First and Tension (Summersweet Island 4)

“Who made out with Quinn Bagley?”

Oh, for shit’s sake….

“No one! Drink your butterscotch milkshake and go home, Ed!” Tess shouts to the only other customer sitting in his golf cart in the parking lot.

Ed Walton, the owner of Dockside Eddy’s seafood restaurant and bar, who takes his sweet-ass time drinking his nightly milkshake just so he can try to hear the latest gossip on the island.

And I just shouted something utterly ridiculous into the chilly night air for all the island to hear, just to get my friends to shut the hell up already.

“Shit. What if he says something to Ryan?” I ask them worriedly, as Ed starts up his golf cart and pulls away right when Laura locks up. She gives all of us a quick wave goodbye before she hurries off to a date she has tonight.

“See? This is why you should have told Ryan the truth months ago,” Birdie warns me.

“Calm down. Ed didn’t even hear half of what was said.” Tess brushes us off with an unconcerned wave of her hand. “We can talk about how you’re finally going to put a stop to this shit with Ryan later. First, I want every single detail of what happened with Quinn Bagley, and I want it now.”

I promised him I would never tell anyone about that night, ever. But I already told Wren. I mean, I didn’t tell her the really personal stuff we talked about, but what’s two more people when they’re my best friends, and we’ve been keeping each other’s secrets all our lives? It’s not like he’s ever going to know I told anyone. He forgot all about me and I’m sure moved on to the next available female as soon as I walked away from him.

With a sigh, I give in and give Tess and Birdie the same details Wren got months ago, leaving out the personal stuff Quinn admitted to and that I’ve replayed in my head over and over again almost every second of every day since then.

I probably should have been less concerned about making sure I gave an accurate description of how delicious the Vipers’s quarterback smells, and more concerned about Ed running his big mouth… and my friends not understanding the concept of hos before bros, now that they have fiancés and husbands.

It’s all fun and games… until a rumor makes its way off Summersweet island.

“Fans still in shock after the recent press conference from Quinn Bagley, star quarterback for the Los Angeles Vipers since he was drafted in college fifteen years ago, that he has decided to finish out his career with the Sharks. It will bring this three-time Super Bowl champ all the way across the country to Virginia, a decision we found out has been several months in the making.”

“Quinn Bagley remains tight-lipped about his big move to Virginia and whether or not his initial statement of wanting to move closer to his family in North Carolina is actually the truth, amid new rumors that have been circulating all over social media about a secret girlfriend living off the coast of Virginia Beach on a small island no one has ever heard of.”

“Secret love affair for the new quarterback of the Virginia Beach Sharks, or a shocking tale of infidelity, leading all the way back to a birthday party Quinn Bagley threw at his previous home in Calabasas five months ago? New photos of the mystery redhead from the party surface, leaving fans to speculate all over social media, “Who the hell is this woman who convinced Quinn Bagley to quit the Vipers and go to one of the worst teams in the league?”

“Puking, pizza, and ping-pong at a party leads to love, a move across the country, and a happily ever after for Quinn Bagley, the new star quarterback for the Virginia Beach Sharks! Or does it? Fans recently uncovered the name of the mystery woman. Emily Flanagan, a former professional cheerleader for Bagley’s previous team, who we’ve been told by an anonymous source was fired from her position for being hotheaded, demanding, and extremely rude to her superiors. Sources from the party also tell us that they only remember her banshee-like voice interrupting the party several times throughout the night. All of this leaves Sharks fans wondering if this relationship will help or harm Quinn Bagley’s promise to lift this team from the ashes.”

CHAPTER 2

Quinn

“Rules are for pussies!”

“Remember the redhead in Nashville who called the paparazzi and told them where you were going, just to make sure the two of you were photographed together?”

Finishing off my last rep of bicep curls, I set the free weights on the ground and grab a resistance band to start cooling down with some stretches.

“Angie Kennedy,” I reply to my agent, Tyler, as he leans his back against the floor-to-ceiling gym mirror in front of me with his head down, typing something on his phone. “The reason you came up with the rule that I do not disclose the location of dates ahead of time and never date an aspiring actress.”