Page 10 of Buzzer Beater

She shrugged. “Lucy, it’s just for fun.” She gave me a kind smile. “We really need to get you to relax.”

“It’s not like you can just walk up to them and tell them you’ve decided that they’re going to buy us drinks.”

She raised a single eyebrow. “Is that a challenge?”

I shook my head. “No, absolutely not.”

She scooted her seat back. “It was, and I accept.”

Before I could get another word out, she was gone. I turned and watched her go back to the buffet area and pick up a plate before stopping to look around. The group was all in there with her. She was probably waiting to see which ones were single.

I watched for another second before turning back to my plate. She was more spontaneous than I’d thought. I could see why she was friends with Amber, and I could only imagine the trouble they got into together.

A small part of me, okay maybe it was fairly big, wanted to be that girl. The fun one that didn’t think about the consequences and went for things with abandon. But I was old enough to know I wasn’t comfortable in that role.

I may only be twenty-six, but I’d always been the mature one, the quiet one. I didn’t have to worry about waking up in jail or an embarrassing video of me get shared because I didn’t take those risks.

They might have more stories to tell, but I had a flawless record. Well, unless you count that time I stole a box of crayons from the kid next to me in second grade. In my defense, I really did think they were mine.

But what would that matter when I was old? When my children asked me about my life? Would they want to know about how I graduated at the top of my class? Or would they want to hear Aunt Amber’s story of the time she ditched school and drove to Mexico just to see if their Coke tastes better.

Maybe I could find a balance. Be a little of both. This week would be the perfect time to try. The other girls wouldn’t care if I made a fool of myself. They would probably encourage it.

When Elena got back, I was going to tell her. I’d try a little harder to have fun on this trip. Nothing crazy, of course, but I wouldn’t fight finding a few single guys to hang out with.

I turned to check her progress and laughed when I saw her surrounded by four of the guys from the group. She sure knew how to get things done.

4

Colin

This woman was crazy. Beautiful, but crazy.

She marched up to Olli without hesitation and began talking with him. I thought at first, she was another jersey chaser, but when I got closer, I realized she couldn’t possibly know who he was. She wouldn’t be asking him about his opinion on the fried shrimp.

As I approached her eyes lit up.

“You must be his friend,” she said.

I looked at him and then back at her and nodded. “Yeah, we’re friends.”

Something about her put me on high alert, but maybe it was habit from the girls with ulterior motives.

“You have another single friend?” She asked.

So, she was a jersey chaser. She was just a bit slyer than the others.

“Yeah.” I looked around for Grant. “He’s over there.”

Her eyes followed where I pointed, her smile growing. “Perfect.”

Olli and I exchanged looks while she sized Grant up.

Erik walked up to us and nodded at me. “Can you grab a drink for Madi, my hands are full.”

I looked down at his three plates and laughed. “First the cannoli, now this? You’re off the diet, I see?”

He glowered. “Madi said I can have a few days off while we’re here.”