Exhale by Jennifer Snyder Page A

for his brother, when I noticed something heading directly toward us from my peripheral vision. A tanned, sculpted body snagged it from midair and landed with a thud right between Missy and me.
    “Oh, my God!” Missy shrieked all flirty like and then giggled. I knew what she was doing instantly, that she was flipping her flirty switch on, and I was surprised at the feelings it stirred within me. I told myself that it didn't matter, that I didn't care what happened between Missy and Kyle, but my stomach told me I was lying.
    “Sorry about that, ladies, how’s it going?” Kyle asked, flashing us both that sexier than sin smile he’d perfected over the years. The smile that I didn't deserve to have directed my way anymore, not after everything that had happened between me and Derek, and especially not after the conversation I’d just had with Missy.  There were too many secrets between us all now, too many secrets that didn’t used to be there, too many secrets we were all hiding from Kyle.
    “Great, just soaking up some rays,” Missy said with too much enthusiasm, as she adjusted the tiny triangles of her leopard print bikini top, begging for Kyle's attention. I rolled my eyes and looked away.  Jerking my hair tie free from my messy bun, I raked my fingers through my hair and scraped it back into a neater bun on top of my head.
    “Hi,” Kyle said pointedly to me, his warm hand squeezing my knee closest to him. Missy's body visibly tensed beside me from his action and I couldn't help the slight sense of smugness that trickled through me because of it. Make him forget all about me, huh? Fat chance.
    “Hey,” I replied, finally looking in his direction. Movement behind him caught my attention. Derek stood a couple of feet behind Kyle with the others, his eyes staring fixedly at Kyle’s hand resting on my knee.
    “Come on, Kyle.  You ready?” Derek shouted. His lips pressed together into a thin line as his eyes bored into Kyle’s back.
    I bounced my knee so that Kyle would take a hint and remove his hand. He did, but I still wished that I hadn’t felt so self-satisfied with his hand there in the first place. It wasn't right and I never wanted to see that look of insecurity on Derek's face again. A sickness churned through me. Missy could have Kyle. In fact, they had my blessing.
    “We’re headed down to Skullies for something to eat, you guys wanna come?” Kyle asked.
    “Yeah sure, that would be great. I could go for one of their smoothies,” Missy said without missing a beat.
    “Kat?” Kyle prompted, his elbow bumping against my calf when I didn’t answer right away.
    “Yeah, a smoothie sounds good.” I smiled and hoped it looked genuine enough.
    “Cool, I’ll tell the guys to wait up a minute.”
    I stood up as Kyle walked away, tossing the football lightly between his hands, and began shaking out my towel before shoving it in my beach bag.
    “What’s your deal?  Are you pissed or something?” Missy asked in a hushed whisper as she did the same with her towel.
    “No, why would I be?” I lied.
    “Okay…” she said, dragging the word out. “If you don’t want me to try to get with Kyle then just tell me and I’ll back off, but at some point, you’ve got to realize that you can’t have them both.”
    “I don't want them both,” I said honestly.
    “Really, you seemed pretty damn happy when his hand was on your knee and not mine.”
    My face flushed. “Well, I wasn't.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yes, go for it.” I flashed a slight smile her way. “Really.”
    Missy's plump lips stretched into a wide smile as she tossed her beach bag over her shoulder. “All right then!” She started for the guys with a little pep in her step.
    I scooped up my bottle of water and followed. My stomach fluttered as I watched Missy practically jog to Kyle’s side and press up against him. I looked at Derek to distract myself from the inner turmoil I was feeling, and saw the corner of his lips twist