“Rugby,” I correct. “Practice.”
She groans. “I hate practicing.”
I chuckle and slide her back onto the stool between Bray and me.
“Practice makes perfect, kiddo,” I tell her as I sip my beer.
“Grownups always say that,” she protests.
“Because it’s true,” I state, watching her reach for her drink that Al has set in front of her.
“He’s right, Ava. That’s how we get good at something. Lots of practice,” Al agrees.
“Do you have to practice everything to get better?” she asks.
I nod. “Everything.”
“What if you are just naturally perfect at it?” she argues.
“Then, you’d be very unusual indeed,” I answer.
She doodles on the paper in front of her.
“You all done interviewing Mr. Hutch, peanut?” Carly asks.
“Yep,” she says before stuffing a pretzel in her mouth.
“What did you learn?” Carly prods.
Ava chews and cocks her head to one side.
“Mr. Hutch is in lots of photos. Football is hard. And you apparently have to practice,” she answers.
Everyone chuckles at her adorable response. The stairwell door opens, and Roxy, Gray, and Jocelyn all walk over to where the rest of us are keeping warm around the bar.
I lock eyes with Jocelyn for a moment, and she looks away as she goes to sit by Cam. Strange. Normally, she comes over to me.
I pull out my phone and look at the calendar. “OK, how about two weeks from tomorrow for the trip?” I ask. There’s a hush as I watch my friends all pull out their phones, presumably to look at their calendars.
There is a chorus of “Good” and a few “That works.”
“Yep, we will be there that weekend. The wedding is Saturday, but we could hang out after on Monday through Wednesday,” Troy says.
“Great. Then I will book our tickets tonight,” I state as I raise my beer. “To an amazing vacation that we’ll all remember.”
Everyone yells “cheers,” including Ava. My eyes lock with Jocelyn’s again, and I swear she blushes, but it’s hard to tell as the shadows from the heat lamps cast an orange glow on everyone’s face.
I’m not sure I trust myself to be on a tropical island with her, but I guess I’m going to be tested because this vacation is happening.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Jocelyn
“Red,” Roxy states as she holds up the tiniest bikini I’ve ever seen.
“Uh, there’s no way my ass is fitting in that or my boobs or any part of me,” I protest.
Roxy looks at it up close and shrugs. “I suppose we need something more PG since Ava will be there.”
