everyone secretly disliked it but had been gaslit into saying they did.
I needed the beer now because the way Preston had stared at me rattled me to my core.
All my friends in school had lusted over my brother and his friends. Troy Osbourne was usually who they wanted the most, but for me?
It had been all Preston Lowe.
Seeing him again made my feelings come rushing back. I’d had such a crush, it was embarrassing, and yet he hadn’t even recognized me. Had no idea I’d existed. And I was genuinely annoyed with how he’d gotten hotter over the years.
His milk chocolate colored hair was short on the sides and full on the top, swept back to reveal his handsome face. It was stunning how much he’d changed. At some point over the years, he’d grown into a man—one who looked so good it threatened to turn me into mush.
My weak knees made it difficult to follow everyone as Colin led the way inside the Lowe house. Preston’s dad was a doctor, and the large home had been built into the side of a hill. It allowed for a walk-out basement, and when I walked through the French doors, I took in the space.
There was a new-looking kitchenette to the side, and tile flooring gave way to carpet. The back half of the room had a wrap-around couch facing a big screen television, but in the middle, there was a long kitchen table. The chairs had been pulled to the side, and red Solo cups were arranged in a triangle on each end of the tabletop.
I’d seen people play before, so I understood the premise was to bounce ping pong balls into cups filled with beer, but that was about it.
“What are the rules?” I asked.
While Preston dug a package of ping pong balls out of a drawer in the kitchenette, Colin and Madison took turns explaining. I could toss the ball directly into a cup, or I could attempt to bounce it on the table first, but if I did that, it meant the other team was allowed to defend. I tried to focus on what they were saying, but it was so freaking hard not to be distracted.
Years of crushing on him weighed me down.
When Preston passed the balls out to each player, his fingers brushed mine, and it sent a spark zipping through my body. A cocky smirk tilted his lips. This had to be arrogance because he was sure he was going to win.
“Because I’m such a nice guy,” his gaze captured mine, “I’ll let the virgin go first.”
Oh, my god! How the hell did he know that?
Hopefully, no one heard the sharp breath I sucked in, because as I blinked, I slowly realized he’d only meant the game and not that the virgin label applied to me in the standard way.
Even though it did.
I pushed the thought away, stepped up to the end of the table, and squared off my stance. He lined up opposite me at the other end, and I ignored how good he looked when he rested his hands on his hips. He worked out occasionally with my brother, and it showed. His toned biceps teased me from beneath his shirt sleeves.
I shouldn’t have liked how cocky he was. I’d never found it sexy in any other guy.
Only him.
Everyone shifted their attention my way, waiting for me to take my first shot.
Aiming for a line drive into a cup without bouncing the ball on the table first was risky. I could miss, or come in too hot, and it could bounce right back out of the cup. But Preston couldn’t block me if I attacked from the air.
I focused on the cup I wanted to hit, the single one at the front of the triangle, steadied my breathing, and flicked the ball forward. It sailed across the table and plunked down directly into the cup with a satisfying plop.
Colin was thrilled. “Nice.”
Preston’s stunned gaze lifted from the orange ball floating in the beer, rising until it met my eyes. For a split second, something flickered through his expression that looked a lot like annoyance. He didn’t like how I’d sunk my first attempt.
But then he brightened and shook his head. “Lucky first shot.”
It was Colin’s turn next, and he decided to go with the bounce strategy . . .
But it backfired.
As it tapped its way across the tabletop, Madison swatted the ball away, knocking it to the carpet below.