Page 4 of Buzzer Beater

My shoulders finally relaxed, and I felt the rest of my body loosen. “As long as I can spend the majority of the time on or near the beach, I’ll be happy.”

“Come on girls! I’ve got the keys.” Amber waved us over and we followed her to one of the buildings closest to the ocean. We walked up one flight of stairs then down the hall. “Here we are.”

She handed me and Elena each a key then unlocked her own door. I opened our door and stepped in. “Oh wow.”

The curtains and windows revealed an ocean view. Sure, you had to stand at a certain angle to see it, but there it was.

“Heaven.” Elena collapsed onto the bed closest to the window.

I nodded and sat my bag on the other bed. “I’m pretty sure this is it.”

2

Colin

Everyone needed a break. We won the championship. We survived Chloe and Reese’s wedding followed closely by Madi and Erik’s. It had been a whirlwind and we’d been training through the summer. It was time for a vacation.

I walked into Olli and Emma’s house with the perfect plan in place. I couldn’t just ask everyone to go. Erik and Hartman worked too hard. They wouldn’t agree to taking a week off. I needed the women’s support first. If there was anyone that could convince these guys to leave, it would be the Pride.

“There’s no way, Erik,” a woman said. “You can’t eat that many. You’ll get sick.”

I walked into the kitchen to see everyone gathered around the island. Erik was standing in front of a tray of cannoli. Madeline was shaking her head.

“Those are for everyone, Erik. You can’t eat them all.” Chloe had her hands on her hips, glaring at her brother.

Emma patted her on the arm. “We have other desserts. If Erik really thinks he can eat them all, he’s more than welcome to. But he has to eat each and every one.” She directed that comment to Erik who nodded.

“I’ve got this.” His eyes darted around. “A hundred from each of you?”

The guys started nodding and when his eyes met mine, I agreed. There had to be twenty cannoli on the tray. There was no way he could finish that. The guy didn’t even eat sugar. He’d be sick after one.

“You have ten minutes. If you can’t finish or you throw up, you owe Emma two hundred for wasting them.” Olli said with a smirk.

Erik nodded and shook out his arms. “I’m ready.”

“Go.” Hartman stood across from him with his phone out, watching the timer.

We watched as Erik shoved one then another in his mouth at the same time.

“This is disgusting.” Madeline turned and walked away from the show her husband was putting on. I followed her out to the living room.

“I have something I need to talk to you about.”

She sat on the couch and raised an eyebrow. “Interesting.”

I sat across from her and leaned forward. “We need to get away.”

She smirked. “You and me? Brassard, I’m honored…”

I cut her off with a laugh. “That’s not what I mean. The team needs to take a vacation. A trip. We need a break from training and now that the weddings are over and everyone’s back, we all have the time. Plus, I’m pretty sure Kendall has been cleared.” It had been almost three months since the transplant and I knew she would love a chance to relax, too.

Madeline nodded and slowly smiled. “I think that’s a great idea, and I’m not one to turn down a vacation.” She paused. “I don’t know how much more time I can take off from work, but I think it would be good for everyone. Plus, team building.”

I nodded. She got it. We just needed to get the rest of the girls on board, so we could convince my teammates. “We need the rest of the women on our side.”

She nodded and looked to the kitchen and waved. Colby and Kendall came in and sat with us.

“What’s going on?” Colby looked at each of us.