Her Striker by Charlene Raquel

Chapter Seven

 

 

“I cannot believe I let you talk me into wearing this stupid grass skirt.” Gwen twisted the florescent green strands gathered at her waist.

Sam smacked her hand. “Stop playing with it. You look cute.”

“Oh yeah. Cute. That’s the kiss of death. You look sexy and I look cute. No matter how hard I try, I can never pull it off.”

They both had gotten sleeveless Hawaiian shirts that they tied in knots in the front to expose their midriffs and skirts. Sam surprised Gwen with the two short, grass skirts they were wearing over their clothes.

“There’s Drew. Are you two still not avoiding each other?” Sam motioned with her head.

“Funny. Ugh. I tried running an hour early and there he is. I waited to run an hour after I usually go, and he was on the trail. I even tried running in just the neighborhoods, and he was there too! I swear if he wasn’t glaring at me with such contempt, I would think he was following me.”

“Why don’t you just try to talk to him?” Sam frowned over at the edge of the deck.

Gwen followed her gaze. A blonde sat down on his lap. “Why don’t you chat with Dean since you’re staring at him.”

“I’m not staring at him!” Sam turned her back on Dean and his lap dancer.

“Every day this week, I ended up seeing Drew on my run at some point. It didn’t matter how much I changed up my routine or route. He was always there, except for Thursday. I didn’t see him at all.”

Sam pounced. “You seem disappointed by that.”

“Not at all. It was a relief.”

“Isn’t that the day you ran a couple of extra miles.”

“I do that sometimes. I need to vary my workout.” Gwen began to pull on her grass skirt again.

“Oh, stop. You look great. That cute baseball player we met in the spring can’t keep his eyes off you. What was his name?” Sam pointed to the volleyball court where some guys were playing with their shirts off.

Gwen grabbed Sam’s hand and shoved it down. “Don’t point. That was so obvious.”

“No one saw. What was his name?”

Gwen groaned. Sam was relentless when she wanted information. “That’s Brian, and his friend, Scott, next to him was the one you told me slobbered all over you when he tried to kiss you after one of their games. You do remember him, right?”

“Oh, yuck. The lower part of my face was covered in spit.” She wiped at the phantom saliva on her chin.

“He was obviously a tool and didn’t deserve the opportunity you gave him.”

Sam stiffened at the voice behind her. She whisper-yelled at Gwen. “Why didn’t you tell me he was there?”

Dean grinned at her. “Good evening, ladies.”

“Dean.” Sam toyed with her red plastic cup. It was filled with some sort of frozen beverage the guys had placed in one of those self-serve machines.

He placed his hand over his heart. “Such a warm welcome. I don’t know if my heart can take it.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Why are you bothering us?”

Dean’s grin widened. “I knew I was going to get you all hot and bothered sooner or later.”

Gwen laughed.

Sam glared at her.

“You owe me a drink, and I decided that you needed to share it with me.”

“How do I owe you a drink?”

“You don’t remember purposely pouring hot coffee in my lap?”

“Sam!”

“It was not hot, and it wasn’t on purpose.” Sam had only wanted to look like she was going to pour it on him. She hadn’t counted on someone bumping into her while she was teasing him. Her arm jerked, and she ended up spilling it all over his lap.

“It was mean, and you know it, but I have chosen to forgive you.” Dean knew she hadn’t meant to pour it on him. The look of horror on her face after it happened proved to him that she didn’t hate him. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to use the opportunity.

“How magnanimous of you.”

“I’m going to watch the volleyball game.” Gwen chuckled as she left a gaping Sam and a smirking Dean. They shared more sexual tension than any two people she’d ever met. She knew Sam wouldn’t go for Dean since he was Drew’s best friend, and Gwen loved her for it. Gwen wasn’t going to prevent Sam from spending time with someone she liked just because he had bad taste in best friends.

She tried hard not to look at where Drew was almost being molested by a sleazy tall girl. No one else was paying attention to the girl rubbing her overly large fake boobs on him because there were couples all over, hooking up. At least most of the couples were not completely going at it.

Gwen did notice a few lovers heading for the privacy of the woods.

“Hey Gwen!” Brian pulled her in for a tight hug. “It’s so good to see you. Want to watch me kick their asses? I’m serving next.”

“Hi Brian.” She pointed over at a group of plastic chairs. “I’ll watch from over there.” She saw one of the girls from her tennis team sitting by herself.

“When this is over, we should go for a walk.” Brian brushed some of her hair away from her face before he left.

Gwen was already regretting her decision to wander over to the game. Brian had made it clear that he was interested, but she had been able to gently avoid his attentions. Seemed her luck had run out.

She took the seat next to Carrie, a sophomore, who was becoming an accomplished tennis player. She had a great serve. “Hi, Carrie.”

“Hi, Gwen. I’m so happy to see you. I don’t know anyone here.”

Gwen glanced around. “Where are your friends?”

Carrie shrugged. “They ditched me. There is some other smaller party that is couples only, and I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“That sucks. I’m here with my friend Sam. You can hang with us.”

Gwen chatted with Carrie as she half-watched the volleyball game while keeping an eye on the sparks flying between Dean and Sam. She would have to get the details later.

Brian joined them under the guise of taking a break. He moved his chair closer to Gwen and was brushing her knee with his.

“I better go check on Sam. She has work in the morning, and I have a couple of tennis lessons.” Gwen should have ignored his hand as he helped her out of her seat, but she didn’t want to be rude.

Brian was nice looking, physically fit, and a great baseball player. He was a little short for her taste; she liked tall guys, but really, there was just no spark. As cliché as that sounded, he didn’t give her butterflies.

She had been ruined in high school for all mediocre relationships. Once she had experienced the zing of love and one heck of a spark and butterflies, she would never settle for someone who didn’t create those feelings in her. She just hoped that she would get to experience all of that again.

“I’ll walk you over to your friend.” Brian grabbed her hand.

Gwen slipped her fingers free and ran her hands through her long hair to keep them out of his reach. She could see a disappointed but determined gleam in his eyes. “Carrie, do you need a ride? Sam and I are going to call it a night.”

Carrie popped up from her seat. “Yeah. That would be great!”

“Hey Sam. Are you ready to head home?” Gwen hated to interrupt since Sam seemed to be enjoying the bickering she and Dean were doing, if the reddish hue on her cheeks was any indication.

Drew reached them at the same time that Gwen, Brian and Carrie walked up. Brian and Drew did the weird guy chin lift thing but didn’t say anything. Carrie appeared to be a moment away from a fan-girl moment as soon as she noticed Drew. Gwen needed to get away from them all.

Gwen turned to Brian and Carrie. “You two go on ahead, and we’ll be there in a minute. We’ll meet you on the sidewalk.”

It looked like Brian was going to argue, but Carrie led him away, realizing that Gwen wanted some privacy.

Sam and Dean had been in the middle of a heated discussion and hadn’t realized they had company.

Drew blocked Gwen’s path. “Does he know that you’re a liar?”

Gwen glared at him. “Does she know you jump to wrong conclusions and act like an ass?” She gave him a fake smile and nudged her friend. “Ready?”

Sam startled. “Oh, uh, yeah. Let’s go.”

Drew smirked. “Everyone loves my ass. Good of you to notice.”

“You are an ass. I wasn’t admiring it.”

Drew patted Dean on the back hard. “Let’s roll.”

Dean glared at everyone. He was finally talking to Sam and everyone was messing it up.

Sam called a quick goodbye as Gwen led her away.

Brian was waiting for them impatiently on the sidewalk at the front of the house. Gwen didn’t stop when she reached him. She led Sam past him and down the block to where her car was parked.

Brian hurried to catch up with them. “I’ll walk you girls to the car.” Brian placed his hand on the small of Gwen’s back.

It took lots of discipline for Gwen not to shake him off. She saw Sam give her a look and shrugged. They would exchange stories later.

They reached Gwen’s car, and Sam and Carrie hustled over to the passenger side. Gwen unlocked her car and quickly got in and closed the door.

Sam whispered, “Don’t be rude.”

Sighing, Gwen started the car and opened the window to call out a farewell to Brian.

As soon as the window was down enough, Brian pounced. He stuck his head inside the car, leaning in toward Gwen. As his lips got closer, Gwen started to panic. Not wanting him to kiss her, she pressed the button to close the window.

Brian cursed as the glass hit his neck and stopped. It began to open again, but it was already too late. His head had been caught in the window. He pulled back, rubbing his neck and making a hasty retreat.

Sam watched from the passenger seat with her jaw hanging open; Carrie’s eyes were huge in the rearview mirror as Gwen quickly pulled away from the curb.

The silence in the car abruptly ended when the three girls began to giggle uncontrollably.

“Oh. My. Goodness. You shut his head in the window!” Sam screeched as they drove away from the party.

“That was totally your fault. You told me to open the window!” Gwen started to giggle.

“I didn’t know he was going to try to kiss you!” Sam’s laughter filled the car.

Carrie turned in her seat to look out the back window. “I can’t believe you did that!

“I panicked. I didn’t want him to kiss me!” Gwen couldn’t stop laughing.