The Summer Games: Out of Bounds Read Online Free Page A

competitions around the United States. In some cases, friendships had developed naturally. In other cases, they…hadn’t.
    “Honestly, I think June is just scared of Lexi,” Molly admitted.
    “I think we all should be scared of Lexi.”
    She laughed.
    Lexi was a free spirit, even by normal standards, and I loved her for it.
    “Honestly though, I think after we live together in this shabby cabin for a month, everyone will be getting along,” I continued, tipping a smile up at Molly.
    “I think that’s wishful th—” Something caught her attention out the window. She hopped up and pushed the dusty drape to the side. “I knew he brought a girl back to the house last night.”
    I followed her over to the small window and peeked out in time to watch a pretty brunette in high heels teetering down Erik’s gravel driveway. As she slid into the passenger seat of the car, she glanced back at his house with a wistful smile. I couldn’t see Erik, but something told me he wasn’t out on the porch wishing her a farewell like a gentleman would have done.
    My brows arched. “Does he do that a lot?”
    Molly shrugged. “I’ve only been here a few nights, but at practice, he never talks about girlfriends or anything. I always just assumed he was sort of…”
    “What?” I prodded.
    “ Celibate .”
    I laughed.
    “I wonder what she looks like,” I said, leaning forward to get a better look at her before she disappeared into the car.
    Molly turned and assessed my profile. “A lot like you, actually.”
    I let the drape fall back across the window.
    “Yeah, well, I’m amazed he’s able to get women back here at all.”
    “Have you seen him?”
    I shrugged. “Yeah yeah he looks all right, but that personality ruined it for me.”
    Molly moved back and sat on the bottom bunk. “Did you not have the best first impression of him? He’s always been really nice to me.”
    I scoffed.
    “He’s really not so bad. Just wait and see.”
    I didn’t believe her.
     
     
     
    After Molly helped me get unpacked and settled into our room, she took me on a tour of the property. From the gravel drive, Erik’s home had seemed unassuming, but the more we explored, the more I fell in love. The property consisted of his main house, our guesthouse, and a small gym housed in an old airplane hangar a few yards to the right. The property was surrounded by forest on three sides and everything was overgrown and lush, green and inviting.
    The property lacked a certain order, especially in the yard between the main house and guesthouse. It looked like it still held the remnants of a house party: lawn chairs clumped into random groups, a forgotten beach ball, a grill that looked like it’d seen better days.
    “Is that a hot tub?” I asked Molly.
    She smiled wide. “Yeah. We’ll have to try it out before we head to Rio.”
    “Absolutely.”
    After she’d shown me the lay of the land, we headed back to the guesthouse so I could finish the tour. I hadn’t taken the time to look around at the first floor my first time through. The living room had an old, worn-in couch and a few mismatched lamps. The kitchen was even worse: it was tiny, nothing more than a microwave and a refrigerator.
    “How are we supposed to cook in here?” I asked, pulling open a drawer. Cheap plastic cutlery rattled around inside.
    Molly pulled open the refrigerator and waved her arm in front of it like Vanna White. Inside, there were mountains of healthy prepared meals, prepackaged and ready to consume. It looked like for the next few weeks I’d get my fill of chicken and sweet potatoes. Joy .
    “But where’s the oven?” I asked, spinning in a circle.
    “Oven?” she asked, letting the refrigerator door fall closed.
    I nodded. “I like to bake.”
    She laughed. “Well, unless you can work with a hot plate, I think you’re shit out of luck.”
    A screen door slammed in the distance and I glanced out the kitchen window in time to watch Erik walk down the steps