Toe to Toe (On Pointe Book 1) by Penelope Freed (comprehension books txt) 📗

my waist as I swing my other leg from behind him. I can’t help my reflexive twitch when his fingers wrap around my rib cage, his thumb brushing the bottom of my bikini top. It sends my foot flying off his thigh and I fall backwards, my leg making impact with something as I go down. I’m braced for the rush of cold water, but instead land cradled in a pair of strong arms.

“Ah! Oh gosh, I’m so sorry!” I blurt out, instinctively. I reach up to touch his cheek, it’s a little pink from my leg hitting him in the face as I fell. “Are you okay?” I ask, turning his face to see if I did any damage. I’m fully expecting him to let go and I squirm a bit, but he just tightens his grip, that “Trouble with a capital T” smile firmly in place. The smiles and attention were fun before, but the way his hands are lingering on my skin is making my heart race and my stomach turn flips. And not in a good way. As exhilarating as his attention was earlier, the more he touches me the more uncomfortable I am.

“No damage. I guess we shouldn’t have worried about me being the one who bites,” he adds, laughing at me. I cringe and extract myself from his arms, swimming a little way away. I need space, my heart is pounding hard and the water is suddenly much colder. Goosebumps prickle over my skin and I start to shiver in the water. “You okay?” Andrew asks, looking concerned.

“Yeah, yup. Just cold,” I babble. “I’m getting out now.” Without waiting for him to respond or looking where I’m going, I swim to the pool ledge and pull myself out. I grab the first towel I see and wrap it around myself. It’s already wet, ugh. I stay wrapped up in the towel as I look around for Katy and Lisa and my clothes. I spot them at the other end of the pool, drying off and getting dressed again. I start walking in their direction when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

“That’s my towel.”

I turn, startled. Allyson and Megan are standing very close, obvious irritation in their expressions. “Oh, uh, sorry,” I mutter and hand it over. The wet towel wasn’t exactly warm but now that I’m standing here in just my bikini in the cool breeze and setting sun I’m freezing. The goosebumps are back and my teeth clench so I don’t start chattering.

“You shouldn’t take things that don’t belong to you,” Megan says, pointedly. Not sure why they’re so upset about a towel, I murmur another apology and start to walk away again. Allyson strikes, quick as a snake, her delicate hand holding my wrist in a surprisingly strong grip. I freeze, shocked.

“Listen, bitch. Andrew Park is mine. You should leave before you get hurt.” Venom drips from Allyson’s voice.

“I wasn’t…” I stammer.

“He’s out of your league, you can’t handle someone like Andrew Park. Go home to Mommy before you get your feelings hurt,” Allyson snears, still gripping my wrist tight.

I can feel myself crumbling under the weight of their stares. Madison and Megan flank Allyson, screening us from view. “I…I…” swallow hard. “I didn’t do anything on purpose.” I take a deep breath and find my courage. This is ridiculous. Olivia’s words from the hotel come back to me. “You don’t get to call dibs on someone. Who he likes or doesn’t like is up to him to decide, not you.” With that I wrench my hand free and walk away. I don’t bother telling her I’m not interested in him anyway. That’s not the point.

My hands are still shaking when I get back to my friends and my clothes.

“I can’t believe I just did that,” I tell them as Lisa hands me a dry towel. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

Katy just laughs, “I am so proud of you. We couldn’t hear from over here, what did she say to you?”

I recount the confrontation to Katy and Lisa as I dry off. Their shocked and proud expressions accompanied by congratulatory high fives help settle my stomach, but I still have to sit down to pull my leggings on, my legs are shaking so much. I pick up my tank top but it’s still soaking wet. With a sigh, I try to wring out some of the water. The cool breeze snakes up my back and I shiver again.

“Here,” a deep voice says, almost in my ear. I jump, then freeze as something warm and soft is draped over my shoulders. I whirl and almost crash into Andrew. I stumble backwards and he catches my shoulders, keeping the sweatshirt from falling off and me from landing in an ungraceful heap on the cement. “You looked cold,” he says, pulling me a little closer.

I can hear Katy and Lisa snickering behind me, some best friends they are. “Th-th-thanks,” I stammer, not sure if my teeth are chattering or if my brain is just mis-firing from how close Andrew is standing.

Andrew carefully threads my arms into the sleeves of his sweatshirt, then zips it up to my chin. Grinning, he flips the hood up over my head, his finger sliding down my cheek to tap my chin. It occurs to me we’re the last two people left in the backyard, everyone else is already inside. “Better?” he asks, rubbing his hands up and down my arms to warm me up. The hoodie is enormous on me, dangling off the ends of my hands. “Looks good on you,” I can feel his eyes roaming up and down my body, it makes me want to squirm again. I feel like a worm on a hook. He leans in close, his lips almost touching my ear, “You should wear my clothes more often.”

I choke on a gasp pulling back from his reach. He did not just say what I think he just said. Did he?

“Yo, Andrew,