Free Had To Be You by Juliet Chatham Page A

that.
    After a moment, Matt reached up to play with the string tie of her bikini top that peeked out of the back of her shirt. This time she swatted him away like a fly.
    A moment passed before she glanced over at him. “So that’s really what guys want, huh? Someone so…” She struggled to find the right word. “Obvious?”
    His voice rose in exasperation. “She goes out with one of the guys on my team, okay? I never said I wanted her!”
    “I know you didn’t. I’m just asking in general. I’m being serious here. That’s what most guys want. That’s what is considered sexy, right?”
    “No, not necessarily.” A frown flitted over his brow but he was calmer now. “Despite the fact I know you’d like to lump us all under the category of lecherous horn-dogs with one-track minds, every guy is different. For a lot of guys? Yeah, that might be exactly what does it for them. But for others, it can be something a lot more simple—the way a girl laughs or smiles, for example, little things she does, habits she has.” His voice was softening with something undefined as his eyes drifted over her, words trailing off. Clearing his throat, he shook his head. “Stuff like that.”
    Rory frowned uncertainly.
    “And guys notice things like a girl’s sense of fashion far less than you might imagine.” He tilted his gaze towards her. “I mean, you dress fairly conservatively.”
    She glanced down at her faded denim shorts and plain white tee, then back up at him.
    “And?”
    “And…” He sighed dramatically. “All I see is that you have a pretty nice rack.”
    She stopped short, her mouth agape before she clamped it shut. Pressing her lips into a scowl, she punched him in the arm.
    “Ow!”
    “You’re repulsive.”
    “What?” He couldn’t help but laugh as he rubbed the spot. “You asked!”
    “I know. It’s my own fault,” she agreed, walking away. “I was under the mistaken assumption I was talking to another human being.”
    “Okay, you want to know the truth?” Matt caught up to her again, resting his hand on her arm just briefly before quickly lifting it off in a gesture of surrender. “And don’t tell anyone you heard it from me, because I’m breaking all kinds of male codes of honor here, but most girls have the power to reduce a guy to putty in their hands, should they choose to use it. Because for the teenage male species? The mere fact a girl throws even a remote amount of kindness or interest their way could pretty much do it for them.” He shrugged in a gesture of capitulation. “Sad, but true.”
    “And, I know you may not believe this,” he continued, “but guys are capable of having feelings, too. And if you have feelings for a girl? Well, just her saying your name in a certain way or doing something as random as touching your hand? Those can become the most unbelievably sexy things. If it’s the right person, of course.” He raised his eyebrows, sounding almost resigned. “Trust me. There is relatively little effort that needs to be involved.”
    Slowing to a stop as they reached the boardwalk, he turned to face her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and lowered his voice to a solemn pledge.
    “So, remember—use your power for good, not evil.”
    Rory narrowed her eyes as his hands tentatively drifted down her arms, holding her there gently with fingers briefly intertwined. When he tilted his head, leaning in, she abruptly pulled back.
    “And what do you think you’re doing now?”
    “I have no idea,” he murmured, lips too close for comfort.
    She placed her hand flat on his chest, shaking her head with a little smile as she shoved him off.
    “Give it up, Matt.”
    “Face it, Rory.” He laughed, jogging to catch up as she continued on her way. “It’s gonna happen one of these days. You can’t fight it forever.”
    “I can try.”
     
    ***
     
    Rory trailed Kevin through the throngs of people tangled around the deck entrance, most right off their boats tied-up