Toe to Toe (On Pointe Book 1) by Penelope Freed (read with me TXT) 📕

Two bodies torpedo past me in the water as I leisurely make my way over. I’m surprised when it’s Andrew’s head that pops up next to Tyler’s in front of me. Well, I tried. Sorry Allyson.

Tyler spots me, grins, and dives back under the water. I feel his hands grip my thighs a second before I’m lifted up in the air, his head firmly between my legs as I sit on his shoulders. I laugh at the ease with which he picks me up and reach my hand down for a high-five. A less dignified squeak sounds from my right and I turn my head to see Andrew has done the same thing to Hannah. She wasn’t prepared for it like I was and the look of shock on her face is hilarious.

I laugh to myself, this is probably the first time a boy has ever touched her thighs like that. Her arms and feet flail for a moment like she doesn’t know what to do with them. I can just imagine the panic in her little anxious brain right now. I enjoy my superiority for a minute, but I feel bad for Andrew. Okay, I feel bad for her too.

“Hannah!” I call out. “Tuck your feet back like this, and sit a little higher” I smack Tyler’s shoulder so he turns to show her how I have my feet tucked behind his back. She hesitates for a second, then snaps her feet back, those long legs making it easy for her to get a good grip, and sits a little higher on Andrew’s shoulders. Immediately she looks more comfortable and Andrew lets go of her thighs. She gives me a little smile and I smile back. I glance at Katy to see her eyeing me quizzically. I shrug. I’m not being nice, I just don’t want to lose.

I don’t have time to think about it again because the boys start playing in earnest. It’s a mash up of volleyball and chicken that’s been lovingly dubbed Quinn Ball. There are three of us girls on a side, clinging tight to whoever has us on their shoulders, the rest of the boys split themselves between each side. The boys do most of the work blocking and spiking the ball, although occasionally one of us girls will spike it from our advantage. Points are earned every time a girl falls into the water.

Hannah is the obvious target on our side, since she’s never played before, not that I don’t get targeted either, but Tyler and I are a good team. He’s quick to place a steadying hand on my hips or waist if I start to fall. If I’m being honest a couple of those times were not because I was falling, he just wanted to grab my butt. But every time Andrew touches Hannah, she flinches and knocks herself off balance. If it wasn’t for all her dance training, she would have hit the water twice as often.

No one even attempts to knock Katy off anymore, especially when she’s with one of her brothers. She’s been playing this game since Cole and his friends made it up when she was little. I’ve never seen her get knocked off. She and Jack are an unbeatable team and even though Hannah is a liability, our team still ends up winning. Although, I’m pretty sure Allyson accidentally knocked herself into the water a couple of times when she was gunning for Hannah.

Jack dumps Katy backwards off his shoulders as soon as the game is over, laughing at her outraged yells. “Don’t. You. Dare.” I tell Tyler as he reaches up to grip my calves. I have no problem with him touching my legs, he’s touched a lot more of my body than that while we made out in his car, but I don’t want to be dumped in the water like a sack of potatoes.

“I wasn’t going to do anything,” he says with a wink.

“Yes you were,” I laugh, tickling him in the side with my toes. Instead he squats down and I step on his thigh, swinging the other leg around his back so I can jump off myself without being dumped in the water. Once I’m clear, he slides a hand around my waist under the water and pulls me against his side, my legs automatically wrapping around his waist. “Good boy,” I tease.

“Do I get a treat?” he asks, mischievously. I lean forward and give him a quick kiss before wiggling out of his arms and swimming away. “That’s it?” he pouts.

“Later,” I call back over my shoulder, making a beeline for Allyson and Madison, ready to get out and dry off. The sun is setting and it’s going to get cold soon. Spring in SoCal might mean sunny and warm days, but it’s still too cold to hang around in a wet bathing suit once the sun goes down. Plus, I feel a need to head off whatever scheme I can see brewing in Allyson’s mind.

Chapter 24 Hannah

“You’re not going to dump me in the water like that are you?” I ask from my perch on Andrew’s shoulders, eyes glued to where Jack just dumped Katy into the pool.

“Only if you want me to,” Andrew laughs back at me. “Here,” he bends down in the water. “Did you see how Olivia got down?”

“Uh no…” I respond, leaving out the part where I was completely distracted by his hand rubbing up and down my leg, straying from just above my knee down my calf. I can’t help squirming just a little, and he turns his head to look up at me and grin. That grin has trouble written all over it.

“Here,” he says, bending his knees and taking my hand in his, gently tugging me sideways. “Step on my leg and climb down.” I unwrap my legs from behind his back and gingerly place my foot on his thigh. A very muscular thigh. Andrew reaches out a hand to steady