Page 70 of Scoring Position

“My point,” she said slowly, “is what’s the plan tokeephim, dummy? Are you just going to keep your epic true love on the DL for your whole life? Will you ever tell his dad? What are you going to do when your contract’s up?What’s the plan, Ryan?”

He fussed with the pillow in his lap, smoothing out the fabric. His mouth opened, but words wouldn’t come. “I—”

“Oh my God, there isn’t a plan!” She slapped his thigh. “Ryan!”

“Ow!” he said reflexively as he rubbed the spot. “Look, it’s not…. The point is moot, okay? Sure, we get along and have fun together and the sex is”—scorching, incredible, life-altering, perfect—“really good, but it’s not like this can go anywhere.” Tara narrowed her eyes, but Ryan pushed through. “His future is in Indianapolis and mine is who the fuck knows where. Which, given our schedules, wouldn’t be long-distance so much as basically a summers-only relationship.”

For a few seconds, Tara let that hang in the air. Then she said, carefully and without inflection, “So you like him enough to get your heart broken, but you’ve decided not to fight for him.”

That hit him like a crosscheck from behind. This was what Ryan got for having a family full of therapists.

He kept his mouth shut, but he couldn’t bring himself to deny things implicitly by breaking eye contact.

Eventually Tara whistled under her breath. “Okay, then.” She dug his phone out of the couch cushions and tossed it onto his chest. “Not talking about it. Message received.”

Ryan relaxed and picked the phone up. One of them had accidentally pressed the Heart button. The internet should have a field day with that. “Thanks, sis.”

NICO FELTten pounds lighter the second his feet hit the sand.

It didn’t take long for him to find Ella. As usual, she’d staked out the best spot on the beach—not too far from the bar, not too far from the water, just far enough from the gated pool area to be out of the way.

Also, the Speedo-clad guys clustered around the foot of her lounge chair gave her location away. Ella was kind of a bombshell.

Nico couldn’t see her face from his vantage point—it was obscured by the top of the umbrella—but he could make out the paperback propped up against her smooth thigh, still open, which meant she wasn’t interested in what these guys were selling and had simply decided not to be blunt yet.

This was one time when Nico didn’t mind falling into the role Ella cast him in. He pulled his shirt off and called out a greeting in German.

The book hit the sand as Ella jumped up and launched herself into his arms. Nico caught her, laughing as she kissed his cheeks.

“Perfect timing as usual,” she said with a smile. “Nice touch with the shirt.”

“I live to serve.” He kissed the top of her head and smoothed back her hair—flawless despite the ocean breeze. “Am I playing the boyfriend?”

“You have enough practice.” She winked and released him, then turned to introduce him to her friends, who hung around long enough to shake hands and then departed for greener pastures.

So, not complete idiots, at least.

Nico went to the bar to grab a round of drinks. He wanted a token of goodwill since he was going to ask Ella to think on her study break. “So… hypothetical question.” He handed over a piña colada in a pineapple.

“You don’t ask hypothetical questions.” She pushed back her sunglasses and squinted at him. “But okay. Let’s pretend I believe it’s hypothetical.”

Nico sat on the beach chair across from her with his margarita between his knees. Once he said this out loud, he couldn’t take it back. Ella likely wouldn’t go so far as to sayI told you so, but she’d probably think it.

Since she was his oldest friend, he could accept that. “It’s going to involve thinking about the law,” he warned.

Her eyes went wide and she set the pineapple on the table. “You have my attention.”

Los geht’s.He took a deep breath. “If I wanted to break a contract, how would I go about doing that?”

She blinked at him, then stood up and collected her drink, book, and sandals. She gestured him to his feet as well and looped her arm through his. “Let’s go inside for that,” she said. “You can treat me to room service on the balcony.”

All things considered, it seemed like the least he could do.

By the time they settled on what to order, he’d lost some of his nerve, so it wasn’t until their food had arrived and Ella prompted, “So, this contract…,” that he said anything more.

Nico groaned and buried his face in his hands. “I don’t know. I just… I don’t know.” Even getting this far was hard. “Will you look at it?”

“Nico.” She touched his wrist, and he looked up. “You never ask for anything, so I know it must be important. Besides, I think you already paid my retainer fee.” She gestured at the beach, the food, the room. “So yes, I will look at your agent contract.”

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