Page 1 of Playing It Forward

Chapter 1

Terri – a woman about to prove cardio is useless when a football player is chasing you

Terri

“Holy mermaids swimming in the sea.” Ava sighs. “Have you seen the men the smugglers dragged in?”

I have seen them, but I use her question as an excuse to glance over my shoulder to have another look. Five football players from the Steel City Seals are sitting in a corner of the beach bar drinking beer. Every single one of them could be a front page model for a sports magazine.

The blond catches my eye and winks. I quickly turn away before I give him any ideas. Don’t get me wrong. I’d love to give him a whole bunch of sexy, sweaty, tangled in the sheets, ideas. But I can’t jeopardize my job.

I wag my finger at Ava. “Be careful. Hudson made himself perfectly clear.”

Hudson is the owner of the Hideaway Haven Resort where we work. He held a meeting to lay down the law before the football team arrived for training camp.

There will be no flirting with the football players. There will be no snapping pictures and sharing them on social media. There will be no gossiping about the team to outsiders. And there definitely – no exceptions allowed – will be no relationships between the staff of the resort and the players.

She sticks her bottom lip out in a pout. “Boss man is boring.”

I snort. “You didn’t think he was boring before he got married to Nova. As I recall, you chased him around the resort like a prohibition officer chasing a bootlegger.”

Her nose wrinkles. “Nova is one lucky duck. If she wasn’t such a nice woman, I’d hate her.”

“Liar. You don’t think she’s nice. You’re afraid of her because she and her friends who own Five Fathoms Brewing are famous for pulling pranks.”

“I’m not afraid of being pranked.”

“And you didn’t spend a year using a mirror to check above the door of each room you entered for a glitter bomb either.”

She grunts. “It’s not my fault the Backchannel Blonde from Five Fathoms turned into bottle bombs.”

I raise an eyebrow. “I guess it wasn’t your fault when you decided to have a bottle bomb contest either?”

“Oh, please. You’re just mad because you lost in the final round.”

“I didn’t lose. You cheated.”

“You can’t cheat in a bottle bomb contest.”

We’re getting off track. We’re supposed to be discussing an upcoming wedding happening at the resort. Not bringing up old news.

I’m the event coordinator at the resort, and Ava is the hospitality manager. We often work together to ensure weddings, birthday parties, retirement parties, and other events held at the resort go off without a hitch. And on Smuggler’s Hideaway – the island where we live – that often means ensuring there’s enough alcohol for the guests.

I tap my pen against my clipboard. “Let’s get back to this wedding. Did you get my email about the drinks I require?”

Ava swipes open her tablet. “I got the email, and I think we have everything except I don’t know what a Love You to the Moonshine drink is.”

“How could you? The bride made it up. According to her, it’s blackberry moonshine and honey whiskey mixed with pink lemonade, cranberry juice, and a splash of pineapple juice with sparkling rosé. She wants edible glitter and a cotton candy garnish as well.”

Ava blinks at me. “Who’s getting married? Ariel and Captain Jack Sparrow?”

I giggle. “I forgot to mention she wants heart-shaped ice cubes.”

She makes notes on her table. “It’s a good thing the boss man pays us the big bucks for these weddings.”

“You love the challenge and you know it.”

“I do love trying to figure out how to make cotton candy garnish that doesn’t melt when it’s ninety degrees out.” Her voice is dry as bone.