Free Winning It All (Hometown Players Book 4) by Victoria Denault

then I bite her shoulder lightly before letting go, pushing away and breaking the water’s surface. I feel Josh’s big hand slam down on me as soon as I’m up.
    “Gotcha!” he bellows.
    I lunge forward and my hand makes contact with the back of Shayne’s head as she breaks the surface of the water. “Gotcha!”
    “Damn it!” she bellows, and Josh and I laugh.

Shayne
    It’s late and everyone is finally packing up and going home. I should too. I have to work tomorrow and I need to wake up extra early so that I can take the bus, since I never did get my car to a mechanic. My eyes find Sebastian sitting across the campfire. That blonde is talking to him and he’s nodding every now and then, but his eyes are looking straight forward, over the dying flames and right at me. He winks at me. I roll my eyes at him and act annoyed, but oh my God, I want him so badly it’s making me squirm. I stand up and instantly rub my arms. It’s cold away from the warmth of the dying embers. I glance over at Audrey, who is packing up her cooler with Josh.
    “Can I grab a lift home?” I ask her.
    She glances up at me and smiles, her eyes sliding from me to Sebastian. “Hey, Seb! Shay needs a lift home. Can you help her out?”
    “Audrey! I meant—”
    “Of course!” Sebastian says easily, and he starts to stand. “That’s what friends are for!”
    “Naked friends,” Audrey adds so only I can hear, and I slap the air in her general direction.
    Sebastian walks over and casually drops an arm over my shoulders. “Hey, buddy! Ready to go?”
    I heave a giant, agitated sigh and try to shrug out of him, but I fail as his hand grips my shoulder tightly to hold me in place. “Oh, and Sebastian,” Audrey says as she starts to walk toward Josh’s SUV. “She’ll probably need a lift to work tomorrow morning, so maybe you should just spend the night.”
    “Audrey!” I snap, my face flushing instantly. I throw my empty beer can at her.
    She dodges it and laughs. “Call me tomorrow, Shaynie!”
    I raise my middle finger at her even though she can’t see it in the dark. Refusing to acknowledge the cocky smirk I know must be on Sebastian’s face, I finally peel out of his arm and retrieve my empty beer can and throw it in the garbage. Sebastian pours the rest of his on the fire, extinguishing it completely. I glance around subtly and am relieved to find Carly, his blond admirer, seems to be gone. I was worried he would drive her home too. At least now I know he’s going to take me home and not fuck her in his car immediately afterward.
    Unless he heads to her place after he drops you off, my brain reminds me. It’s not unimaginable to me because it’s happened to me. My first college boyfriend, Dustin, used to drop me off early after dates claiming he was tired from hockey practice and then spend all night at sorority parties picking up girls. I push down the uncomfortable thought and turn to where Sebastian is dumping the ice from one of his coolers onto the now-dead fire. He looks up as I grab my bag off the picnic table and pick up his other cooler. He smiles. It’s not the cocky, smartass smile I’m used to. It’s softer, gentler, more humble. I like it just as much as his cocky one.
    “You going to tell me where you live or should I just drive aimlessly around the city?” he asks me softly as he loads the coolers into the trunk.
    “Head west. I’ll talk you through it,” I reply and walk to the passenger door.
    He opens my door and then walks around and gets in the car. Wow, his game is on point. He can play the flirt, the cocky egomaniac and the gentleman. I’m sure he figures one of these personas will work on me, but I’m not like other girls. I try to ignore the pointed little voice in the back of my head that says I’ve already given in to him, just like other girls, and that I want to give in to him again. Because damn it, he’s hot. And he wasn’t blowing me off. He was out of town. He could be lying to