First and Tension (Summersweet Island 4)

Twenty-fourth photo from the top, tiny sliver of a pale, perfect ass cheek while she jutted her hip out on the fifty-yard line during our game against Denver.

I’m so busy glancing around guiltily that I quickly bring my phone up to my ear without even paying attention to whose call I just answered.

That’s my first mistake.

“How is everything going with my favorite quarterback?”

The sound of my boss’s voice in my ear throws a bucket of cold water on my spank bank, makes me sit up straighter in the back of the golf cart, and makes Bodhi immediately turn the music all the way off, probably seeing the look of panic on my face in the mirror.

“It’s excellent, Jeanie. Thank you for asking,” I tell her, even though things aren’t really excellent and none of this feels right.

Tyler mutters an “Oh, shit” under his breath, smoothing his hair back and straightening his tie like we’re on a video call and she can see us.

“Wonderful,” Jeanie purrs through the line. “So, you took care of the problem?”

“Yes, I absolutely took care of the problem.” I nod with a wince, knowing nothing about Emily feels like a problem, except for the fact that I’m driving away from her.

“Perfect. I knew I could trust you to handle things. Make sure you call my assistant in the next few days and set up a lunch for the three of us in the next week.”

“I’m sorry, the three of who?” I ask nervously, my head still in the clouds, reminding myself I have nothing to panic about because I did exactly what Jeanie asked me to do.

“You, me, and that island girlfriend of yours, of course.” Jeanie laughs, making my blood run cold and my skin break out in sweat at the same time. “You did just assure me you took care of the problem and established that… Emily, is it? That Emily is okay after all of the nonsense the media has been saying about her, correct?”

Whaaat the fuck?

“Quinn?”

Jeanie repeats my name when I forget how to speak for a solid minute, waking me the hell up, while Tyler looks at me like he might vomit after leaning his head close enough to mine to hear what Jeanie was saying.

“Yes, I’m here!” I shout a little too loudly.

Mistake number two, coming right up, folks.

“And yes, Emily is definitely my girlfriend’s name, and I definitely did do that, and yes, everything is fine, just fine. She’s absolutely fine. Lunch, you say? We could do lunch, although brunch is fun too, but I just like saying the word brunch,” I babble like a lunatic, while Bodhi laughs at my expense in the front seat and Tyler dry heaves out his side of the golf cart when we pull up to a stop next to the curb.

“Good,” Jeanie replies, completely unaware that I might actually be having a heart attack as I try to rub the sharp pain in my chest away with the heel of my hand. “The love and support of a good person makes for a very excellent leader. I’ll let Melissa know you’ll be in touch soon to set something up. Give Emily my best, and tell her I look forward to getting to know the woman who stole your heart.”

“Righty-ho!” I reply right before she disconnects the call, rolling my eyes at myself when I drop my hand into my lap and let out a huge sigh.

Oh no… did I just do what I think I did?

“Why the hell are you stopped?” Tyler asks Bodhi when he finally collects himself. “None of this matters! It’s fine, and we can still salvage this. We’ll explain everything to Jeanie in person when we get back, and we’ll have a nice, big laugh about it. Take us to the ferry dock and get us off this godforsaken island before some other bad thing happens!”

I mean, is it really a bad thing? It’s not like Emily is the crazy psycho Tyler thought she was. And, okay, that I might have thought she was for just a teensy, tiny minute before I pulled my head out of my ass. It’s just one lunch….

“No can do, buddy,” Bodhi says, throwing his arm over the back of his seat and looking at him over his shoulder. “Last ferry off the island was a while ago. Probably right around the time Ems was telling this guy to eat shit. We’re still on the offseason ferry schedule for another week.”

Bodhi starts chuckling, Tyler starts looking green again, and I’m somewhere in the middle.

I lied to my boss.

I get to see Emily again!

She’s going to stab me right in the throat.

Jeanie or Emily?

Definitely both! But I get to see Emily again while I bleed out at her feet!

“Why in the hell have you been driving us around then?” Tyler shouts to Bodhi, oblivious to the argument between the voices in my head.