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“Nah, you’re the guests,” Jake answered.
Phoenix added, “We’ve got beer and wine, but if you’d like something different to drink, just bring that.”
A few hours later with introductions done, Ava was riding cloud nine. Bryce, Liam and King, Connor and Levi, and Mike and Ezio were bonding over fitness stuff, while Mike watched his kids splashing with Nick and Emma’s young daughter in the pool, calling out to them when it got too rough.
Jake peppered her and Cole with questions about their business and what they would do when they moved up. Jake and Cassie were apparently real estate agents, but while she looked after corporate spaces, he focussed on residential properties.
Jake grinned, his passion for his business and clients shining through. “I’ve got quite a few listings that I’ve been marketing as renovator’s delights, but people can’t see past the dated façades and bad kitchens. Great areas, solid houses, but people just don’t want the hassle of renovating.”
“That’s our ideal property,” Ava replied, thanking Phoenix for topping up her soda water and lime.
Jake tugged on his husband’s belt loop and asked him to relax, Phoenix popped a kiss on his lips and replied, “Almost done with refills. I’ll be with you in a second.” He sauntered off, checking for empty glasses and opening and giving out a few new bottles of beer.
Ava watched Jake as his smile turned soft when Cassie caught Ava’s attention. Her gaze followed her man, and the love in Phoenix’s eyes when he caught Cassie watching him was enough to make Ava swoon.
“It is,” Cole added, dragging her back into the conversation. He ran his hand down her back, stopping at the small of her waist. “We should look at them. If we find one, we might be able to get the keys around the time we’re finishing up in Sydney. It'd be good to be able to jump right in.”
Ava turned to Jake. “Apart from seeing Bryce, we came up to get an idea of what the property market here was like. Get a layout in our heads of the Coast and where the hot spots are. We holidayed up here Christmas before last and Bryce grew up on the Goldie, so we’ve got a bit of background, but not enough to start investing. If you could give us a recommendation or two, that’d be amazing.”
“Yeah, no worries. I’ll pick out a couple of the best listings for flipping and point you in the direction of the suburbs being gentrified.”
Phoenix joined them again, wrapping his arms around Jake’s waist. “We should get the food started.”
“Mmm, we should.” Jake excused himself to get the barbecue going, and Ava smiled at the way he and Phoenix gravitated to each other. Like all the men in the group, they were openly affectionate.
“You should go sit with Bryce,” she encouraged Cole. “There aren’t any arseholes here.”
His lips tilted up, giving her the soft, shy smile he reserved for them and nodded. “Yeah, I think I’d like that.”
Bryce held out his hand as she and Cole wandered over to them, pulling Cole into his arms the moment he got close enough. Ava waved them off when Cole did the same. She wanted to catch up with the ladies.
Ava wandered over to where Adelaide, Katy, Cassie, and two women she’d met that night—Robyn and Emma—were sitting. “This is great, Cassie. Thanks for making us feel so welcome.”
“It was our pleasure. We thought it’d be nice to get to know a few people who you could be yourselves with after what you’ve been through, and then having to be separated because the Lightning wouldn’t renew Bryce’s contract.”
“The Lightning cancelled his contract,” Ava explained. “Bryce still had another two years to go, but they were going to bounce him to the reserves to get him out of the public eye. His agent worked his magic and got him in with the Gold Coast instead. The Lightning couldn’t wait to wash their hands of him.”
“Rogers retired at an awkward time,” Adelaide explained. She was a massive football fan, even bigger than Ava was. “But it was such good timing. The Goldie missed out on the main trade timeframe at the end of the season, but because of that, they were looking at exactly the time Bryce became available. I still can’t believe the Lightning were stupid and prejudiced enough to let go of the best rookie prop around.”
“Prejudiced?” Robyn asked. “Sorry, I’ve had my head in the sand—been working on a big case.”
“Yeah,” Ava answered honestly, explaining their conversation with the team’s PR rep.
“Shit,” she swore. “That’s disgusting.”
“It’s not unheard of though,” Katy sympathized. “It crushed Levi when he lost his job.”
Cassie squeezed Katy’s arm and smiled warmly at Ava. “Like I said, we all wanted to let you know that you’ve got friends here.”
They talked about nothing and everything, the conversation meandering from heavy to light when Jake called, “Come and get it.” Ava’s stomach rumbled, the delicious scent of grilled meat floating on the sea breeze over to them.
Within a few minutes, they were seated around a collection of tables lined up along the back deck paired with mismatched chairs. Cole slid into the seat next to her. Bryce was on his other side and immediately pulled his chair closer to Cole’s. The private smile they shared and soft kiss Bryce planted on their man warmed Ava’s heart.
“Sorry about the pics, man. You got screwed by that website,” Phoenix grumbled as he sat opposite them. “Addy told me what happened at work, and it was kinda hard to miss the news a few weeks ago.”
“You and Adelaide work together?” Ava asked. She knew her friend was a sex counsellor, or however she’d described it when they were talking earlier, but she had no idea what that had to do with Phoenix working at a bar.
“Yeah, I’m a bartender at the swingers club Addy consults at. Cass and Jake met her through Levi, Con, and Katy at Robyn, Mike, and Ez’s housewarming. But none of us knew until recently that she, King, and Liam were together.”
