Ryan Hunter Read online

  GENRE: YA/CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, businesses, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  RYAN HUNTER

  Copyright © 2013 by Piper Shelly

  Cover picture taken by Mandy Godbehear

  Cover design by Montana Jade

  All cover art copyright © 2013

  All Rights Reserved

  PRINT ISBN:978-148418-049-5

  First Publication: APRIL 2013

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

  Ryan Hunter

  THIS GIRL IS MINE

  A GROVER BEACH TEAM BOOK

  Chapter 1

  I’D HAD MY fair share of girls in high school, that wasn’t a secret. But I had never really been in love. Well, not with one of the ones I’d had, anyway.

  And still, there was her. She climbed out of Mitchell’s car, tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder, and adjusted the pink tee that was a snug fit and accentuated all the good stuff. The bright morning sun blinded her, and she squeezed her eyes to thin slits, which made the corners of her sweet mouth move up into something similar to her beautiful smile. And as always when my gaze got stuck on Liza Matthews, I felt something slithery in my chest move into place.

  She didn’t look my way. Never had. And why would she? Her universe was rotating around my soccer buddy, Tony Mitchell. As long as I had known Tony, he’d always come in a double pack. He and Liza were what some people at school called M&M. I hated that term. Hated how she stood on her tiptoes now and slung her arms round his neck. Hated how—

  Dammit! Was she going to kiss him? My stomach hardened in a way that made me want to claw those damn muscles apart. But damn, I was a man. I wouldn’t give away how tense I was. Or so I thought as I stood stiff as an ironing board and failed to tear my gaze away from the two of them.

  They had never kissed. She was in love with him, and I would bet my Need for Speed collection that he loved her back in a very odd, very secret way. But they Had. Never. Kissed. And that was good, because if they had, I might have gone over there now and rearranged my soccer buddy’s face so that not even his family would recognize him afterward.

  “Relax, bro. It’s just a peck on the cheek.”

  I turned to Justin, who’d sneaked up on me and slapped my shoulder, and I let out the familiar breath that I held every time Liza got too close to Mitchell.

  “Yeah, it better be. I’d hate to go murder on a good friend today.” I grinned at Justin and did the ghetto handshake we’d been doing since we were out of primary school and became the cool kids who roamed the corridors of Grover Beach High.

  Justin Andrews wasn’t a member of the Bay Sharks, the school’s soccer team, which I happened to be the captain of. He’d never cared for soccer but was actually a pro on his BMX bike. What he could do was amazing, but only for people who had a serious death wish. Jumping from bridges with his bike or balancing on picket fences earned him bruised bones and awesome black eyes nearly every weekend. Today he’d come to see his little brother off, who was only one year younger than us and actually played soccer on my team.

  Justin jerked his chin to my left. “Are you going over there to say goodbye to the girl?”

  “Why would I do that? We didn’t even make it to the Hello yet.”

  “Dude, if they haven’t become a couple in ten years, they probably never will be. It’s about time to let her know about the other fish in the sea that’s trying to get a bite of her.” He scratched his chin. “If you won’t do it, maybe I will. After all, you and that Mitchell guy are gone at soccer camp for five weeks.”

  I slung a chummy arm around his neck, pressing a little harder than necessary. In fact, if I’d been any less gentle, the boy would have been blue in the face in a minute. “You can try, dude. But you know that not even the FBI would find your body then.”

  He punched me in the ribs so I let him go. But we were laughing so hard that some of the guys and their parents turned their heads our way. We didn’t give a damn about them but bickered some more, until I heard a familiar voice shout my name.

  My sister came over and caught me in a hug that was impossible to evade. “I have to go. Phil’s waiting. Be careful, baby brother.”

  “Yeah, sure.” I tried to fend her off when she kissed my cheek. This was okay at home or anywhere people didn’t know me. But in front of my soccer buddies this was just unacceptable. “Go away, Rach. And take care of Mom and Dad while I’m gone.”

  “I’m pretty sure they’re old enough to take care of themselves, but I’ll drop by for dinner sometimes if they feel alone or miss their pretty baby.” She laughed and ruffled my hair. Then she headed back to the parking lot near the train station.

  Some of the kids had already boarded the train and were waving goodbye from the open windows. As I picked up my duffle bag and walked toward my coach, I caught a glimpse of the last thing I wanted to see this morning. Mitchell and Liza in a pose that pressed her perfect body flush to his. He leaned down those few inches that he was taller than her and whispered something into her ear that made her blush an adorable pink.

  “Man, you’re pitiful.” Justin shoved me forward, and only then did I realize that I had actually stopped walking.

  Gnashing my teeth and keeping my eyes glued to the much safer ground in front of me, I moved past Mitchell and the girl I’d been dreaming off since third grade.

  “Hey, Hunter.”

  I knew I should just keep walking. I’d see Tony in a minute on the train, anyway. But the weaker part of me looked up just as Tony let go of my girl. “Hi, Mitchell,” I said back as my gaze went out of control and swept over Liza, taking in every inch of the suntanned skin that her illegally short pants exposed. I acknowledged her and smiled. “And Mitchell’s groupie.”

  She didn’t say good morning, or how are you doing, or even get lost and don’t ever talk to me again, though the latter might have been written in her green eyes that seemed to always turn that demonic shade darker whenever she looked at me. I knew she wasn’t my greatest fan. Not because she personally hated me, but because she blamed me for taking away her precious time with Tony. Mitchell had let that bit of information slip one day after she had all but growled at me for doubling the training time.

  “See you, Mitchell,” I said and walked away.

  “Save me a seat in your compartment,” Tony shouted after me.

  I waved at him over my shoulder but didn’t look back. “Sure thing.” If it wasn’t me and Justin doing something stupid, it was always me and the team guys hanging out. We were really close. Like closer than family close. And yet, none of them knew of my obsession with a girl that only had eyes for my best player. Yeah, sometimes you just had to accept the crap life threw at you and put a shit-eating grin on your face.

  I climbed the two steps into the coach before turning around to bump fists with Justin. “Enjoy the sun in Santa Monica,” he said. “I hear the girls down there are hot!”

  “I’ll check them out and let you know.” Maybe. If I could get Liza off my mind long enough to relax with another girl, something I hadn’t done in quite a few months. If this madness was going to hang on any longer, my reputation would be in serious trouble soon. But I had the weird feeling that it was only going to get worse for me.

  Justin pointed a finger at my face. “And you take
care of Nick. If he comes back with one scratch on his skin, I’ll hold you personally responsible.”

  “Yeah, right.” I flipped him off, because we both knew that his little brother was…well, a little accident prone. Whatever happened during the next five weeks while we were at the annual summer soccer camp, that kid would come back with a limb in a cast, no matter what. The question was just which limb it was going to be. Some of the guys on the team had a bet running. I had twenty on any finger of his left hand, but Justin didn’t have to know that.

  I found Frederickson and Alex Winter in a four-seat compartment in the middle of the train. We waited until Tony joined us, then closed the opaque sliding doors, and settled in for the three-hour train ride. We had chips, we had Root beer, and it was just us guys. I decided that the next five weeks were going to be one helluva good time for all of us. But then I sneaked a glance out the window and caught Liza still standing at the platform, her arms folded around her middle, her face sad.

  If that look had been because of me and not my buddy, I would have felt a damn lot better.

  The first three days at camp were hell. We played a serious schedule every day, and by the time we were let off, our legs were on fire. By then we weren’t up to anything other than grabbing some food and dropping into the pillow. But we got used to the drill fast, and on day four, Mitchell, Winter, Frederickson, and I thought it was okay to stretch the camp rules a little and sneak out after dark for some fun.

  Santa Monica had a few very cool places for students to hang out. No alcohol in the place called The Teen Spirit, which was fine with all of us, but awesome music and some eye candy, too. It didn’t take long for a bunch of girls to close in on our table like we were the light to their moth lives. Two of them each sported something black that could barely be called a dress, and the other three were plastered into skintight jeans and tops that left the navel exposed to our view.

  “Hi, guys,” one of them said, batting her lashes at me. I guessed that she was barely seventeen, still a year younger than me. “We usually know all the good looking boys who come here. You must be here for a visit?”

  Okay, she was a brave one, and not only because she dared to come here in heels that were longer than my middle finger and clearly gave her trouble walking. I wondered if she would have said this if she had faced us alone, without her lioness pack to back her up.

  “We’re playing soccer just outside the city,” I told her. “In the next few weeks, you might have time to get used to us coming here.”

  She smiled a wide welcome and hooked her brunette hair behind her ears, revealing pirate hoops for earrings. “Mind if we sit down?”

  “Sure.” I grabbed a seat from the vacated table behind me and pulled it around so that she’d sit right next to me. I don’t know why. Maybe because Frederickson had made the most hopeful face when the girls came over, or maybe just because it was an old habit. Whichever it was, I regretted doing it the moment the other girls got chairs, too, and the pirate replica scooted so close that our legs touched under the table.

  Gentlemen that we were, we paid for a round of sodas and made some casual conversation, but other than Frederickson, none of us guys seemed really impressed with the catch we’d made. The girl next to me, who had introduced herself as Sandy, ordered a mineral water and leaned in a little too close to say thank you. When I looked at her face, all I could think was that I’d prefer a girl who came clean and natural, without all the colorful cement on her face. I leaned back a few inches then widened the space between us to a solid foot. Not only was she painted like Picasso’s first guinea pig, but she also seemed to have fallen into a pot of her mother’s perfume, which stung my nose.

  I had stood next to Liza a million times, and the floral scent of her shampoo and soap had never curled my toes.

  Mitchell had troubles warding off a strawberry blond, who flashed braces in a flirtatious smile at him. It would have been interesting to know if he was avoiding her because of the same girl that was on my mind right now. We made it one hour, but finally Tony and I shared a look that said Run, and run as fast as you can.

  To escape, we produced a lame ass excuse. That we weren’t allowed to stay out so long or we’d get thrown out of soccer camp, which wasn’t exactly a lie, but also nothing that we were really bothered with.

  “Will you come back in on the weekend?” Sandy asked and curled a strand of her hair around her forefinger. God, who had taught this girl to flirt? It was like she had watched the worst chick-flicks ever and taken notes.

  Okay, maybe she wasn’t that bad, and a few months ago, I might even have encouraged her flirting, but tonight I wasn’t in the mood. “Guess we will. But we’ll probably bring our girlfriends, too, so this round won’t happen again.”

  That made her back off, and I wasn’t in the least sorry for pulling that shitty lie from nowhere. I tapped Frederickson on the shoulder and interrupted his making out with a girl who had hair as red as his. “We’re off, dude. Are you coming?”

  He bit his lip, seriously deliberating. Then he detached himself from the girl he called Kelly and walked out the door with us.

  “I’ve never been that happy to get away from a bunch of girls,” Mitchell said as we climbed over the threaded wire fence back at camp.

  “Why?” Frederickson mumbled. “The chicks were willing. What’s your problem? Don’t want to get laid?”

  Tony and I simultaneously smacked him upside the head. “I don’t like it when a girl doesn’t take no for an answer,” I told him then held the door open for the rest to slip inside. And Sandy’s hand on my thigh definitely hadn’t heard the word no before.

  We crawled into the bunk beds and turned off the light.

  As we walked out to the training grounds the following morning, we knew at first sight that this was going to be special day. A group of girls all dressed in soccer jerseys and cleats sat on the lush green lawn, apparently waiting for us. This year was the first time that girls had come to soccer camp, too, and initially I thought this was a good idea. But when the coach told us to gather into co-ed teams, I was a little skeptical. We’d never played with girls before. They were fragile and breakable and definitely should not be out on the field with us rowdy guys.

  “Hi, Hunter,” two girls from my chemistry class greeted me.

  “Hi, Brinna. Hi, Cloey,” I said without stopping to talk to the two blondes. Cloey Summers was a capable player from what I’d seen the past three days on the other field, and Brinna McNeal seemed glued to her heel, no matter what.

  For the sake of everyone’s bones, the guys and I toned it down a little as we started the first match. Maybe this was foolish of us, because before the first half was over, Cloey had fouled me three times, and I don’t mean gentle, womanly fouls. Twice she rammed into me full speed and the last time she’d hooked her right leg around my ankle so that I went sailing a couple yards before I belly-flopped onto the grass.

  I took a moment to pump air into my lungs again then climbed to my feet and headed toward her. Since she almost matched my six foot two, I could easily press my brow to hers and growl in her face. “Ah, you’re such a lady, Summers.”

  “Sorry, did I hurt your feelings?” she countered with a grin that sat custom made for trouble on her lips. “Can we continue with the game now, or do you need a minute to catch your breath, Hunter?”

  I had known that girl my whole life, since she lived only three streets away from me, and she’d never interested me one bit. But her aggressive style left an impression that day, and after two weeks of occasionally playing with the girls, I decided to chew through a topic with the guys on my team.

  The Teen Spirit was the place where we would talk tonight. We hadn’t gone in there since our first night out, and I wondered if Sandy and her lionesses would be around again. Guilty of the stupid lie with the girlfriends, I had a queasy feeling as we walked through the door. The feeling grew when we spotted the girls hanging out by the bar.

  Very muc
h to Frederickson’s dismay, we chose a table at the far end of the room. The place was packed on this Saturday night, and so we lost those junior chicks easily enough.

  “I was thinking,” I started, only to be immediately interrupted by Alex.

  “Hear, hear!”

  “Shut up, Winter!” I punched him on the shoulder. “So, what do you think about a co-ed team back home?”

  All seven leaned forward to rest their arms on the table. “What?”

  “Not for all the time. But you saw that playing with them wasn’t half-bad. I was thinking we could split the training time. Half time with and half time without the chicks.”

  “If they agree, anyway,” Tony pointed out.

  “I saw Cloey Summers and her friends near the entrance when we came in. If you’re cool with the idea, I’ll get them and we can discuss this together.”

  There was a collective silence. Slowly, grins began to grow in their faces. “Sounds like a plan to me. I’m in,” Frederickson said.

  I knew he was swayed easily because, of all of us, he seemed to have the most fun with the girls.

  Mitchell pulled a skeptical face. “I don’t know about this. I mean, they would never play any big games with us, anyway, so why sacrifice training time?”

  “We might not play big games with them, but I know that Hamilton High has a co-ed team, too, and unless I’m very much mistaken, so do the Riverfalls Rabid Wolves. They are two teams we could invite for a friendly game once in a while.” Then I laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “If it helps, you can ask your girlfriend to join the team as well.”

  “Who? Liz?” He made a baffled face. “She’d rather touch a leper than a soccer ball. And she’s not my girlfriend.”

  “Yeah, right,” I teased him, but to hear the truth out of my friend’s mouth felt unspeakably good. “So, do we ask the girls now or not?”

  The guys agreed as one. I got to my feet and headed over to the bar where I had last glimpsed Cloey, Brinna, and three other girls from our school. Tough luck. And right next to them stood Sandy and the junior chicks. Sandy saw me walking closer, and the fact that I was alone seemed to make her happy. Her smile moved into place, and she said hi to me.