I glance around before a splash of water shoots up from the pool. He’s standing in water up to his chest grinning at me.

“Get your sexy ass in here. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

“I thought you were doing the fireworks.”

“What?” he yells over another loud pop.

“I thought…” I shift my hips side to side to unglue myself from the spot. “Screw it,” I mutter. I hand my phone over to Emily. “I’m going in.”

Hands over head, I squeal with happiness as I go down the slide fully clothed. Tanner catches me at the bottom, but the force sends us underwater.

Strong hands glide up my body and frame my face before he kisses me. If breathing weren’t necessary, it’d be a pretty great way to spend the rest of the night.

When we resurface, I wrap my arms around his neck, and he keeps us afloat.

“Who’s doing the fireworks?” I ask as another set of three goes off.

We lift our heads toward the sky to watch as the lights slowly disappear leaving a trace of smoke behind.

“Jonah and Ollie.”

“But you were so excited to blow shit up.”

“Jonah let me have the first two. That was enough to get the fire bug out of my system for another year and now I get to watch the finale with you.”

We adjust so that my back is against his front. He wraps his arms around me, and I lean my head against his chest.

“Best summer ever,” he whispers next to my ear. “How are we going to top it next year?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m looking forward to it.”

28

TANNER

As I walk onto the court at the fieldhouse, I breathe in the musty smell, the squeak of shoes, and the laughter and raised voices of the guys joking around.

A guy I recognize but haven’t met is talking with Datson. They look up as I approach.

Datson spins a ball between his palms. “Shaw, have you met Cameron Reed?”

“No.” I extend a hand to the sophomore transfer. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same.”

“Are you guys working on drills or just shooting around?” Official practices won’t start for a while yet, but most of the guys are back at Valley already and we’ll start conditioning and lifting together in the morning, and in the afternoons, we’ll most likely all show up to shoot around or work on agility drills. It’s a chance for us to find a rhythm again before school and regular workouts begin.

“Messing around,” Datson says and does a once-over of my outfit. “Where have you been?”

I grab a ball from the rack. “I met with Coach Wiles.”

“Oh yeah?” Datson pauses. “And?”

“And… I’m going to be busy again this year.”

“Good for you, buddy.”