Free Shark Bait (The Grab Your Pole Series) by Jenn Cooksey

recent event.
    “Well, I know he certainly didn’t look happy…not until Jeff showed up anyway.” Interesting, apparently there’s more to that as well. Honestly, I don’t know how Kate can figure people out like this, but really, it’s mesmerizing to watch her run through her thoughts and then listen to her expound on them.
    “Noticed that, did you? Well again, here’s what I think was going on... Tristan and Zack don’t play well together. Normally, they pretty much avoid each other and that’s probably the main reason Tristan stayed so far away from us.”
    “I knew it!” Man, being right feels awesome!
    She nodded, further affirming my correct assumption. “However, I thought he was gonna break that long-standing protocol when Zack started flirting with you by yanking your hair that way. After all, he’d been doing the same thing a couple hours before that, only Tristan wasn’t flirting. The way it looked to me, he felt compelled to touch you in some way and he’d chosen to give in to that compulsion, but only on the sly because he’s still testing the water so to speak…he’s not about to lay his cards on the table before you’ve even thrown in your ante, you know? And I’ll bet you money he had a contingency plan in place on the off chance you caught him red handed. You know, like a spider crawling on you or something. But then Zack goes and blatantly shows interest in you…
    “Again, this is just my opinion, but watching Zack barely touch you enraged Tristan, because Camie, I was watching him and I’m telling you, he was about to blow. Then when I saw him start cracking up, I knew something was going on behind us and that was right when my stoner ex showed up,” Kate explained, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.
    And I don’t know about you, but Kate has me totally rapt. I’m listening really intently to what she’s saying because I’m not only fascinated, but I’m also realizing that I have SO much to learn about the little nuances of people’s actions and their motives for doing things. Jeez, when I said Kate was insightful before, I’d no idea how discerning she really is.
    “Jeff would’ve totally seen what was going on from where he came from and I’m positive that whatever he did behind our backs, rescued Tristan from having to make a scene, which he wouldn’t want to do…especially at school and Jeff would know that. As a bonus, it also cracked him up. And another thing Jeff knows all too well is that a laughing Tristan is a happy Tristan, which is important to keep in mind because of that moody issue.
    “Jeff’s little stunt that he intentionally included you in was a statement that Zack read loud and clear. He essentially meant it to say, ‘These two are ours, so back the fuck off.’ What I’m saying is this, even though he can be a jerk and he’s definitely a clown, Jeff was watching over his best friend’s interests as well as his own, meaning you and me. That’s also how I know Tristan won’t abandon Jeff to make rotten choices. The two of them watch out for each other more than the closest of brothers.
    “So to break this all down and make it simple, Tristan has displayed some very rare and exceptionally indicative behavior today that I’ve never seen him do all in one day and in regards to one girl… He made a concerted effort to make himself known, he shared something personal with his best friend, he dropped a major hint on the one thing that really turns him cold, he went out of his way to make an obscene amount of physical contact at school, and the coup de grace…he was totally jealous, which I believe is a first for him. So, now do you understand why I think you have more than a snowball’s chance in hell?” Kate finished in a flurry, her face beaming with pride.
    “Wow, that was spectacular! You could totally be a lawyer or an FBI profiler or something…seriously impressive, Kate,” I said after applauding her extraordinarily detailed