Pool Boys Read Online Free Page B

even though you accept the rules, you’re better than them.” Ethan flashed a big grin, as if he were trying to sell her an SUV with less mileage than the one her parents had given her for her sixteenth birthday. “Get it? We’ll go as friends.”
    Friends. Georgia’s eyes smoldered. A dozen possible responses churned through her mind. Among them: No, I don’t get it…That makes no sense.…That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard…If we wanted to rise above their rules, we should have never broken up in the first place…You’re an ass… But the one she settled on was: “Well, I will say this, Ethan. You actually managed to surprise me just now. I wouldn’t have thought that was possible anymore.”
    He laughed. “You sound more and more like Brooke every day. So is that a yes?”
    “I’ll get back to you. I have to weigh my options.”
    His smile faltered. “Oh, come on. You’re not thinking about going with one of those guys who hang out at the pool, are you? The Robby Miller posse?”
    “No, I was thinking more along the lines of the new lifeguard,” Georgia replied, even though she didn’t mean it. “If I’m even gonna go at all, which I probably won’t.”
    “Oh, come on,” Ethan pooh-poohed her. “Of course you’re gonna go. And you wouldn’t ask Marcus. You hate hanging out by the pool. That’s what makes you different from Brooke and Charlotte.”
    Georgia scowled at him. Somehow, he’d made that sound like an insult. Yes, she was different from her friends, but not all that different. Or was she?
    Before she could respond, the gate swung open behind them.
    The new girl, Valerie, stepped out onto the court. She must have tired of Marcus and the pool pretty quickly, because she’d changed out of her skimpy designer bikini into an equally skimpy designer tennis outfit in less than half an hour. The skirt barely cleared her underwear. Her blonde curls swished in a long ponytail that hung down from under her tennis visor.
    Georgia tried not to stare.
    The problem was, Valerie wasn’t just beautiful, she was sexy , and she knew it. The telltale sign wasn’t her clothing; it was her racket. She carried a Prince Turbo Shark Oversize. The same racket Maria Sharapova used. And she must have known that only serious tennis aficionados would appreciate that. Like Ethan, for example…
    “Hey,” Valerie called over with a friendly wave. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
    Even her voice is sexy , Georgia thought dismally.
    “No, you’re not interrupting anything at all,” Ethan replied.
    Georgia shot him a disapproving glare. He didn’t seem to notice.
    “Oh, good. It looked like you guys were done.” Valerie paused. “I was wondering, could I play with you?”
    Ethan smiled. “Well, I should save my energy—”
    “Actually, I didn’t mean you, Ethan,” Valerie interrupted. “I’m sorry, that was rude.” She laughed clumsily and pointed her racket at Georgia. “I mean you. This will sound embarrassing, but see, I was watching you play, and I was totally blown away. My name’s Valerie, by the way. Valerie Packwood. My parents just joined Silver Oaks.”
    Georgia arched her eyebrow at Ethan. Take that! Advantage, me.
    “I’m Georgia Palmer,” she said, stepping forward. “And thanks, I’d love to play. Ethan’s a little winded, anyway.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Ethan, you wouldn’t mind tightening up the net, would you? It’s loose.” Georgia felt sick for how she sounded, a caricature of every grown-up snoot at Silver Oaks, treating Ethan like he was “the help”—but she couldn’t stop herself. It was Ethan’s fault. He was the one who’d put her in such a mean mood to begin with.
    “This place is so great,” Valerie said, shaking Georgia’s hand.
    “Is it?” Georgia mumbled.
    “Yeah. It’s ten times more fun than the club I belonged to in New York.”
    Georgia snuck a quick peek at Ethan out of the corner of her eye as he furiously