Pucking Ever After(Jacksonville Rays, #2.5)

by Emily Rath

My phone buzzes with an incoming call as soon as I buckle my seat belt. A picture of Tess in a green bikini flashes on my lock screen. I swipe to accept, raising the phone to my ear. “Hey, baby—” “Ryan? What happened? That snooty bitch at the charter company wouldn’t give us any information other than that the boat was broken, and you were stranded and—” “Tess, I’m fine,” I say quickly. “Babe, we’re all fine.” All around me in the van, the other guys are answering their phones and having the same conversation. Up in the front seat, Jake is on the phone with Sanny or Doc, gesturing wildly with one hand. Morrow is the last to climb inside the van, murmuring soothing words at Poppy as Novy watches from my side, eyes wide. “Where are you now?” says Tess. “Dinner was supposed to start an hour ago.” Guilt clenches tight in my chest and I groan. “I know, baby. We’re on the way back. We’re what—twenty minutes out?” I call over the middle seat to Mars in the driver’s seat. He’s the only European, so we volunteered him to drive the van. “Twenty-three,” comes his sharp reply. He’s already backing out of our parking spot, guiding the van over the gravel lot towards the exit. “Twenty-three minutes,” I say at Tess. “We’re heading straight back, I swear.” “Switch to video,” she says. I can hear the tears in her voice, and I hate that I put them there.