Bloodline [h.s.]

nine.

Jacob's glare burned into my back. Luckily, I was facing Cara, who had the same face she displayed moments before a Bachelor drama scene. I ignored both of them to focus on not looking like idiot. Trent successfully kept me on his shoulders even while quickly moving through the water. Even though we lost, I was satisfied with my one ounce of proven athleticism.

Trent helped me off his shoulders, setting down four feet deep in the pool.

"I would like to retract my earlier statement. We may have lost, but you fight dirty." He smiled.

"Thank you," I laughed.

I turned behind me to Jacob, who was pretending to be on his iPad.

"Jacob," Trent said, "want to play the next game? If Cara joins, we can play three on three."

He looked up from whatever he was doing to join as though he wasn't listening and watching my every move. The rest of the day made me feel like I was still in college. We alternated between beer pong, shot roulette, and pool volleyball. Most of my day was spent with Trent. By late afternoon, we won two games of beer pong, redeeming ourselves from the volleyball game loss. I decided to head upstairs to clean myself up, so I had space to get dressed for dinner without Jacob in the room.

After my shower, I blow dried my hair with it flipped over, blocking my view of anything other than the white marble floor. Seemingly out of nowhere, a pair of legs came into view startling me for the second time today.

"Oh my god!" I jumped and dropped to hair dryer on my foot.

"Quite jumpy today, are we?" He smirked.

"Jacob," I groaned, trying to balance my bruised foot while keeping my towel securely wrapped. He laughed at my predicament.

"It's not funny! And I will get you back," I threatened, trying not to laugh.

"I've heard that threat from you before, and you have yet to follow through." He chuckled.

"You just wait."  I turned to face the mirror while I touched up my hair, running my brush through it a few times.

"You and Trent looked rather cozy today." He changed the subject.

"Jacob," I said with a warning tone.

"What? He is clearly attracted to you." He teased as he leaned against the counter eyeing me. Sunburned pink skin covered his shoulders. The rest of him was lightly tanned.

"It's none of your business."

"Roommates can't discuss boys?" He joked with one eyebrow raised.

"It was really nothing." I assured him and meant it, "I'll do my makeup on the bed so you can shower." I left to avoid anymore boy talk with Jacob.

For dinner, we went to the nearby marina to have dinner on the boat. The night was mostly filled with discussions about the conference, but I knew to be tight lipped unless I wanted to throw someone off. There was always a glaze of competition in these discussions. Any "advice" should be interpreted as anything other than genuine. Everyone in the group is friendly, but you don't make it to these positions without being cut throat.