Page 49 of On Her Team
“Order six beers, Mr. Yard-Getter. We don’t want anyone going thirsty.”
“No one’s going thirsty,” I mutter. “There are bottles of water in the mini-refrigerators in each cabana.”
“Go order the beers.” She nudges me. “And don’t be grumpy. Apparently, Brock is the grumpy one in your group.”
I kiss her nose. “As you wish.”
“Let’s have a cannonball contest,” Tanner suggests.
“Dude, you don’t want to compete with me. I grew up on the beach.” Addy’s eyes fill with excitement.
“Challenge accepted.”
“It’s your funeral.”
I wander to the bar to order our beers and some finger food because my songbird might not be hungry, but I’m starving. I perch myself on a barstool to watch Addy interact with my friends.
She fits in. This is what I’ve always wanted in a woman. Someone my friends accept. Someone who fits in my life.
And Addy fits. She’s it for me. I just need to convince her to let me out of the friendzone.
Chapter 15
Mermaid tails complicate everything.
Addy
“Uh oh. Here comes trouble,” I greet my boss, Chloe, and the other owners ofFive Fathoms Brewery.
Chloe, Sophia, Nova, Maya, and Paisley used to be the biggest troublemakers on Smuggler’s Hideaway. Until they were tamed by love and started having children. Although, ‘tame’ might not be quite the correct term for this group.
Nova sniffs. “I’m not trouble.”
I snort. “Ha! The last time you participated in theMermaid Lagoon Race,Hudson showed up, dressed you in his t-shirt, and the ovaries of every woman on the island exploded.”
She sighs and gets a dreamy, faraway look in her eyes. “Good times.”
“Where’s Iliana?” Mila asks.
Iliana is Nova’s daughter – the one she was pregnant with when Hudson went all caveman on her – and Mila loves to play with her.
“She’s at home with her dad,” Nova says and I sigh in relief. Mila’s ideas of how to play with a baby aren’t exactly safe.
“But I want to play with her,” Mila pouts.
I motion to the children surrounding us. “You have enough kids to play with.” Kids her own age she won’t accidentally drop on their head.
“I don’t want to play. Can I go home?”
I groan at Penelope’s question. While most of the kids are playing tag or splashing in the lake, she’s reading a book. This one is on the diamond trade. My sister is going to rule the world someday. In the meantime, I want her to have fun. She’s still a kid.
“You signed up to participate in the race.”
Her nose wrinkles. “I didn’t realize everyone would actually dress up as mermaids.”
“It’s theMermaid Lagoon Raceson Smuggler’s Hideaway. What did you expect?”
Her lips purse. “You are correct. I should have anticipated this.”
