Playing Hooky with the Hottie - Maggie Dallen Page 0,1

I had no time in my life for something as silly as a crush, but I wasn’t sure how to get rid of it. It was a nasty cold that I couldn’t kick no matter how many vitamins I took.

“You gonna come celebrate with us tonight?” Bobby said, his arm around my shoulders.

Justin shoved his arm away as some of the other guys from the boys’ team joined us.

Is he jealous? I hated that the thought even occurred to me.

“Um, I don’t think—”

“You know she doesn’t party, man,” Justin answered for me.

I stiffened. I didn’t party. But Justin did, and part of me wanted to go out with them for once. Just to see what all the fuss was about.

And okay, fine. That was this stupid crush talking because, yes, some part of me was always looking for an excuse to get closer to this guy while another part of me was trying to avoid him.

If this was a crush, I would go on record as saying that crushes officially sucked.

“Too bad, because Genevieve’s having a party tomorrow night, and we’ll all be there,” he said.

Justin rolled his eyes, giving me a little shake of his head like he and I were in on this joke at Bobby’s expense.

“At least come out to the diner with us tonight,” Bobby said.

“Come on,” Justin said. “A few of the girls from the team are coming. Nothing rowdy, we’re just grabbing a bite to celebrate today’s wins. And you should be there with the way you crushed it tonight.”

“Oh, um….” I have big plans with my TV tonight. Somehow that didn’t seem like a good answer, and for the life of me I couldn’t think of a lie. Plus, my heart was doing this ridiculous pitter-patter thing because...holy crap, Justin really wants me to go!

I didn’t normally do the post-meet celebrations, mainly because they usually turned into parties, and I didn’t do parties. But some food at a diner…

That I could do.

“Yeah, okay,” I said, adjusting the towel around my shoulders.

“Yeah?” Justin looked so excited I thought maybe I’d accidentally just agreed to something way more exciting than a burger at the diner.

Also, his excitement...did that mean something?

Probably not. Justin was a really nice guy. And we were friends. That was all it meant.

“What about the party tomorrow night?” Bobby asked. The rest of their friends were talking amongst themselves, making fun of one of the guys on the other team, by the sounds of it.

“Um, maybe,” I said.

An arm went around my shoulders again. This was not a crazy event in and of itself. As a team, we tended to be affectionate.

But this time, the arm around my shoulders belonged to Justin.

There was an intimacy between the boys’ and girls’ swim teams that most other sports didn’t have since we swam together nearly every day. This affectionate touchy-feely relationship came with being in close quarters and showering and changing near each other all the time.

But that still didn’t keep my heart from freaking out because this was Justin’s arm, and he smelled so freakin’ good.

I mean, he smelled like chlorine, but beyond that, he smelled amazing.

“No pressure, Daly,” he said.

I cringed a bit inwardly. He called me by my last name a lot, just like the coach did. I might not have known much about boys or romance, but I had a hunch that referring to me by my last name like he did all his guy pals wasn’t a great sign.

I gave him a little smile all the same. Only Justin would think to add ‘no pressure, Daly.’ He knew I wasn’t big on group hangs. Not that I didn’t like my teammates, I just didn’t really fit in outside of practice.

Justin was the only one who was as serious about swimming as I was, and everyone else treated it like a casual hobby.

He gave me a little wink, and once again I blinked because…

Two winks in one day. First Will, and now Justin. Was something going on that I should know about? Were winks back in style?

I would have liked to believe this particular wink meant something, but I knew better.

“You should come,” Bobby said. “Let loose for once.”

Justin gave his friend a shove. “Leave her alone, man, you know Hazel doesn’t like to hang.”

I tried not to flinch. Doesn’t like to hang. That was the reputation I had. Super cool, right? The school librarian and I shared the same cool factor.

I shrugged defensively. “I hang.”

Justin squeezed my shoulders playfully.