Meant to Be by Jessica James

used to. By this time, those who had
their hands up in the air on the other side had started to lower
them.
    After another moment of deliberation,
Lauren decided to go for the overhand power shot and hit the ball
so hard, it slammed Tork in the chest before he even had time to
lift his hands again.
    “ Tie game!” Rad ran over
and gave Lauren another high-five just as Tork said, “What the
hell?”
    Lauren ran up to the net. “Sorry,
Tork. I was afraid it wouldn’t make it over, so I might have
overcompensated.”
    “ Game on, girl.” Tork’s
eyes flashed with competitive fire. “Don’t expect any special
treatment when we serve.”
    When the ball came back for their team
to serve, Rad flipped it to Lauren. “No pressure, but it’s game
point, and they’re pissed.”
    Lauren frowned. “Thanks for reminding
me, dude. Where do you want it to go?”
    “ Just hit it like the last
one.”
    Nodding again as she lined up the
shot, Lauren sent the ball sailing over the net. This time Tork was
ready—at least enough to react. He put his hands up and made enough
contact with the ball to keep it in the air. Bipp lunged in with a
fist and sent it sailing back over the net.
    Rad stepped up, and instead of hitting
it back over, set it up for Lauren. She ran forward from the back
row and spiked it over the heads of the front row who were trying
to block the shot. It landed in the sand behind them without being
touched.
    Rad threw his hands in the air. “Game
point!”
    “ We demand a
re-match!”
    Bipp and the rest of the team ran up
to Rad, yelling and flailing their arms, acting like they had just
lost the Super Bowl rather than an informal game of beach
volleyball.
    “ You can’t make
substitutions in the middle of a game.” Bipp planted himself in
front of Rad with his arms crossed. “That’s the rules.”
    “ Funny, you didn’t mention
that rule when we were down three people and putting a girl in.”
Rad laughed. “Anyway, it’s getting too dark to see.” He took
Lauren’s hand. “And I need a drink.”
    Lauren waited until they were out of
hearing range, and then leaned into him and said in a low, serious
tone. “In case you’re keeping score, I just saved your
ass.”
    Rad’s laughter broke out so loudly,
everyone within hearing distance paused and looked over at the two
of them.
    Lauren didn’t notice the disturbance
the outburst had caused. Her attention, and her gaze, were locked
on Rad and his captivating, magnetic eyes.

Chapter 8

    A full moon replaced the
sun over the water so swiftly Lauren wondered if the day always
melted away with so little notice. She had witnessed thousands of
sunrises, but never paid much attention to the approach of night.
It seemed like it had taken only moments for the last remnants of
light to be pulled from the sky and the dark cloak of night to
surround them. The rising moon took away some of the heavy
darkness, making it light enough to see the frothy water licking
the shore.
    At some point after the volleyball
game, wood had been gathered, and there was now a small bonfire on
the beach. Some of the guys stood around it chatting quietly, while
a number of women wrapped in blankets sat on lawn chairs near the
blaze.
    Lauren stood talking to Pops when his
attention suddenly drifted to somewhere over her shoulder. She saw
him nod, acknowledging some sort of message, but before she could
turn around to see who was there, she felt a familiar arm wrap
around her waist. “Hey, baby,” Rad said in her ear. “The guys are
getting together for a meeting further down the beach. You okay
here?”
    She nodded. “Sure. I’ll talk to
Heather.”
    “ Good deal. I won’t be
long.” He pulled off his shirt and put it over her shoulders.
“Here, in case you’re cold.”
    Lauren stood in the dark a moment with
her eyes closed as she listened to him move away. His courtesy and
consideration left her speechless, breathless. She put her arms
into his oversized shirt and